About the OPIR

The Office of Planning and Institutional Research has two primary missions.

First, OPIR provides the Provost and other senior administrators with planning information that is used in managing the university and in making decisions about its policies and goals. Planning information includes historical and current information about Columbia, comparisons across peer institutions, and data from surveys of faculty, staff, students and alumni. In addition to gathering and organizing relevant facts and figures, OPIR uses these data to carry out research and analyses regarding issues of importance to the university.

Second, OPIR is responsible for broadening the general knowledge and understanding of the university and its activities. The office maintains the university's on-line Statistical Abstract and distributes the pocket-sized publication, FACTS. OPIR coordinates university reporting to governmental agencies and provides data to publishers of college guides. The office represents the university in several organizations of selected colleges and universities for the purpose of exchanging information. To these ends, OPIR works cooperatively with a wide range of other university offices such as the Office of Management and Budget, the Arts & Sciences, Federal Relations, the Office of the Executive Vice President for Administration, as well as the individual schools' admissions and financial aid offices.

Staff