What is IE?

Institutional Effectiveness is the term used to describe the process of quality improvement followed by TSTC Harlingen. Quality Improvement, Total Quality Management, Quality Assurance are terms given to the processes many businesses undertake to produce increased efficiency and employee and customer satisfaction. Though the outcomes in an educational setting differ from those in the business world, efficiency and achievement of stated outcomes and objectives remain the foundation for an organization’s improvement.

At TSTC Harlingen, the office of Institutional Effectiveness and Research (IE&R) is charged with overseeing the functions of institutional effectiveness for the college. Staff lead college administrators, divisions, and units in the continual planning that is necessitated by real data and outcomes that forms the foundation of informed decision-making. IE&R guides units to plan for the future based on research and data collected from various evaluations and assessments conducted across the college and among several groups of students or other college constituents.

The Research function of the IE&R department is a continuous process that incorporates a series of routine reports, evaluations and assessment results with internal data that tracks student achievement and provides evidence of trends. The actual use of research and data is to provide a basis for making informed decisions and developing plans aimed at improvement of operations or activities.

The cycle of IE&R is fully detailed in the TSTC Harlingen IE Handbook.