Delaware Cost Study: Uses and Best Practices John Barnshaw, Ph.D. Director, Higher Education Consortia barnshaw@udel.edu Tom Eleuterio, M.S. Research Analyst, Higher Education Consortia tommyu@udel.edu

What is the Delaware Cost Study? The National Study of Instructional Costs and Productivity (Delaware Cost Study) is a benchmarking project and data sharing consortia among four-year colleges and universities with over 200 institutions participating annually. Since 1996, over 600 institutions have participated, and over the past two decades, the Delaware Cost Study has become the “tool of choice” for comparative analysis of faculty teaching loads, direct instructional costs, and separately budgeted scholarly activity, within academic disciplines. Currently, the Cost Study is used major data and state agencies including: Association of American Universities Data Exchange (AAUDE) Southern Universities Group (SUG) University of North Carolina (UNC) System Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PaSSHE) University of Missouri System University of Nebraska System Connecticut State University System (CSUS) City University of New York (CUNY) System

Delaware Cost Study – Strengths and Limitations Ideal tool for benchmarking instructional costs, research, and public service expenditures at the academic discipline level Most systematic and rigorous conceptualization based on CIP levels Assists institutional data and unit alignment Assists in identifying cost distortions Ideal for program reviews and accreditation Ideal for establishing new program or department projections Higher Education Consortia is a useful intermediary partner Limitations Not a “whole cost” benchmarking tool for expenditure or tuition Not a perfect 1:1 Program/Department/Academic Budget Unit match Not a tool for performance funding

Growing the Delaware Cost Study

Delaware Cost Study Representation

Delaware Cost Study Representation by Institutional Control

Why do institutions participate in the Delaware Cost Study? According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 76 – 82 percent of the variation in cost is located at the academic disciplinary level.

Delaware Cost Study Data Uses Academic/Accreditation Program Review Faculty Hiring/Disparity Chair Key Performance Indicators Deans Dashboard Senior Budgeting/President/Provost Planning/Projections Identifying Cost Distortions in Budgeting Formulas Developing New Programs/Departments Grants and Research Expenditure Benchmarking External Audit/System Review Tool Student/Faculty Recruitment/Retention Tool General Unit and Institutional Improvement

Assessing Student Credit Hour Production and Direct Instructional Expenditure Direct Instructional Expenditure per FTE Faculty as Percentage of Carnegie Classification Student Credit Hours per FTE Faculty as Percentage of Carnegie Classification Low Moderate High Theater Physics, Chemical Engineering Criminal Justice, Political Science Biology, Music Chemistry Communication, English, History, Psychology, Sociology Mathematics

Benchmarking Instructional Activity – Psychology

Select Comparators - AAU Comparator Data with Carnegie Classification

Delaware Cost Study – Consortium Participation (Same Department) Institution Type Program Total SCH for T/TT FTE Faculty as % of Norm DIE/SCH ($) as % of Norm R&PS ($) for Research Very High BMD 67.10% 173.33% 284.36% Research High 102.78% 122.78% 41.87% Doctoral Research 90.68% 100.00% 119.56% Master’s Large BM 97.88% 103.38% 810.92% Master’s Medium B 102.12% 81.76% 0.00% Baccalaureate Arts & Sciences 121.92% 121.08% ------------ Baccalaureate Diverse 107.76% 106.63%

Delaware Cost Study – Consortium Participation (Same Department)

2014 – 2015 Data Collection Cycle August 15, 2014 Invitation to Participate (Enrollment/Cycle Opens) October/November 2014 Work with Systems/New Member Institution ($1,000 “Early Bird” Ends October 31) December/January 2014 Work with Members in Data Collection Process January 30, 2015 Submission of Data (Enrollment Closes) ($1,250 Participation Fee Ends) Spring 2015 Verify and Validate Data Submissions June 30, 2015 Assemble Final Cost Study Data Set July 31, 2015 Secure Site Data Release (Cycle Closes)

Future Directions: Higher Education Consortia Over the past year, the Higher Education Consortia has worked with four-year colleges, universities, and systems to facilitate unit and institutional improvement on a limited basis. These services are now available to all institutions and systems. Data Alignment Statistical Solutions (Data Mining, OLS, HLM, SEM, PSM, MCS, Survival) Academic Program Review Internal and External Benchmarking Enrollment Management/Modeling Institutional Effectiveness Workshops/In-Service Solutions Special Projects

Addressing Your Questions and Comments What questions do you have at this time?

Peer Ratio Access – Institutional Login Once you have logged institutionally, click on “Peer Analysis” and then “Peer Ratio Data.”

Peer Ratio Access – Institutional Login Once you have selected “Peer Ratio Data,” select ten or more institutions, the results will be generated in a manner that can be viewed and/or downloaded into Microsoft Excel. Additional instruction are on the right of the page.

Take Away: The Delaware Cost Study is a resource. The Delaware Cost Study is a useful tool for providing comparative analysis of faculty teaching loads, direct instructional costs, and separately budgeted scholarly activity, all within academic disciplines. Delaware Cost Study is useful for data alignment, system integration, unit improvement, and institutional effectiveness. A failure to monitor these variables may lead to expenditure distortion in planning and budget models (ABB, RCM, PBB, ZBB). Cost Study data (courses taught, research and public service expenditures) may be useful for Academic Program Reviews (APR). Cost Study data may be useful for proposing, planning and developing new departmental programs.

What types of data are collected in the Cost Study? Table 1 - Presents the proportional distribution of student credit hours and organized class sections according to the type of faculty teaching them for each course level. Table 2 - Presents the proportional distribution of student credit hours and organized class sections taught according to course level for regular faculty. Table 3 - Summarizes the fall term faculty workload using the average student credit hours, average organized class sections, and average FTE students taught per FTE instructional faculty for each faculty type. Table 4 - Summarizes direct instructional costs per student credit hour and per FTE student taught using the total student credit hours generated during the academic year and the fiscal year expenditure data. Personnel cost as percent of the total direct instructional cost is also presented. Other cost indicators, expenditures from separately budgeted research and public service, are given per FTE tenured/tenure-track faculty.

Delaware Cost Study Sample Institutional Report - Table 4

Five Most Common Considerations on Delaware Cost Study Dual Listed Courses: Parse out the SCH and OCS based on how students registered (POSC 410/610- Undergrad v. Grad). Cross Listed Courses: Assign SCH to the department funding the instructor’s salary (POSC220/WOMS220). Team Taught Courses: Assign SCH based on workload for each instructor. Joint Appointments: Split FTE and SCH based on funding split (40% POSC v. 60% ECON). Online Courses: Report if funded by instructional budget, count their SCH and OCS in same discrete way as if taught in-person.

Data Checklist: Special Considerations Separately Budgeted FTE: Portion of the total FTE that is funded by external or separately budgeted funds for purposes other than teaching (Research, Service, Administration). Supplemental Faculty: if no FTE assigned, recommend using their teaching credit hours divided by 12 (e.g. 2 three-credit courses = 6/12 = 0.5 FTE. Teaching Assistants: Gather FTE of TAs from your HR data, then use Supplemental Faculty instructions to assign FTE for those TAs teaching credit-bearing courses where they are instructor of record. Then subtract these credit-bearing FTE from the total TA FTE to determine the non-credit bearing TA FTE.