Dear Colleagues,
    First I am please to announce that Dr. Thomas Gaylord has joined the
University of Akron as Vice President for Information Technologies,
Libraries, and Institutional Planning. Part of his responsibilities will
be Institutional Research so I now report to him. He has long a varied
experience in IR and I look forward to exciting times ahead.
    Now for my questions:
1)    A recent change in our software system now allows the
race/ethnicity of employees to be unknown. In the past we apparently
assigned a race/ethnicity category to those who left it blank. A query
of the HEI database indicates the number of employees reported with
race/ethnicity as unknown varies greatly. Is there good reason to try to
minimize the number of unknowns? If so how do you accomplish a high rate
of self identifications? If you have a large number of unknowns, how o
you treat them on surveys and reports that do not provide for an unknown
category?
2)    I am compiling a list of possible Key Performance Indicators for a
new Decision Support project. Is there any widely accepted source for
KPIs that I could consult to be sure I am not missing an obvious
candidate? OH by the way I need this before my 4 pm meeting Friday. (I
got the request yesterday)

As always I appreciate the collegiality and friendliness of this
organization and thank each of you for you help. Hope to see many of you
on Monday at the Spring Conference.

Dick
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Richard W. Stratton             http://www.uakron.edu/ips
Director
Institutional Research          Voice:  (330) 972-7897
The University of Akron         FAX:    (330) 972-5989
Akron, OH 44325-4712            e-mail  [log in to unmask]