Department chairs often need institutional data for program review, assessment, and personnel-related matters. This section provides data on Communication departments, as well as information on links to important national databases to find data relevant to your institution and program.
Before searching any of the national databases listed below, you may wish to contact your Office of Institutional Research, which can guide you on the types of data available and assist you in obtaining the data you need. Also, many of the national databases are accessible if only your institution pays for a membership or is part of the data set.
Visit NCA's Reports on the Discipline for data on Communication departments.
A number of national databases compile institutional and departmental data on salaries, class enrollments, FTE and student credit hour (SCH) production, and the like. Data comparing departments across peer institutions (institutions that are comparable in type, size, degrees offered, region of the country, etc.) are also frequently sought-after. Depending upon the data you are accessing, the following information will assist you in your search:
- the Carnegie classification of your institution
- the CIP code for the data that you are seeking
- confirmation that your institution has either subscribed to or is part of the data set you wish to find
Carnegie Classifications
One of the ways in which data are organized is by institutional type (e.g., a four-year comprehensive institution, a doctoral granting institution, a two-year institution, etc.). To find your institution’s Carnegie classification, visit http://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/.
CIP Codes
Every discipline is assigned a Classification of Instructional Program (CIP) code by the U.S. Department of Education’s Division of Educational Statistics. In some of the databases, you will need to search by CIP code to access the data. Learn more about the CIP code classification system.
CIP Code Classification
09) COMMUNICATION, JOURNALISM, AND RELATED PROGRAMS
09.01) Communication and Media Studies
09.0100) Communication, General.
09.0101) Speech Communication and Rhetoric.
09.0102) Mass Communication/Media Studies.
09.0199) Communication and Media Studies, Other.
09.04) Journalism.
09.0401) Journalism.
09.0402) Broadcast Journalism.
09.0404) Photojournalism.
09.0499) Journalism, Other.
09.07) Radio, Television, and Digital Communication
09.0701) Radio and Television.
09.0702) Digital Communication and Media/Multimedia.
09.0799) Radio, Television, and Digital Communication, Other.
09.09) Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication.
09.0900) Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication.
09.0901) Organizational Communication, General.
09.0902) Public Relations/Image Management.
09.0903) Advertising.
09.0904) Political Communication.
09.0905) Health Communication.
09.0906) Sports Communication.
09.0907) International and Intercultural Communication.
09.0908) Technical and Scientific Communication.
09.0999) Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication, Other
09.10) Publishing.
09.1001) Publishing.
09.99) Communication, Journalism, and Related Programs, Other.
09.9999) Communication, Journalism, and Related Programs, Other.
CUPA
Academic salary data are available from the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources(CUPA). CUPA does annual nationwide surveys on administrative, mid-level professional, and faculty salaries. The best place to access these data is your Institutional Research Office.
IPEDS
The databases provided by the Integrated Postsecondary Education System (IPEDS) provide extensive data on FTEs, Student Credit Hour Production (SCH), degrees granted, etc. Visit the IPEDS data center and IPEDS data tutorial. Another source of less extensive data is NCES's College Navigator.
NCISP
Many doctoral granting institutions use the NCISP (National Study of Instructional Costs and Productivity) data as a benchmark to compare productivity.
Two databases that provide information on students and are cited frequently in the media may be of interest as chairs write an assessment report or engage in a self-study. These databases, which are generated by CIRP and NESSE, measure student demographics (along with attitudes, values, and beliefs) and student engagement, respectively.
- The Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) at UCLA conducts a yearly fall survey of incoming freshman at more than 700 institutions, surveys students during their first year of college, and gathers a number of other data. Access CIRP’s free publications.
- The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) tracks students’ engagement and participation in their own learning. Many institutions are using this survey to assess changes in student learning over time.