Mission
The Division of Planning, Assessment and Research has, as its primary mission, the collection of data (from both internal and external sources), and the analysis, distribution, and presentation of this information for use in planning, decision-making, and policy formulation at Winston-Salem State University. The Division is responsible for ensuring the accuracy of vital University statistics, and for reporting these data to a broad spectrum of information consumers. A major function of the Division is to respond to diverse requests for data from members of the University community, and to assist personnel in other units with research and assessment methodology, analysis, and evaluation. The Division has three operational units: Institutional Research, Planning, and Assessment.

Administrative Responsibilities
The Division of Planning, Assessment and Research has principal responsibility for the planning and budget support process of the University. The Division also undertake a wide variety of student outcome assessment projects and major survey research projects in the areas of admissions and retention. The Division has access to and is responsible for reporting from University databases, as well as providing consultation, computer programming, and analytical support for several other recurring projects: IPEDS coordination, General Administration annual data summaries, retention and graduation rate studies, NCAA graduation rates, alumni surveys, enrollment projections, and NC University System benchmarking studies.

About Our Department….
We are located on the main floor of Pegram Hall. The Division of Institutional Planning, Assessment and Research (IPAR) is responsible for conducting various surveys with Winston-Salem State University. As stated by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges in their Criteria for Accreditation handbook….Institutional Research must be an integral part of the institutions planning and evaluation process. They must be effective in collecting and analyzing data and disseminating results. An institution must regularly evaluate the effectiveness of its institutional research process and use its findings for the improvement of its process."

These are points of which the Division of Institutional Planning, Assessment and Research (IPAR) takes pride in to ensure timely and accurate results of all work conducted by our Division.