Institutional Research, Effectiveness & Planning

This glossary provides definitions and standards for terminology used in IREP-produced reports and can be compared to the SDM and HRDM data glossaries provided by System Office, here:

SDM Data Dictionary: https://uncdm.northcarolina.edu/sdm/dictionary.php

HRDM Data Dictionary: https://uncdm.northcarolina.edu/uncdm/hrdm_dictionary.php

In some cases, the same word may be defined differently by separate organizations. For instance, the federal IPEDS reporting system defines student gender as either “male” or “female”, whereas UNC Asheville allows students to self-select additional gender options. In such cases, the organizational-affiliation of the word is provided in its name, in order to differentiate it from other definitions of the same word, e.g. “Gender (IPEDS)” versus “Gender (UNCA)”. Another example is race/ethnicity, which is tallied differently by IPEDS (read more: https://irep.unca.edu/student-data-glossary-race-ethnicity/).

Please send questions or concerns about definitions in this glossary to irep@unca.edu.

Academic Year (IREP): Academic year (AY) is defined as starting July of one year and ending June of the next. In most reports, the summer term is treated as the leading term. For example, the 2020-21 academic year (sometimes abbreviated as “Academic Year 2020”) would typically include the summer 2020, fall 2020, and spring 2021 semester.

Asian (IPEDS): Asian students are US citizens or permanent legal residents who self-identify as a non-Hispanic person with an Asian racial identity, this being a person “having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian Subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam” (US Office of Management & Budget, 1997).

Black (IPEDS): Black students are US citizens or permanent legal residents who self-identify as a non-Hispanic person with a Black or African American racial identity, this being a person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa” (US Office of Management & Budget, 1997).

BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color): defined by UNC IR as anyone inclusive of anyone identifying as Black or African American, Native American or Alaska Native, Hispanic, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, or two or more races.

Class (UNCA): Freshmen have earned fewer than 30 overall credit hours prior to the current term; Sophomores fewer than 60, Juniors fewer than 90, and Seniors at least 90.

Continuing Students: Continuing students were enrolled at UNCA in the prior regular (fall or spring) term at UNCA.

Degree-Seeking Students: Degree-seeking students are pursuing a first or additional Bachelor’s degree granted by UNCA.  Visiting students (including international exchange students) who are pursuing degrees at their home institutions are not included in this count.

Extension Credit: students are those enrolled at UNCA in the current term receiving only instruction offered by a UNCA affiliated group or organization to non-traditional groups of students (usually not on the main UNCA campus).  This instruction is sometimes referred to as “distance education” instruction in the UNC system.  Students receiving both regular (see note 1) and distance education instruction are classified as regular students rather than as  extension students.

Extension Credit Students: Students who are enrolled exclusively in non-resident credit courses. These students are not counted as Resident Credit Students.

First-time Admits: First-time Admits are students enrolled in the current term and in pursuit of a Bachelor’s degree without prior enrollment at any institution of higher education.  This category includes students who were dual enrolled at a community college while still enrolled in high school (e.g., Early College). These are sometimes referred to as “First-time Freshmen” or “High School Admits”.

First Generation (also called Known First Generation) students: students for whom at least one parent’s educational history is known and whose parent(s) never attained a 4-year college degree. Students who do not disclose parental education information are neither classified as “known first-generation” nor are they classified as “known not first-generation”; their status is considered to be unknown. Therefore, the proportion of first-generation students is relative only to the total number of students for whom parental education is known.

Full-time Equivalent (FTE): The number of full-time equivalent (FTE) students is the sum of the ratio of actual to full-time credit hours attempted that term by each student in the population, with a maximum of 1 FTE per student.  A full-time term load for an undergraduate student is 12 or more credit hours; and a full-time term load for graduate students is 9 or more credit hours.

Full-time Students: Full-time students are those attempting 12 or more undergraduate credit hours or 9 or more graduate credit hours in the current term.

Graduation (including Rates): the completion of a student’s degree pathway and the award of a degree credential.

Hispanic U.S. Residents (IPEDS): Hispanic U.S. Residents include students who are US citizens or permanent legal residents and who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino, this being a person “of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race” (US Office of Management & Budget, 1997).  International students are not included in this count.

Liberal Arts & Sciences Majors: Includes: Anthropology, Art, Art History, Atmospheric Science, Biology, Chemistry, Classics, Drama, Economics, Education, English, Environmental Studies, History, Interdisciplinary Studies, Jazz and Contemporary Music, Languages & Literatures, Mathematics, MLAS, Music, Music Technology, New Media, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science, Psychology, Religious Studies, Sociology, and Women Gender & Sexuality Studies. Excludes: Accounting, Management, Computer Science, Mass Communication, Engineering, and Health & Wellness Promotion.

Native American (IPEDS): Native American students are US citizens or permanent legal residents who self-identify as a non-Hispanic person with an American Indian or Alaska Native racial identity, this being a person “having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America) who maintains cultural identification through tribal affiliation or community attachment” (US Office of Management & Budget, 1997).

Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islanders (IPEDS): Pacific Islanders are US citizens or permanent legal residents who self-identify as a non-Hispanic person with a Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander racial identity, this being a person “having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands” (US Office of Management & Budget, 1997).

New Students: New students are enrolled in a new capacity at UNCA in the current term.  A student who was previously enrolled at UNCA in one capacity (e.g, as an undergraduate student seeking her first bachelor’s degree) may be newly enrolled at UNCA in another capacity (e.g., as a graduate student).

Part-time Students: Part-time students are those attempting 12 or fewer undergraduate credit hours or 9 or fewer graduate credit hours in the current term.

Persistence (including Rates): the completion of a student’s degree pathway and the award of a degree credential OR the return of a student to the same institution, seeking the same degree credential.

Race/Ethnicity (Disaggregated): Every student who self-identified in the category, including those who self-identified in more than one.

Regular Credit: students enrolled at UNCA in the current term receiving regular instruction offered by UNCA faculty to the traditional student population (usually on the main UNCA campus). This instruction is sometimes referred to as “resident credit” instruction in the UNC system.

Resident Credit Students: Students who are enrolled in any courses which award resident credit. These students are not counted as Extension Credit Students, even if they enroll in extension credit courses.

Retention (including Rates): the return of a student to the same institution, seeking the same degree credential. A student is considered not retained if they either do not return to the institution or do not return to the same degree pathway.

Returning Students: Returning students are studying at UNCA in the current term after an interruption of one or more regular (fall or spring) terms.

SAT Equivalent Score: The SAT equivalent score is the higher score between a student’s SAT score and equivalent ACT score. ACT scores are converted to an SAT equivalent using the College Board’s concordance tables.

Sex (IPEDS): In accordance with federal IPEDS reporting requirements, students are classified as either male or female based on either self-identification during the application process or semi-randomized assignment.

STEM Majors: Includes: Atmospheric Sciences, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Engineering, Environmental Studies, Mathematics, and Physics. Excludes: Anthropology, Art, Art History, Classics, Drama, Economics, Education, English, History, Interdisciplinary Studies, Jazz and Contemporary Music, Languages & Literatures,  MLAS, Music, Music Technology, New Media, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Religious Studies, Sociology, and Women Gender & Sexuality Studies. Excludes: Accounting, Management, Mass Communication, and Health & Wellness Promotion.

Students of color: defined by the UNC System as anyone identifying as Native American or Alaska Native, Black or African American, Hispanic, or two or more races.

Transfer Admits: Transfer Admits are students enrolled in the current term and in pursuit of a first Bachelor’s degree who have prior enrollment at any other institution of higher education.

Two or More Races (IPEDS): Two or more races students are US citizens or permanent legal residents who self-identify as a non-Hispanic person belonging to two or more of the five main racial groups recognized by IPEDS (above). These students are sometimes referred to as “multi-racial” students.

Underrepresented Racial/Ethnic Groups: defined by the UNC System as anyone identifying as Native American or Alaska Native, Black or African American, Hispanic, or two or more races.

White (IPEDS): White students are US citizens or permanent legal residents who self-identify as a non-Hispanic person with a White racial identity, this being a person “having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa” (US Office of Management & Budget, 1997).

Race and Ethnicity

The U.S. federal government requires all universities, to report student head-counts by race and ethnicity to the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). IPEDS adheres to U.S. Census-based definitions for race and ethnicity, which have the following effects on student classification:

• Students who are U.S. citizens and who self-identify as Hispanic will be considered solely “Hispanic”, regardless of other races that they select on their application.
• Students who are U.S. citizens and who self-identify as more than one race, but not Hispanic, will be considered solely “Two or More Races”.
• Students who are not U.S. citizens or residents will be considered “Non-Resident Alien”, regardless of other races or ethnicities that they select on their application.

For example, a student who is Black, Hispanic, and white will only be classified as “Hispanic”, in IPEDS reports. If the same student was not a U.S. citizen or resident, they would only be classified as “Non-Resident Alien”. In both cases, detailed information about the student’s self-identified racial/ethnic information may be obscured by the IPEDS classification system.

Although IPEDS aggregates student race/ethnicity according to these rules, there is often interest in a more detailed examination of the racial/ethnic composition of the student body. In order to provide our campus community with such information, the Office of Institutional Research (IR) often provides “disaggregated” race and ethnicity data alongside IPEDS-aggregated race and ethnicity data. In IR-produced reports, these classification systems are typically differentiated by the terms “Race/Ethnicity (IPEDS)” and “Race/Ethnicity (Disaggregated)”.

For example, a report which shows the total headcount of students who are “Asian (IPEDS)” will show the total number of students who are U.S. citizens and who self-identified as only Asian and no other race/ethnicity, whereas a report which shows the total headcount of students who are “Asian (Disaggregated)” will show the total number of students who self-identified as Asian, regardless of other race, ethnicity, or citizenship statuses.

Please email ir@unca.edu if you have questions about these definitions or classification systems.

In accordance with federal law and regional accreditation standards, UNC Asheville sets overall goals for student achievement. Our Key Student Completion Indicator is the 6yr graduation rate from UNC Asheville for full-time first-time students. Detailed information on this and other metrics, along with thresholds of acceptability and five year persistence and graduation targets, are provided below.

Persistence to Graduation

To see retention, graduation, and persistence rates by racial/ethnic group and/or sex, please visit the following dashboards:

• Retention, Graduation, and Persistence Rates by Racial/Ethnic Group
• Retention, Graduation, and Persistence Rates by Sex

High Impact Experiences

UNC Asheville is a public liberal arts university which prioritizes experiential, interdisciplinary learning. Students are encouraged to participate in undergraduate research, study abroad, service learning, internships for credit, honors, and campus employment, all high-impact learning opportunities that are strongly predictive of academic and career success. Students are encouraged to take part in at least one and ideally three or more of these opportunities before they graduate. Transfer students are with us for less time and thus have fewer opportunities for these experiences but are also encouraged to take part in these experiences. The data below shows the proportion of graduates who participated in these high-impact practices.

Do you know the rates at which our students experience racial discrimination at UNC Asheville? According to the Fall 2020 Racial Equity Task Force Survey, 44% of BIPOC students personally experienced an act they considered to be racial discrimination or harassment by another member at our institution as compared to 12% of white students.

In an effort to work toward a more equitable environment where fewer students and other members of campus face racial harassment or discrimination, the Office of Multicultural Affairs, Human Resources, and Institutional Equity is undergoing a review of the Bias Incident Response (BIRT) program. BIRT strives to promote a safe, hate-free environment where all people can live, work, and learn. The team uses restorative practices to promote care, education, and campus restoration. Their current work focuses on program awareness, one way they are achieving that is by working with the Student Government Association. SGA recently passed a resolution and is working with the Faculty Senate to ensure communication about the BIRT program is included in the course syllabus.

BIRT is just one of a number of things UNC Asheville is doing to address racial discrimination and harassment on our campus.

During their application process, students are asked to choose which majors are of interest to them. Over the summer, the Office of Institutional Research conducted an interest analysis and discovered several thought-provoking findings.

• There were some differences based on sex. For instance, interest in Computer Science, Engineering, and Economics was dominated by males, while interest from females dominates Health and Wellness Promotion, Anthropology, Psychology, and Sociology.
• Nearly half of graduates who indicated academic interest areas graduated in their first interest area, 60% in one of them.
• There is great variation across majors and graduates in the proportion of students who had indicated interest in that field at the time of admission.

 For further information, or to see the entire report, please contact Jeff Konz at jkonz@unca.edu

Everyone deserves a round of applause for their hard work last semester. In the continuing student survey students expressed overwhelming appreciation for their advisors, friends, and professors for supporting them through the Fall 2020 semester. Students lauded their community for allowing their human-ness by being compassionate and flexible. When asked what resources were most helpful during their Fall 2020 semester, several students responded:

“Honestly, my supervisors at work [on campus] helped me the most through the semester. They were so willing to help”

“Having professors and advisors that genuinely care about educating and are able to truly teach so that students are able to maximize their learning.”

We were curious to learn more about specific ways that staff is extending flexible, compassionate support to students as a result of learning from the Fall 2020 semester.

To continue helping students connect in ways that meet their needs Stan Sweeney and his team in Highsmith Student Union are offering more in person and hybrid opportunities like Homecoming After Dark (in person) and Open Mic Nights (hybrid). They opened up informal non-reserve-able space like the Grotto, Student Life Porch, Mountain Suites, and the Intercultural Center for students to gather safely. Staff who work in the Highsmith Union regularly visit these areas to informally connect with students (shout out to Kate Johnson, Stan Sweeney, Megan Pugh, Robert Straub, Stephanie Giang, Cori Anderson, Rochelle Mapp, Maria Fairchild, Silke Crombie).

Come by Highsmith and check out the more fluid programming, like make and take stations, where students can make a stuffed animal, wall art, puzzles and other goodies on site or take home a makers kit.

In Fall 2020, the System Office administered the Racial Equity Task Force survey to understand more about perceptions of equity, diversity, and inclusion at institutions across the system. In analyzing the survey results, we found that white students are much more likely to feel included, valued, and like they belong at UNC Asheville.

• 49% of BIPOC students always or often feel welcome on campus (co
  mpared to 86% of white students)
• 32% of BIPOC students always or often feel free to share their thoughts and opinions with peers, faculty, and staff (compared to 77% of white students)
• 24% of BIPOC students always or often feel they are a part of a community within our institution (compared to 55% of white students)
• 59% of BIPOC students always or often feel respected as individuals (compared to 79% of white students)

UNC Asheville offers a Living Learning Community specifically for historically underrepresented students to help combat these feelings. The SANKOFA LLC is open to first-year students of color who all live on the same floor in the residence hall and take AFST 174 together. Students who are a part of SANKOFA also participate in community building activities like residence hall and campus programming, local cultural activities, and get ready for all that the first year at UNC Asheville has in store.

Living Learning Communities have been shown to help students feel more supported socially, more respected, and create community.

We learned in last semester’s Continuing Student Survey that 51% of students need more help understanding what they can do with their degree. To help with that, the Career Center has created the Career Development Road Map. With steps students can take each year, this year-by-year guide shows students what they can do to prepare themselves for success after graduating by starting now. The Career Center is open during the summer and can help students wherever they are on their career path. For more information contact the Career Center career@unca.edu.

In a 2019 survey of first year students and seniors, we learned that they felt anxious, overwhelmed, and depressed more frequently than students at peer schools.

• 55% of first years and 67% of seniors frequently felt anxious (compared to 43% and 45%, respectively, for peer groups)
• 61% of first years and 66% of seniors frequently felt overwhelmed by all they had to do (43% and 50%, respectively, for peer groups)
• 87% of first years and 83% of seniors frequently or occasionally felt depressed (compared to 70% and 70%, respectively, for peer groups)

Regular exercise can have a profoundly positive impact on depression, anxiety, and ADHD. It also relieves stress, improves memory, helps you sleep better, and boosts your overall mood. Research shows that exercise is Medicine, so Campus Recreation and Health & Counseling collaborated to create a referral program to help students get moving and improve their mental health.

Through this collaboration, Health & Counseling provides students who might benefit from exercise referrals to Campus Recreation a free starter package that includes 3 sessions with a movement coach/trainer, a fitness kit, and a pedometer. Students in isolation/quarantine are also eligible for the free starter package, and all students, regardless of having a referral, are eligible for half off the starter package. Virtual, in-person, and hybrid sessions are available based on the needs and interests of each student. The North Carolina Collaboratory Policy Grant UNC Asheville received helped fund the program. Questions? Give Blake Covington a shout, bcovingt@unca.edu.

Students who participate in the First Year Experience (FYE) pilot project are more likely to feel connected than first year students who were not in pilot classes. They are more likely than other First Year students enrolled in HUM 124, LANG 120, and FYS 178 to:

• Believe that their learning was very important to their professors (46% of pilot students strongly agree compared to 32% of non-pilot students)
• Have at least one close friend at UNC Asheville with whom they can talk about important things (13% of non-pilot students strongly disagree compared to only 3% of pilot students)
• Have a stronger perception of their own physical health and social self-confidence (41% and 35%, respectively, of pilot students rated themselves as above average compared to 31% and 28%, respectively, of non-pilot students

staAnalysis of last year’s continuing student survey confirmed what our ASC and Career Center colleagues already suspected, sophomores often face issues related to retention and success. “It’s an ‘in-between time’ where Sophomores are settled into campus, so the nerves and excitement have calmed down, but then they face the big questions of ‘what do I want to do with my life?’ Students also begin to take more challenging classes in their major and even realize they may not want to pursue the major they intended” says Anne Marie Roberts, Associate Director of Advising.

Continuing Student Survey data showed that Sophomores were:

• Less likely (than other classes) to agree that they have at least one faculty or staff member with whom they can talk about important things (40% disagreed, whereas other class levels averaged 22% disagreement);
• Less likely (than other classes) to have conversations with professors outside of class about their career plans (57% of sophomores disagreed whereas, other classes averaged 44% disagreement).

This is why something was created exclusively for sophomores, almost a VIP experience. The Sophomore Elevation Experience began as a credit-bearing class that lasted an entire semester with curricula that the career center and advising offices developed together around values exploration, identity development, career searching, academic majors, and having students make the connection between the liberal arts and their future.

The experience is rooted in the SPARK credit based course. It helps students get to know their own interests, abilities, values, and what they truly enjoy. They learn how to make a practical connection from those things to real world experiences and opportunities using their Liberal Arts Education as a base. In essence, students are asked the question, what is your SPARK? What lights you up and makes you want to change the world? Then they are guided along the way.

This glossary provides definitions and standards for terminology used in IREP-produced reports. This glossary can be compared to the SDM and HRDM data glossaries provided by System Office, here:

SDM Data Dictionary: https://uncdm.northcarolina.edu/sdm/dictionary.php

HRDM Data Dictionary: https://uncdm.northcarolina.edu/uncdm/hrdm_dictionary.php

In some cases, the same word may be defined differently by separate organizations. For instance, the federal IPEDS reporting system defines employee gender as either “male” or “female”, whereas UNCA allows employees to self-select additional gender options. In such cases, the organizational-affiliation of the word is provided in its name, in order to differentiate it from other definitions of the same word, e.g. “Gender (IPEDS)” versus “Gender (UNCA)”.

Please send questions or concerns about definitions in this glossary to irep@unca.edu.

Academic Area: historically includes Humanities, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, and University Programs.

Academic Year (IREP): Academic year (AY) is defined as starting July of one year and ending June of the next. In most reports, the summer term is treated as the leading term. For example, the 2020-21 academic year (sometimes abbreviated as the “Academic Year 2020”) would typically include the summer 2020, fall 2020, and spring 2021 semester.

Adjunct Faculty (IREP): Instructional staff who are not contracted beyond a single term (contract <= 5 months) and who are typically less than 1 FTE.

Asian (IPEDS): Asian employees are US citizens or permanent legal residents who self-identify as a non-Hispanic person with an Asian racial identity, this being a person “having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian Subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam” (US Office of Management & Budget, 1997).

Black (IPEDS): Black employees are US citizens or permanent legal residents who self-identify as a non-Hispanic person with a Black or African American racial identity, this being a person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa” (US Office of Management & Budget, 1997).

Faculty (IREP): An employee with academic rank. May have a non-faculty JCAT code.

Faculty (IPEDS): Persons identified by the institution as such and typically those whose initial assignments are made for the purpose of conducting instruction, research or public service as a principal activity (or activities). They may hold academic rank titles of professor, associate professor, assistant professor, instructor, lecturer or the equivalent of any of those academic ranks. Faculty may also include the chancellor/president, provost, vice provosts, deans, directors or the equivalent, as well as associate deans, assistant deans and executive officers of academic departments (chairpersons, heads or the equivalent) if their principal activity is instruction combined with research and/or public service. The designation as “faculty” is separate from the activities to which they may be currently assigned. For example, a newly appointed president of an institution may also be appointed as a faculty member. Graduate, instruction, and research assistants are not included in this category.

Faculty Status (IPEDS): A status designated by the institution according to the institution’s policies. “Faculty” may include staff with academic appointments (instruction, research, public service) and other staff members who are appointed as faculty members. The designation “faculty” is separate from the activities to which the staff members are currently assigned. For example, a president, provost, or librarian may also be appointed as a faculty member. For IPEDS reporting, graduate assistants do not have faculty status.

Faculty Type (Delaware): Tenure/Tenure-track, Other Regular, or Supplemental. Supplemental faculty include adjuncts and staff (with or without faculty status) who teach.

FTE Staff (IPEDS): The full-time-equivalent (FTE) of staff is calculated by summing the total number of full-time staff from the Employees by Assigned Position (EAP) component and adding one-third of the total number of part-time staff.

Full-time staff (IPEDS): As defined by the institution. The type of appointment at the snapshot date determines whether an employee is full-time or part-time. The employee’s term of contract is not considered in making the determination of full- or part-time.

Hispanic U.S. Residents (IPEDS): Hispanic U.S. Residents include employees who are US citizens or permanent legal residents and who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino, this being a person “of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race” (US Office of Management & Budget, 1997).  International employees are not included in this count.

HRDM (Human Resources Data Mart): The system-wide data system which captures Human Resources data from individual campus ERP systems. In UNCA’s case, HRDM extracts data from Banner on a monthly basis, after the data snapshot has been manually “opened” by UNCA staff and after all SO-identified errors have been resolved. Potential HRDM errors are proactively tracked and resolved by multiple offices as coordinated by IR.

Humanities (Academic Area, UNCA): historically includes the Arts & Ideas, Art, Art History, Classics, Dance, Drama, English, Humanities, Languages and Literatures, Music, Philosophy, and Religious Studies departments, majors, and minors.

Instructional Staff (IPEDS): An occupational category that is comprised of staff who are either: 1) Primarily Instruction or 2) Instruction combined with research and/or public service.  The intent of the Instructional Staff category is to include all individuals whose primary occupation includes instruction at the institution.

Native American (IPEDS): Native American employees are US citizens or permanent legal residents who self-identify as a non-Hispanic person with an American Indian or Alaska Native racial identity, this being a person “having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America) who maintains cultural identification through tribal affiliation or community attachment” (US Office of Management & Budget, 1997).

Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islanders (IPEDS): Pacific Islanders are US citizens or permanent legal residents who self-identify as a non-Hispanic person with a Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander racial identity, this being a person “having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands” (US Office of Management & Budget, 1997).

Natural Sciences (Academic Area, UNCA): historically includes the Atmospheric Sciences, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Engineering, Environmental Studies, Mathematics, New Media, and Physics departments, majors, and minors.

Race/Ethnicity (Disaggregated): Every employee who self-identified in the category, including those who self-identified in more than one.

Sex (IPEDS): In accordance with federal IPEDS reporting requirements, students are classified as either male or female based on either self-identification during the application process or semi-randomized assignment.

Social Sciences (Academic Area, UNCA): historically includes the Africana Studies, Anthropology, Asian Studies, Economics, Education, Health and Wellness, History, Interdisciplinary Studies, International Studies, Accountancy, Management, Mass Communication, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies departments, majors, and minors.

Tenure (IREP): Faculty on Phrased Retirement and Retired are not considered tenured.

Two or More Races (IPEDS): Two or more races employees are US citizens or permanent legal residents who self-identify as a non-Hispanic person belonging to two or more of the five main racial groups recognized by IPEDS (above). These employees are sometimes referred to as “multi-racial” employees.

Underrepresented Racial/Ethnic Groups: defined by the UNC System as anyone identifying as Native American or Alaska Native, Black or African American, Hispanic, or two or more races.

University Programs (Academic Area, UNCA): includes the Asheville Graduate Center, Grad Studies, Cont Ed and Spon Prgs, and Master of Liberal Arts and Sciences, departments, majors, and minors.

White (IPEDS): White employees are US citizens or permanent legal residents who self-identify as a non-Hispanic person with a White racial identity, this being a person “having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa” (US Office of Management & Budget, 1997).

Workload Hours (Academic Affairs): As of fall 2020, this data is defined by Academic Affairs.

We all know that our experiences as employees can be different, but have you ever wondered what the data says about the differences between faculty and staff experiences?

For instance, take the following question: “There is a good balance of teaching, service and research at this institution.”

• 63% of Adjuncts
• 61% of EHRA Staff
• 30% of Faculty; and
• 65% of SHRA Staff

Agreed with the statement.

Before making conclusions about these data points, let’s think about each other’s perspectives. I wonder, what comes to mind when an SHRA staff member thinks about balancing teaching, research and service at UNC Asheville? What about a faculty member?

The difference tells me that the overall faculty experience is potentially very different from the staff (SHRA staff) experience when it comes to teaching. It also provides us with an opportunity to better understand each other’s experiences.

A couple weeks ago, Amanda Bell gave a presentation about the unique perspectives of employees based on job classification (i.e. Faculty, SHRA, EHRA Staff, and Adjunct; the presentation used data from the Employee Engagement survey administered in January 2020). In the presentation, she  talked about several different phenomena that faculty and staff experience differently. If you were not on the call, listen here for the full presentation (45 minutes)

University of North Carolina Asheville is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award baccalaureate degrees and one masters degree. Degree-granting institutions also may offer credentials such as certificates and diplomas at approved degree levels. Questions about the accreditation of University of North Carolina Asheville may be directed in writing to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, GA 30033-4097, by calling (404) 679-4500, or by using information available on SACSCOC’s website (www.sacscoc.org).

The purpose for publishing the Commission on College’s address and contact numbers is to enable interested constituents (1) to learn about the accreditation status of the University of North Carolina Asheville and (2) to file a complaint for alleged non-compliance with a standard or requirement.

Please note that normal inquiries about the University of North Carolina at Asheville, such as admissions requirements, financial aid, educational programs, and the like should be addressed directly to us and not to the Commission on Colleges office. For information specific to the University of North Carolina at Asheville, please contact:

Office of the Chancellor, UNC Asheville
253 Phillips Hall, CPO 1400
One University Heights
Asheville, NC 28804
(828) 251-6500

In addition to Institutional Accreditation by SACSCOC, UNC Asheville has several programs which are accredited.

• The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) accredits the Joint UNCA/NC State Engineering program in Mechatronics.
• The American Chemical Society (ACS) approves the Chemistry Department but does not accredit.
• Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) has granted continuing accreditation to the Department of Education. This accreditation covers initial teacher preparation programs.
• The Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC) accredits the Health and Counseling Center.

The KPI dashboard is typically updated twice per year:

1. Mid-fall, when UNCA releases current-year data and IPEDS releases prior-year enrollment, completion, and staffing data.
2. Early spring, when IPEDS releases prior-year fiscal data.

UNC Ashevilles’s strategic plan performance metrics and goals were developed by System Office and are reported on an annual basis. The current strategic plan metrics and goals will remain active from 2022 to 2027, after which System Office will develop a new strategic plan.

Six different performance metrics are reported for the stategic plan:

• 4-year First-time Graduation Rate from Anywhere
• 4-year First-time Pell Graduation Rate from Anywhere
• Undergraduate Degree Efficiency
• Average Cumulative Debt at Completion of Bachelor’s Degree, First-time Students
• Average Cumulative Debt at Completion of Bachelor’s Degree, Transfer Students
• Education and Relation Spending per Degree

For each of these six metrics, four dimensions are tracked:

• Baseline scenario: i.e. business as usual, which is based on UNC Asheville’s performance metrics as of the year 2020.
• Threshold goal: the minimum performance target set by System Office.
• Stretch goal: an improved performance target.
• UNC Asheville actuals: the actual performance of the institution on a given metric for a given year.

Beyond the strategic plan performance indicators set by System Office, UNC Asheville independently monitors and reports several key and supplementary performance indicators. For many of these indicators, when relevant data is available in IPEDS, UNC Asheville measures its performance against a group of public peers and UNC peers.

Public peers include:

• Christopher Newport University
• College of Charleston
• Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
• St. Mary’s College of Maryland
• SUNY at Purchase College
• SUNY College at Geneseo
• Truman State University
• University of Mary Washington
• University of Minnesota-Morris
• Winthrop University

UNC peers include:

• Elizabeth City State University
• Fayetteville State University
• North Carolina Central University
• University of North Carolina at Pembroke
• University of North Carolina School of the Arts
• Western Carolina University
• Winston-Salem State University

All data that includes public peer comparisons is sourced from IPEDS, with more recent data that has not yet been published by IPEDS instead sourced directly from UNC Asheville’s records.

• 4-year First-time Full-time Graduation Rate from Anywhere:
  • Year shown reflects the strategic plan reporting year, not the cohort year. For example, the 4-year graduation rate shown for 2020 provides the percentage of students who matriculated at UNC Asheville in fall 2016 and graduated from any U.S. institution by the end of summer 2020.
  • Excludes students who aren’t reported to IPEDS (auditors, deceased students, active military, etc.)
• 4-year First-time Pell Graduation Rate from Anywhere:
  • Only includes students who started as full-time students and received a Pell Grant in their first year.
  • Year shown reflects the strategic plan reporting year, not the cohort year. For example, the 4-year graduation rate shown for 2020 provides the percentage of students who matriculated at UNC Asheville in fall 2016 and graduated from any U.S. institution by the end of summer 2020.
  • Excludes students who aren’t reported to IPEDS (auditors, deceased students, active military, etc.)
• Undergraduate Degree Efficiency:
  • Calculated as the count of all undergraduate degrees awarded per 100 FTE undergraduates for the respective academic year.
• Average Cumulative Debt at Completion of Bachelor’s Degree, First-time Students:
  • Baseline and goal figures are inflation-adjusted for each reported year.
• Average Cumulative Debt at Completion of Bachelor’s Degree, Transfer Students:
  • Baseline and goal figures are inflation-adjusted for each reported year.
• Education and Related Spending per Degree:
  • Overall expenses that support student success instead of research or public service relative to degrees awarded that year.
  • Baseline is a three-year average of 2018, 2019, and 2020, with 2018 and 2019 adjusted to 2020 dollars.
  • Goals are inflation-adjusted for each reported year.

• First-time Full-time Students by Year (Fall Only):
  • Excludes students who aren’t reported to IPEDS (auditors, deceased students, active military, etc.)
• Graduate Students by Year (Fall Only):
  • Excludes students who aren’t reported to IPEDS (auditors, deceased students, active military, etc.)
  • UNC Asheville did not have any active graduate programs in academic years 2020-21 and 2021-22.
• First-time Student Applications by Year (Fall Only):
  • This measure refers to the number of students who submitted complete applications for admittance to the institution for the fall semester.
• First-time Applicant Yield Rate by Year (Fall Only):
  • This measure refers to the number of newly admitted students who enrolled divided by the entire pool of students who were admitted.

• Core Expenditures per FTE:
  • Core expenditures for the essential educational activities of the institution per student FTE.
• Operating Revenue plus State Appropriations per FTE:
  • Operating revenue (tuition, fees, and auxiliaries) plus state appropriations per student FTE.
• Real Value of Endowment per FTE:
  • End-of-year institutional endowment per student FTE adjusted for inflation.
• Non-state Revenue per FTE: Private Gifts, Grants, Contracts:
  • Private grant, contract, and gift revenue per student FTE.
• Non-state Revenue per FTE: Government Grants and Contracts:
  • Government grant and contract revenue per student FTE.

• 4-year Graduation Rate, First-time Full-time Fall-entering Students by Cohort Year:
  • Academic year shown is for the year that the cohort entered UNC Asheville and reflects the 4-year graduation rate of that cohort. For example, the 4-year graduation rate shown for fall 2017 provides the percentage of students who were graduated by the end of summer 2021.
  • Excludes students who aren’t reported to IPEDS (auditors, deceased students, active military, etc.)
• 6-year Graduation Rate, First-time Full-time Fall-entering Students by Cohort Year:
  • Only includes students who started as full-time students.
  • Academic year shown is for the year that the cohort entered UNC Asheville and reflects the 6-year graduation rate of that cohort. For example, the 6-year graduation rate shown for fall 2015 provides the percentage of students who were graduated by the end of summer 2021.
  • Excludes students who aren’t reported to IPEDS (auditors, deceased students, active military, etc.)
• 3-year Graduation Rate, Transfer Full-time Fall-entering Students by Fall Cohort Year:
  • Academic year shown is for the year that the cohort entered UNC Asheville and reflects the 3-year graduation rate of that cohort. For example, the 3-year graduation rate shown for fall 2018 provides the percentage of students who were graduated by the end of summer 2021.
  • Excludes students who aren’t reported to IPEDS (auditors, deceased students, active military, etc.)
• Graduate School Enrollment within 3 Years of UNCA Degree Completion by Graduation Class:
  • Includes UNCA bachelor degree recipients who enrolled in a graduate-level program at any U.S. university within 3 years of their degree completion year, including post-bac certificates, master’s, doctoral, or professional programs.
  • Due to incomplete data reporting practices to the National Student Clearinghouse by participating institutions, this metric may slightly undercount total student enrollment in graduate programs.
• High Impact Experiences, First-time Students Only by Graduation Class:
  • Only includes undergraduate degree recipients who started as first-time students.
  • Student learning activities that count toward high impact experiences include: undergraduate research, study abroad, course-based internships, course-based service learning, honors program, and student employment.
  • Note: this dashboard includes a drilldown button which allows participation in high impact experiences to be disaggregated into individual experience types.
• Credit Hour Benchmark Pass Rate, First-time Full-time Fall-entering Students by Cohort Year:
  • Pass rate measures the percentage of each cohort that have successfully passed:
    • A total of 30 institutional credit hours by summer at the end of their first year;
    • A total of 60 institutional credit hours by summer at the end of their second year;
    • A total of 90 institutional credit hours by summer at the end of their third year.
  • Total credit hours include the summer term immediately preceding the fall matriculation term.
  • Note: this dashboard can be toggled between an ‘All Students’ version, in which attrited students are included in all calculations, and an ‘Enrolled Students’ version, in which attrited students are excluded from all calculations.

• Fall Student Headcount by Year:
  • Excludes students who aren’t reported to IPEDS (auditors, deceased students, active military, etc.)
• Auxiliary Revenue per FTE by Fiscal Year:
  • Auxiliary revenue (dining, housing, athletics, camps and conferences, etc.) per student FTE.
• Fall-to-fall First-time Student 1-year Retention by Cohort Year:
  • Only includes first-time full-time fall-entering students.
  • Academic year shown is for the year that the cohort entered UNCA and reflects the 1-year retention performance of that cohort. For example, the fall-to-fall 1-year retention rate shown for 2020 provides the percentage of students who were retained from fall 2020 to fall 2021.
  • Excludes students who aren’t reported to IPEDS (auditors, deceased students, active military, etc.)
• Fall-to-fall Full-time Employee Turnover from Prior Year:
  • Turnover rate is the percentage of all full-time employees employed as of October 31st in the base year and who were no longer employed as of October 31st of the reporting year.
  • Employees who change to part-time or change jobs but are still employed at the university in the following year are considered retained and not counted in turnover statistics.
  • Employee turnover rates are not available for peers in IPEDS.