Shari Ellertson, director of Institutional Effectiveness, served as a panelist at the 61st annual forum of the Association for Institutional Effectiveness. Jen Snyder, manager of cost study at the University of Delaware, moderated the session “Discipline-Specific Peer Analyses for Instructional Costs and Productivity.” Other panelists included Marcia Preston from the University of Delaware and Mollie Miller from Miami University of Ohio.
The session focused on conceptual and data-informed approaches to discipline-specific peer selection and the application of cost study data in different institutional contexts. Ellertson highlighted institutional effectiveness’s experience with the cost study, challenges in working with the relevant instructional cost data, and the use of selected cost study data in academic program prioritization.