The College of Education and Human Ecology (EHE) is a complex organization, consisting of 3 academic departments and more than 60 programs and specializations. The Data Access and Analysis Core’s (DAAC) Institutional Research (IR) function is tasked with providing information about all of the courses, programs, students, faculty, and staff to our EHE leadership to assist them in charting our future.
Big Numbers in IR
The information we provide varies widely, from the number of students enrolled in each of our EHE courses, to the total number of credit hours generated by all of those courses. In some cases, highly detailed information is needed. But we are also asked to provide information about our College’s “Big Numbers.” A Big Number is a top level statistic that describes a critical indicator of EHE performance. Checking the Big Numbers is a bit like taking your temperature – with just one number you can get a sense of how well you are doing.
Program Enrollment
Program Enrollment is one Big Number that we often report. It can be thought of as a “head count” of the number of students who are enrolled for the term, and whose primary academic program is in EHE. Autumn 2019 Program Enrollment, across all campuses, departments, and programs is visualized below.
Course Enrollment
Program Enrollment is the number we use when asked, “How many students do we have in EHE?” While knowing our Program Enrollment is essential, it doesn’t provide the whole picture. Some EHE students may be enrolled for one course, others for five courses. We also hope to attract students from other Colleges to take EHE courses as electives, to complete General Education requirements, or as part of a minor. That’s why we also report on Course Enrollment.
The Course Enrollment Big Number tells us how many students are enrolled in each course offered during the term, added across all classes. So, if a student is taking five classes, they are counted five times in the Course Enrollment Big Number. Course Enrollment is an important Big Number because it drives tuition, teaching loads, and class offerings. The visualization for Course Enrollment in Autumn 2019 is shown below.
While the Big Numbers don’t provide the details of the EHE campuses, departments, and programs, they do serve an important function. When used in telling our EHE data story, they can grab attention and provide a powerful focus on key elements. For more information about Institutional Research (IR), contact Andy Zircher at zircher.2@osu.edu.
