Archive for January, 2008

DSS is embarking on a 3-part upgrade, scheduled to occur on April 14. The 3 upgrades are:

1. A new Oracle database to replace the old Sybase database
2. Conversion from use of the “old STAR” to the EDW-based Oracle Financials data
3. An upgrade of Business Objects to Version 6.5

(more…)

We reported in the last DSS newsletter that the NRC Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs, including a survey database and an interpretive essay, was scheduled to be released in late spring/early summer 2008. Last week, the NRC announced that the report and database will not be issued until late September 2008, soon after the start of the 2008-09 academic year here at Stanford. (more…)

DSS would like to announce an enhancement to the OF Valid PTA universe. The OF Valid PTA universe now includes information on all PTAs, including PTAs that are now closed. Users can access this universe to find out all current and past valid PTAs in their org. The universe is called OF_Valid_PTAs. You can use award, project, or task owning org, owner, or manager to look up valid PTAs. We hope you find this expansion useful.

On January 24, the Senate Finance Committee wrote to the 136 US colleges and universities with endowments of $500 million or more, asking a series of questions about endowment growth and management, and spending on student aid. Senators Max Baucus and Chuck Grassley, the leaders of the Committee, were seeking information to supplement the NACUBO report on double-digit endowment growth. (more…)

IPEDS is the Integrated Postsecondary Educational Data System. IPEDS is the core postsecondary education data collection program for NCES, the National Center for Education Statistics, an arm of the Department of Education. Most institutions of higher education are required to submit data to IPEDS. The only exclusions are those not open to the general public, such as military training sites. (more…)

Work continues on the WASC (Western Association of Schools and Colleges) Accreditation project. WASC is the regional entity responsible for accreditation of schools in Hawaii, California, Guam, and the Pacific Basin. (If you want to know more, visit their website here. (more…)

DSS is looking for someone to fill a 6-month fixed term position as an IR analyst. This person would be filling in for Missy Damon while she is on maternity leave, starting approximately July 1. If you know someone with data mining skills, excel skills, and (ideally), knowledge of higher education, please have him or her contact Rana. Thanks!

We’ve imported all of the old newsletter articles into this online format so that everything is searchable and easier to organize. In case you like the old PDFs, though, those are available too!

IRDS Newsletter: Winter 2008 [PDF]