Help Desk Update: A Year of Changes and Challenges Jamie Isaac and Janice Kelly-Reid RTI International April 7, 2010 Presented at the 2010 SHEEO/NCES Network Conference and IPEDS Workshop Washington, DC 3040 Cornwallis Road P.O. Box 12194 Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, 27709 RTI International is a trade name of Research Triangle Institute
IPEDS Help Desk - Operated since July 2000 by RTI International - Help Desk agents are specially hired and trained to serve IPEDS customers - Open weekdays 8:30am to 5:00pm Eastern time - Open evenings and weekends during the final ten days of each collection 2
What is the Role of the Help Desk? Typically, we have 16-18 staff, many of them seasoned veterans. We operate out of our Call Center in north Raleigh, NC. Respond to phone calls and emails. Make prompting (reminder) calls during the last 2 weeks of each collection. Review and migrate all survey data after locked and complete. At minimum, this means careful review of the edit reports and caveats. We can enter special notes for individual schools, so let us know if special treatment is needed for a particular reason. 3
Meet the Help Desk 4
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Help Desk Activity 2009-10 Collection Year Fall 2009 Collection Winter-Spring 09-10 Collection* Total* Number of Calls Received 11,684 11,247 22,931 Number of Calls Made 10,498 10,877 21,375 Number of Emails Received 3842 1981 5823 Total 26,024 24,105 50,129 *Through March 31, 2010 6
Inbound Call volume Inbound Calls Projected 35000 30000 25000 20000 15000 10000 5000 0 '00-'01 '01-'02 '02-'03 '03-'04 '04-'05 '05-'06 '06-'07 '07-'08 '08-'09 '09-'10* Collection Year *Through March 31, 2010 7
Outbound Call volume Outbound Calls Projected 30000 25000 20000 15000 10000 5000 0 '00-'01 '01-'02 '02-'03 '03-'04 '04-'05 '05-'06 '06-'07 07-'08 '08-'09 '09-'10* Collection Year *Through March 31, 2010 8
Inbound Calls By Survey Component Inbound Calls By Survey Component 4000 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 *Through March 31, 2010 Student Financial Aid Inst Characteristics Human Resources Completions 12-Month Enrollment Enrollment Finance Graduation Rates GR200 9
Average Call Duration Average Call Duration, By Survey Component 9:36 8:24 7:12 6:00 4:48 3:36 2:24 1:12 0:00 Student Financial Aid Graduation Rates Finance Graduation Rates 200% 12-Month Enrollment Human Resources Completions Inst Characteristics Enrollment 10
Inbound Help Desk Calls, by Sector, 2009-10 Percentage of Total Calls 11
New Email Communications Email to New Keyholders Sent weekly throughout the collection year Introduces new keyholders to IPEDS Includes lots of information and many links to resources Email to Coordinators Annual update at the beginning of the collection year Provides updates, e.g. Collection schedule, R/E conversion, etc. Highlights new developments, e.g. CIP:2010, Net Price Calculator, new way to print blank forms, new option for receiving lock confirmation emails, etc. 12
New IPEDS Listserv Intended to foster communications about best practices, institutional reporting issues, not as a replacement for the IPEDS Help Desk. Recent discussion topics: Tips for new keyholders (22 posts) Inclusion/exclusion of certain instructional faculty (22 posts) Printing/storing of IPEDS reports (16 posts) Dealing with GRS exclusions (15 posts) IPEDS reporting burden (15 posts) When to report visiting students (13 posts) Inclusion/exclusion of dually-enrolled H.S. students (9 posts) 13
Keyholder Turnover, 2008-09 vs. 2009-10 2008-09 2009-10* *This year keyholders self-identified as being new 14
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Last Minute Submissions We still continue to see more and more last week reporters. We understand that entering data is just the last part of a much longer process, but try not to wait if it can be avoided. The Help Desk is heavily burdened during the last few days of the collection. 16
Final Week Submissions Non-Respondent Institutions (No Data Entered) with 1 Week Remaining, By Collection, By Year 2500 Fall 2000 Winter Spring 1500 1000 500 0 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 Collection Year 17
Frequency of Edit Errors, by Survey, 2009-10 7.00 6.00 Number of Edit Errors 5.00 4.00 3.00 2.00 1.00 0.00 SFA IC HR EF F C GR200 E12 GRS 18
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Data Tools Help Desk Open since March 2007. Currently, 3 primary staff responding to phone calls and emails. Additional staff available as needed. Assists IPEDS users and others by familiarizing them with the IPEDS data tools and/or assisting with outputting data files. Trained and eager to assist users trying out the new Data Center. 20
Data Tools Help Desk, Past Year Most Common Types of Data Tools Inquiries 4% 19% 44% Locating Data General Tools Assistance Navigation Issues Comparison Group Issues User ID/Login Issues 8% 25% 21
Data Tools Inquiries By Month Past 2 Years Data Tools Inquiries by Month 250 200 150 100 50 0 Apr-08 May-08 Jun-08 Jul-08 Aug-08 Sep-08 Oct-08 Nov-08 Dec-08 Jan-09 Feb-09 Mar-09 Apr-09 May-09 Jun-09 Jul-09 Aug-09 Sep-09 Oct-09 Nov-09 Dec-09 Jan-10 Feb-10 Mar-10 22
Types of help we have provided recently Did not understand the different levels to log-in; could not find collection level login. Finally switching over from using the PAS-- needed help with basic navigation within data center. Needed help locating reported data (used to be called forms facsimile). Needed help with creating a comparison group by variable. Needed help summing completions by program across multiple years and multiple institutions. What questions can we help YOU with? 23
In Closing Thank you for your assistance in making IPEDS successful! 24