OID Role and Function
The Office of Institutional Data (OID) plays a strategic, central role in advancing data-informed decision-making at Lehigh. It serves as the university’s hub for high-level analysis, aligning analytics with institutional goals—particularly the Lehigh Strategy. OID serves as the functional steward of institutional data, applying both educational and strategic analytics to curate, analyze, and translate data across domains such as student success, enrollment, and university operations—supporting decisions that improve learning outcomes and advance institutional strategy.
OID leads three core types of analysis:
- Strategic Impact Tracking: Ongoing analysis of strategic and educational metrics—through dashboards and reports—that align with the university’s priorities
- Institutional Effectiveness Analysis: Collaborative studies focused on key areas like retention, admissions, academic outcomes, administrative research, and operational performance—supporting continuous improvement and informed decision-making.
- Data-Informed Discovery: Proactive exploration of underutilized or emerging data sets (e.g., financial aid, classroom engagement, advising patterns, LMS data) to surface new insights that inform both academic practice and strategic direction.
As a leader in data governance, OID ensures that data is well-defined, high-quality, accessible, and interpreted through a university-wide lens. While not a system owner, OID partners with technical teams (e.g., LTS) to support integration and responsible data use—providing leadership and guidance on the effective use of key data platforms such as the Lehigh Administrative Data Lake (LADL) and the Institutional Data Portal (IDP).
OID contributes to the university’s data strategy by providing analysis, expertise, and coordination to:
- Advance campus-wide data fluency
- Promote ethical and responsible data use
- Empower academic and administrative units to better leverage institutional data
Services Provided by OID
OID supports the university through a range of services, including:
- Institutional Data Resources: Produces key publications such as the 10th Day Census Enrollment Statistics, University Profile, and Employee Census, along with a variety of other reports and dashboards. Visit our Institutional Data Center for more information.
- Custom Dashboards and Planning Tools: Maintains an internal repository of dashboards tailored to strategic needs and administrative planning.
- Data Governance Program: Oversees the university-wide data governance program and maintains the Institutional Data Dictionary. Learn more about Data Governance.
- Course Evaluations: Administers and supports the university’s course evaluations process.
- Strategic Educational Initiatives: Collaborates with the Office of Educational Innovation and Assessment (OEIA) on analytics to support educational innovation.