About Us
Welcome to the Mesa College Research Office!
Vision
Our vision is to support the leading college of equity ad excellence by inspiring a culture of equity-mided action research, reflection, and inquiry.
Mission
Our mission is to build a culture of inquiry and foster data-informed decision making by providing research services, expertise, and coaching to the Mesa campus community in support of the college’s institutional effectiveness. The Mesa College Research Office conducts a variety of research activities in support of the college’s mission, strategic directions, and initiatives, and responds to ad hoc research and consultation requests from the campus community.
We are members of the Research and Planning (RP) Group for the California Community Colleges, and our work is guided by the Association for Institutional Research (AIR) Code of Ethics and Professional Practices and the American Evaluation Association Guiding Principles for Evaluators.
Goals
- Make data accessible, interactive, actionable, and widely distributed.
- Integrate equity-minded inquiry and planning into existing systems.
- Develop a coalition of action researchers dedicated to equity-minded inquiry.
What We Do
We provide research consulting, support, facilitation, and technical assistance to college faculty, staff, administrators, and students. In addition, we provide research support and reporting for accountability reporting efforts related to accreditation, federal requirements, grants, and statewide initiatives.
To support data-informed decision making across the college, we provide a number of specific services, including:
- Research design
- Program/project evaluation
- Program Review research support
- Survey design and programming
- Workshops and training on various topics related to research and institutional effectiveness
- College-wide research for institutional planning
To submit a research request, please complete the Institutional Effectiveness Request Form.
Research FAQs
How do I request Research Services?chevron_right
To request research services, please complete the Institutional Effectiveness Request Form.
Once you submit a request, you should receive a notification by the end of the work week letting you know that your project has been assigned to a Research Lead and added to our project queue. At that point, you will be able to track your request’s progress in our queue by clicking the link above. If you do not receive a notification, please reach out to the Associate Dean of IE.
If you would like assistance completing the form, please contact the Research Office at 619-388-2509.
How are Research projects prioritized?chevron_right
We aim to serve the entire campus community and meet the needs of all campus research requests. The research office manages several projects at any given time, and uses a few guidelines to prioritize research projects. College-wide research projects that inform college plans, ccreditation, accountability, and compliance reporting are among the highly prioritized projects. Ad hoc requests for research are prioritized based on variety of factors, including:
- Alignment with the college's strategic goals
- Potential to positively impact student access and outcomes
- Feasibility given available data and office capacity
- Inclusion of elements that foster continuos improvement or build institutional capacity
Each research request is unique, and we will do our best to provide you with the research support you need in a timely manner.
Where can I find information on our college student population?chevron_right
Our Data Dashboards page contains a variety of reports on student enrollment, demographic profiles, and achievement metrics.
If you are unable to open these dashboards, it is possible that you do not have the appropriate Microsoft license. To request access, follow the following steps: (1) Log in to the Online Service Desk, (2) type "Microsoft license" in the search box, (3) select "Microsoft License Upgrade or Additional" under Service Items results, (4) Complete and submit the form (in the justification, explain that you need a license upgrade to view Power BI dashboards).
Where does the data come from?chevron_right
Depending on the project, the data for the study may come from a number of different sources. Many times our projects rely on data in the SDCCD Institutional Research Database, which includes information on student demographics, enrollment, achievement, as well as courses and class sections. Transfer data is typically obtained from the National Student Clearinghouse. Other data may come from surveys conducted with faculty, staff, students, and/or community members. Our reports and presentations reference the specific data sources utilized for each project.
