Organizational Update: UAIR Joining the Office of the Provost

Dear colleagues,

As the university continues to navigate complex challenges in higher education, the work of our colleagues in University Analytics and Institutional Research (UAIR) plays an increasingly important role in achieving our academic and research goals.

To leverage this critical expertise more effectively, we have made the decision to move UAIR into the Office of the Provost, effective immediately. This decision was made in collaboration with Richard Cate and Elliott Cheu, after consultation with the UAIR leadership team and university senior leaders.

In my time here, I have heard about the incredible work UAIR has done over the years to strengthen the university’s capacity to collect and use data critically and constructively to support planning, policy analysis and decision-making. They have successfully established a centralized data warehouse and built partnerships with academic and administrative units to create a single source of truth for institutional data.

By bringing UAIR into the Office of the Provost, we will work together to establish and monitor key baseline metrics that will guide our efforts to improve student success in areas such as student engagement, retention, graduation and career outcomes. I am also looking to this team to create a unified data environment across the university and develop meaningful indicators of progress that will inform institutional strategies and best practices to drive change and move our academic priorities forward.

This organizational structure aligns with common models for institutional research teams at universities nationwide. The UAIR team was part of the Office of Provost here at the U of A before joining UITS in 2019.

We will soon launch a national search for UAIR’s new leader who will report to me and serve as a member of the Provost Integrated Leadership Team and the Academic Leadership Council. More information about the search will be shared in the coming weeks.

I want to assure you that the partnership between UAIR and UITS will remain strong, and I look forward to working with both teams as we maintain the integrity and accessibility of our data systems.

I am grateful for Elliott’s leadership and partnership during this transition, as we continue to grow our collaboration with UITS teams in this new structure.

Thank you to both UAIR and UITS team members for your resilience, dedication and hard work in support of our university’s mission.

Warm regards,

Patricia A. Prelock
Provost and Chief Academic Officer

This email was sent to all UITS and UAIR employees.