Haylea Hubacz
Statistics Major
Asking All the Right Questions: A Look at Institutional Research in Higher Education
This summer, I had the opportunity to have an internship in the office of Institutional Research, Evaluation and Assessment (IREA) at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, MA. During my time with IREA I was able to assist with research, peer review reports before dissemination, and understand higher education through a business lens. This summer IREA had a goal to downsize the amount of evaluations medical students participate in during their time at UMass Medical School. My research focused on getting the answers needed by the institution from these evaluations, but to ask fewer questions. When reviewing reports I checked for calculation errors and made sure anyone, regardless of medical school experience, could understand questions being asked in evaluations. My experiences from this summer affirmed my future goal of a career in institutional research of higher education.