About Us
PaIR abides by the Code of Ethics of the Canadian Institutional Research and Planning Association (CIRPA) as well as Niagara College’s Research Ethics Board (NC REB) for research involving human participants.
PaIR respects and promotes the First Nations Principles of OCAP® (ownership, control, access, possession), which “assert that First Nations have control over data collection processes, and that they own and control how this information can be used.” OCAP® is a registered trademark of the First Nations Information Governance Centre (FNIGC).
Vision
Facilitating effective, evidence-based planning and decision making.
Mission
To facilitate effective decision-making and planning by building capacity to drive robust institutional intelligence and action to meet the evolving needs of Niagara College stakeholders.
Values
Committed to ethical, collaborative, and evidence based practices.
We are guided by a culture of ethical behavior and trust built upon integrity, transparency and objectivity. We always bring our best. It’s focused excellence. We are obsessed about quality but with an iterative, collaborative and research-focused approach.
Focused on academic and service excellence, and stakeholder success.
It’s all about people, those we work alongside and the internal and external stakeholder we serve. It’s about serving each individual with insight, creativity, and a dedication to responsiveness. We aim to build extraordinary partnerships and exceed expectations. We give more than we take; we build capacity. We set people up for success.
Creative and innovative by actively seeking opportunities to learn and develop.
Our curiosity sparks a boundless desire for learning. We can always be better. We pursue opportunities on all levels and fronts. We are responsible risk-takers. We try new things without losing focus on genuine outcomes. We believe that excellence comes from caring about and surpassing day-to-day expectations.
Driven to continuously improve by leveraging technology and streamlining processes.
We are constantly exploring and reinventing processes, services and products—we can’t help ourselves. We ask the tough questions about what truly matters. We engage, and we explore needs and opportunities through collaborative dialogue.
Flexible and adaptable to meet the needs of the institution.
We are zealous about our work and we are here to create outstanding services and products to meet the evolving needs of our stakeholders. We get things done. Above all, we have passion for what we do, and we are honoured to serve. We are relentless and obsessed.
We know perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.
What We Do
Planning and Institutional Research provides data and information support to three key areas – strategic and internal planning, government reporting, and external research, as follows:
Data and Analytic Support
- Support strategic and operational planning and decision making with data and analyses.
- Develop and publish institutional statistics, such as enrolment and retention trends.
- Help build internal capacity to collect, analyze and use data to strengthen internal planning and decision making.
- Facilitate needs assessments and the design of reports and action plans.
- Support new program development with labour market information and analysis.
- Support academic program and accreditation reviews with data and analysis.
- Support strategic enrolment management and planning with data and analysis.
Board and Government Reporting
Survey Research
- Conduct and/or support institution-wide survey research including but not limited to the Program Experience Survey (PES), the Ontario College Student Experience Survey (OCSES), KPI Graduate Survey, and the Student Voices on Sexual Violence Survey
Research (external / internal)
- Provide leadership and oversight to the administrative/institutional consent process for external research requests; this process applies to all proposed studies involving Niagara College students, staff, faculty and/or data.
- Provide administrative resources and support to the Research Ethics Board.
- Actively contribute to community research and economic development planning by participating in local groups and organizations such as Niagara Connects, the Niagara Community Observatory, and the Niagara Workforce Planning Board.