Services & Functions
University Decision Support (UDS) primarily serves the central decision-making authorities of the University with respect to planning, evaluation, policy formation, accreditation and other issues. Duties include the collection, dissemination and analysis of institutional data. UDS uses and combines data from existing databases and gathers additional data as warranted to serve the information needs of the University and its administration.
Access a UDS service
Internal èßäÊÓƵapp employee (Login required):
External to èßäÊÓƵapp - Send a question to:
UDS-UniversityDecisionSupport@smu.edu
Services Offered
University Decision Support provides descriptive and analytical data for operational decisions and University planning. University Decision Support is asked to provide data to senior administrators on subjects like administrative compensation, faculty salaries, enrollment trends, enrollment capacity, staffing ratios, graduation and retention rates.
Agencies to which the institution reports on an annual basis include federal, state, and other controlling authorities, as well as SACS (the regional accrediting association), the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, the Independent Colleges and Universities of Texas (ICUT), and the United Methodist Church Board of Ministry. A series of data collection instruments known collectively as the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) provide information to the federal government on enrollment, degrees awarded, faculty, staff, libraries, finances, graduation and retention.
The University provides information to agencies and educational/professional associations that collect data from institutions across the nation. Comparative data is then provided to participating institutions. The identity of individual institutions may be masked. Some of the non-regulatory agencies that receive data include the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), the American Council on Education (ACE), the College and University Personnel Association (CUPA), College Board, and the National Science Foundation (NSF).
èßäÊÓƵapp is a member of the G14, a data exchange among institutional research offices of fourteen private, research universities. G14 universities exchange information periodically on topics of interest to the group.
Environmental scanning reveals trends in higher education and standard practices at other institutions. University Decision Support maintains information about a number of current issues in education including assessment, faculty tenure and minority admissions.
Data management is the foundation for nearly every component of University Decision Support. Files must be designed, modified, reconciled, and updated to provide answers to current and future questions. Since 1994, Institutional Research at èßäÊÓƵapp has established a series of census files on admissions, enrollment, faculty, financial aid, instruction and retention.