INTERIM REPORT OF THE CSIR/DATA QUALITY CONTROL WORKING GROUP
November, 2005

Members: Sumei Chi Quiggle (AS), Edward Connery (AS), Loris Davanzo (OPA), Karen Denton (OR), Paul Hoch (BFIT/OPA), LaVern Lazzereschi (OR), Patty Mead (SMCP), Patti Owen (APO), Moira Perez (Grad Div), Lenore Ralston (OPA - Chair), Linda Song (AS), Linda Wong (BFIT/OPA)

CSIR (Class Scheduling and Instructional Record) is a system which relies on the integrity and smooth interfacing of several data-gathering and reporting systems and enforcement of policies originating from the offices of the Academic Senate, Academic Personnel, Registrar, Planning & Analysis, Space Management and Capital Programs, Graduate Division, and the UC system-wide Office of the President.

Over the course of this past year the CSIR/Data Quality Control Working Group has focused on tasks having implications for individual “home” units as well as for campus-wide improvements to centrally shared systems, operations, and reporting processes related to CSIR. The majority of the work in 2004-05 was focused on implementing findings and recommendations from both campus and OP CSIR-related committees which convened during the previous three years. Some of the areas addressed have included issues related to E-Grades, Space Utilization, projections of allowable space based on workload activity, Class Scheduling, GSI and Unit-18 collective bargaining contracts, COCI Course Approval Forms, De-Cal and other student-initiated/facilitated courses, and the clarification of which instructional title codes for both faculty and student instructors are appropriate for teaching as compared to which are appropriate for reporting. Further, our work has helped inform the efforts of other groups charged with addressing concerns raised by the California Bureau of State Audit’s report (completed summer, 2002), and has helped develop an ongoing administrative process to ensure the quality of CSIR system data on into the future.

SUMMARY OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS

DATA QUALITY
• Incorporated the recommendations of the Report of the Joint Administration /Academic Senate Working Group on Instructional Activity into new Business Rules for CSIR – completed implementation and documentation of business rules related to cross-listed and room-shared courses (http://opa.vcbf.berkeley.edu/csir/AlgorithmsTeachWrkldMetrics.htm). Also, cf. Report of the Cross-listed Course Workgroup, chaired by Susan Tonus – Class Scheduling;

• Worked out solutions for several persistent and time-consuming coding anomalies affecting the parity of reported data;

• Incorporated HRMS data into the OPA reporting database as the source for job-code verification for instructors and student affiliates;

• Completed manual reassignment of 98, 198 courses from IND to a new instructional format code dedicated to Directed Group Study (GRP) – e.g. reserving the use of instructor format code IND for x99, 601, 602 courses;

• In conjunction with the re-write of the Workload S-1 table of the annual Space Analysis tables for OP reporting purposes, examined all elements which feed the report, with special focus on post-docs and weekly student contact hours;

SYSTEMS and DICTIONARIES
• Reconciled five dictionaries as part of the Workload S-1 table of the annual Space Analysis tables re-write;

ERRORS & OMISSIONS
• Continued work on embedding fatal errors and warnings into the E&O process through newly designed screen. Testing to be undertaken in early winter 2006. Full implementation expected in spring 06;

• Continued work on design of anomaly trend reports to track improvements for key CSIR elements – e.g. measuring policy/practice gaps for: TCs/job codes (OP reporting, GSI, Unit-18 Lecturers), IND + x99, Instruc Func, Instructional Format, Cross-listed/room shares (OPA/BFIT);

REPORTING
• Completed aggregate faculty workload reports by course-offering and pay departments. These made available through CAL PROFILES);

• Drafted a new Bio-bib report to incorporate measures focused on individual faculty activity. Collaborative work among staff from the Academic Personnel Office, HRMS, and OPA/BFIT;

• Continued to work with departments on providing reports helpful to them;

• Preliminary design efforts for a policy versus practice report for use by the Vice-Provost for Academic Planning and Facilities;

TRAINING
• The OPA CSIR training team completed training sessions with approximately 90 % of all departments, making presentations to close to 250 faculty (Chairs and Deans) and staff (MSOs, departmental HRMS staff, and CSIR Coordinators) with regard to the importance of CSIR, how it is used, who to contact for issues related to data entry, underlying policies driving the business rules, etc. We were joined at points by Moira Perez – Graduate Division.

DOCUMENTATION
• Draft Reference Manuals have been completed for Instructional Workload Activity and for Workload S-1 table of the annual Space Analysis tables. Additional work still needs to be done during the course of 2005-2006 as final pieces of systems implementation are brought to completion, and new reporting capabilities are added.

DATA INTEGRATION
• New screens – initiated and in progress;
• Quarterly meetings suspended in 2004-2005 as we broke into sub-committees to further specific parts of the quality control effort. We expect to resume Quarterly meetings in 2006-2007 to maintain administrative networks/connections needed to keep the CSIR- and related systems robust and informed;
• Continue monitoring the policies and practices of other central campus administrative units.

WEB-SITE
• Updated the web-site using suggestions from academic units (feedback from training exercises). Added new reports as made available to us; plans in 2006-2007 to add a section on CSIR-related elements of the Workload S-1 table;

Space Utilization
• Created a sub-committee to focus on issues related to space workload activity reports and CSIR. Goal: to better integrate space-related dictionaries, to fully understand how the data is put together, insert appropriate quality control mechanisms, and to automate reporting process. Intensive work with SMCP, Post-doc Office, and OP. Workload S-1 table of the annual Space Analysis tables automated and documented.