Get to Know NOVA’s Data
Today’s topic is NOVA data.
In town halls and anonymous questions, I often get questions about NOVA data, and I’m always happy to answer. The data in my replies almost always comes from one of three sources, NOVA’s Office of Strategic Insights (OSI), VCCS or the State Council on Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV). I say “almost always” because sometimes, depending on the topic, I may also pull NOVA or regional data from reports authored by other sources, like the U.S. Department of Education NCES, the Community College Research Center, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center or the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.
These sources are publicly available and readily accessible.
NOVA’s Fact Books are a great place to start. They provide a treasure trove of information about our college, and you can find 25 years’ worth of annual college data in the Fact Books linked here. I recently received a question about changes in the ratio of Teaching Faculty to Administrative Faculty and went right to the published Fact Books to run a quick comparison. Looking for a NOVA OSI report on a specific topic? Find a searchable list here. Interested in more recent data and want to customize a search? Use the online dashboards here.
If you want to run comparisons between or across Virginia institutions, both VCCS and SCHEV are rich sources of data. For example, VCCS provides enrollment profiles of the fall 2017-22 classes for all the community colleges from which you can build a host of demographic comparisons. And, if graduation season has you wondering about the completion rates at Virginia colleges and universities, you’ll find this customizable report option on the SCHEV site.
I encourage you to spend some time this summer getting to know NOVA’s data—it’s only a few mouse clicks away. If you need assistance or would like a walk through for your department or office, reach out to the Office of Strategic Insights (osi@nvcc.edu) for assistance.
Kind regards,
Anne