About the Center

Mission

The mission of the Center for the Institutional Effectiveness is to provide leadership in ensuring that VCU is the most effective institution that it can be, support the work of decision makers at all levels within the university by developing appropriate metrics and providing information and analyses necessary to make data-driven decisions, meet the ongoing planning and evaluation needs of VCU, assess business practices for efficiency, effectiveness and accountability, and ensure that the university meets its statutory and voluntary reporting requirements in an accurate and timely fashion. To accomplish this mission, CIE pairs analysis with decision making throughout the institution to identify information needed for decisions that are consistent with the university’s mission and strategic direction, and to ensure that decision makers have ready access to that information.

History

Theme I of the VCU 2020 Strategic Plan calls for the creation of a center concerned with ongoing university effectiveness to ensure that VCU maintains its effectiveness as an institution and its accountability for the resources entrusted to it. In July 2005, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Stephen Gottfredson created CIE to assist with the review of VCU’s administrative infrastructure and to provide ongoing evaluation of VCU’s effectiveness as an institution of higher education. Staff roles and responsibilities within the Center were designed to provide analytical support for one or more important areas of decision making within the institution. The Center also works with a number of staff members in other university offices who conduct analyses and evaluation activities in advancing VCU’s institutional effectiveness.