Association for Institutional Research
Enhancing Knowledge. Expanding Networks.
AIR/IES-NCES Postdoctoral Policy Fellowships in Washington
A project to improve the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data SystemSupported by National Center for Education Statistics
Proposal acceptance for 2008 is currently closed and will reopen in January 2009.
Exact dates will be announced soon, please check back for details.
Click Here to Download the 2007 Postdoctoral Policy Fellow Proposal Guide (.pdf).
The Association for Institutional Research (AIR) is accepting applications for a new Postdoctoral Fellow Program, a project funded by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Postdoctoral Fellow projects will be responsible for undertaking analysis that results in improvements to the quality, comparability, and usefulness of the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).
Fellows will be introduced to the Washington higher education policy community through meetings, seminars and conversations. Fellowships provide $5,000 monthly for support while the Fellow is in residence in Washington, for a period of from nine to twelve months. An additional $5,000 will be provided for expenses for the life of the fellowship. It is expected that Fellows will be advanced graduate students completing dissertations, postdoctoral students, or institutional research professionals.
During the course of the project, the Fellow shall discuss and report work in progress at regular meetings with NCES staff and at meetings of the institutional research and Washington policy research communities. A final report and recommendations shall be delivered at the end of the Fellowship and at a meeting of Fellows at the AIR Annual Forum, funded by this program.
Application and Selection
Institutional researchers, graduate students, postdoctoral students, faculty, and others may submit applications. Fellows must be US citizens or permanent residents, and will be employees of AIR during the period of the Fellowship. Before formal submission, the application should be discussed with the AIR staff.
Selection will be based on the demonstrated skills and experience of prospective Fellows. Fellowship finalists will be interviewed by NCES postsecondary staff for final selection. Previous projects under the Senior Fellowship program have included a revision of the Peer Analysis System and an analysis of the First-Professional Degree classification. All applicants are welcome, and the selection process will be competitive.
The award amount is set with the expectation that the Fellowship will provide support for an individual working in residence at NCES for a period of 9 to 12 months. Proposals with other residency formats may be acceptable, and individuals may propose a project of shorter duration.
Applications may be submitted at any time. An application should consist of a cover letter discussing the applicant's relevant skills and interests, a curriculum vita, electronic copies of work samples (articles, papers, etc.), and the names and contact information of three academic or professional references. The cover letter should describe the proposer's research training and experience, their ability to carry out projects of interest to NCES, how they might benefit professionally from the experience, and which project or projects would be of interest. Below is a list of prospective Fellow projects, generally focused on NCES postsecondary data collection and/or analysis.
Projects of Interest to NCES
- Institutional Uses of IPEDS Data Feedback Reports. The data feedback project was initiated in 2004 by the National Postsecondary Education Cooperative (NPEC) to provide each institution a context for examining the data they submitted to IPEDS. NPEC’s goal was to produce a report that was useful to institutional executives and that could help improve the quality and comparability of IPEDS data. In 2005, IPEDS took over production of this annual report. The report is mailed to Chief Executive Officers and emailed to IPEDS institutional keyholders and coordinators each fall. NCES is now interested in learning more about how institutional executives and IPEDS keyholders use these reports. Do they distribute the report to others administrators on campus? Do they share them with board members? Do they make them publicly available? NCES would like to identify common practices in the use of the information in the report, and ways in which the reports could be made more helpful to institutions as they examine their annual operations and compare themselves to their peers.
- A Review of Postsecondary Data Consortia. Many postsecondary institutions opt to participate in data sharing consortia, such as the Higher Education Data Sharing Consortium, the Consortium for Student Retention Data Exchange, and the Consortium on Financing Higher Education. In order to improve the usefulness of IPEDS data collection and dissemination efforts, NCES is interested in learning more about these consortia: How many exist? To what extent do postsecondary institutions participate? What data do institutions share in them? What kinds of reports, analyses, and comparisons do these consortia offer that encourage participation in them? NCES would like to identify practices used by these consortia that it may employ in order to improve data collection, products, and offerings for institutions reporting to IPEDS.
- Campus Data Systems. NCES is interested in learning more about how institutions populate IPEDS surveys, including how they collect and store data on their campuses. This project would involve reviewing the various data systems used by institutions, whether off-the-shelf (e.g., PeopleSoft, Banner) or “homegrown,” and how institutions use these systems to output data to IPEDS annually. Also, it would involve identifying where campuses house different types of data on campuses, and how well these data communicate with each other. For instance, are student financial aid data kept separately from student enrollment and retention data? How well do campus systems talk or link to each other? Are there additional ways through which IPEDS could accept data from institutions that would improve data quality and simplify data collection?
- A Topic of the Applicant’s Choosing. In two or three paragraphs, describe a project that will contribute to the efficiency and effectiveness of the procedures for IPEDS data collection, data retrieval, and reporting on postsecondary institutions. The project may also aim to improve the descriptive power and accuracy of the IPEDS data collection, or expand the utility of the data once collected.
The AIR-NCES Postdoctoral Policy Fellow Program does not support research or education activities by employees of Federal agencies, or Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs). For clarification on any of the above classifications, please contact the AIR Office.
The following information provides the answers to frequently asked Postdoctoral Policy Fellow administration questions.
AIR and NCES have primary responsibility for general supervision of all Fellowship activities. The Fellow is responsible for the conduct of the research or educational work, the written reporting of results, and providing technical leadership to the project, and for notifying AIR and NCES of significant problems relating to misconduct in research or administrative matters.
The Fellows are encouraged to communicate the progress of projects supported by AIR to the AIR staff, including required work-in-progress reports.
Financial assistance for Fellowships is subject to certain statutory and other general requirements, including compliance with Circular A-133 Audit requirements and various federal statutes: Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, and other laws and regulations prohibiting discrimination; prohibition of misconduct in science and engineering; Drug-Free Workplace requirements; restrictions on lobbying; patent and copyright requirements; cost-sharing; and the use of U.S.-flag carriers for international travel.
Policy Fellows generally will be paid monthly. The Fellow will be treated as an employee of AIR. If a Policy Fellow leaves during the course of a Fellowship, AIR will terminate the Fellowship. The AIR Fellowship staff will assign the remaining unobligated funds to other Fellowship projects. The AIR Postdoctoral Policy Fellowship may also be suspended or terminated in accordance with the procedures contained in the Fellowship Conditions or by mutual agreement. Termination by mutual agreement shall not affect any commitment of Fellowship funds that, in the judgment of AIR and the Fellow, had become firm before the effective date of the termination.
Fellowship work-in-progress reports are due quarterly to NCES and AIR. Reports shall briefly summarize activity during the report period, identify any significant research developments or preliminary findings, describe any problems, and provide current information about other research support of policy personnel, if changed from the information previously submitted. The reports shall also include any other significant information pertinent to the type of project supported by AIR or as specified by the terms and conditions of the Fellowship. The Fellow is also expected to present work-in-progress reports when requested at meetings of the institutional research community.
A final report and recommendations shall be delivered within twelve months of the start of the Fellowship. The final report shall contain the technical information needed by AIR for program management and for informing the public about the results of the activities it supports, as well as a financial accounting of the funding expenditures. The report shall also provide information on the gender, race, ethnicity, citizenship, and disability status of individuals supported under the Fellowship. Failure to provide final reports will delay AIR review and processing of pending proposals for that Fellow.
An acknowledgment of AIR and NCES support and a disclaimer must appear in publications of any material, whether copyrighted or not, based on or developed under AIR or NCES-supported projects. (See example of acknowledgment below.)
This material is based upon work supported by the Association for Institutional Research and the National Center for Education Statistics under the 2005 Postdoctoral Policy Fellow.
Except for articles or papers published in scientific, technical or professional journals, the following disclaimer shall be included:
Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Association for Institutional Research or the National Center for Education Statistics.
Intellectual property developed under the Postdoctoral Policy Fellow is in the public domain.