A Finding Aid for the Productivity Reports
1981-2011
Collection Summary
Collection Title: Productivity Reports
Creator: Ferris State University. Office of Institutional Research and Testing.
Dates: 1981-2011
Abstract: The Productivity Reports are produced annually and provides statistical information drawn from computer systems about number of student credit hours, numbers of full time equated faculty and the productivity ration. Reports cover a four to five year period.
Language: English
Quantity: 0.59 cubic feet; 2 half records center boxes
Identification: UA 15.1.601
Repository: Ferris State University Archives and Records Management Program
Historical Note
The first productivity report in the collection was created by the Office of Institutional Studies in June 1986. This annual report was to be published every June (or during the summer) and provide productivity analyses based on the student credit hours and the full time equated faculty.
The first report was 20 pages long and provided analyses by college, department and course prefix. In this report it notes that the average number of credit hours produced by faculty had fallen from 887 in 1982-1983 to 818 credit hours in 1985-1986. Total credit hours also declined from 485,007 to 454,096.
The report has continued basically unchanged in chart format. The report covering the period fall 1993- winter 1997, was the first to cover semesters instead of quarters for a full five year period. The interim reports cover shorter periods of years. By 2005, the number of pages in the book had increased to over 100. Details of changes in university structure are noted in the preface of the report.
The productivity reports have been made available in an Adobe .pdf format beginning with the 1998-2003 report. The electronic versions may be found on the Institutional Research and Testing website at:
http://www.ferris.edu/admissions/testing/CLEPPages/CLEPPagesHTML/Productivity.htm
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Scope and Content Note
Productivity Reports begin to appear in 1982, and are the natural outgrown of the introduction to computer systems for the registration process. The reports are simply a series of charts, which breaks down the productivity of the university(a ratio of student credit hours to full time equated faculty
The analysis is produced on a college, departmental and course prefix level. The time period studied varies between four and five years. These statistics are used in program review and in accreditation self-studies. Special notes at the beginning of the report provide valuable information about dates for creation of course prefixes and changes in departmental structure.
The collection contains only the final compilation, and not the underlying data.
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Arrangement
The papers are divided into a single series.
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Access Information
Conditions of Access
The Productivity Reports are open for research to all users in accordance with University Archives and Records Management access policies. It is available in the reading room of the Ferris State University Archives.
Conditions of Use
Requests for permission to publish material should be directed to the University Archivist. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights.
Copyright interests for this collection have been transferred to Ferris State University. For more information, contact the University Archivist.
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Subject Headings
Below are a list of names, organizations and subjects relating to the collection. Names have been taken from Library of Congress Authority headings whenever possible.
Educational statistics
Ferris State University (Big Rapids, Mich.)- Statistics
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Related Materials
None specified.
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Administrative Information
Citations
Footnotes and bibliographic references should use the following format:
[Item], Folder, Box (or url). Productivity Reports. Ferris State University Archives. Big Rapids, Michigan.
Provenance (Acquisition Information)
These records were transferred out of the library reserve collections. Additional copies have been obtained from various offices, including from Institutional Research and testing.
Processing Information
The Productivity Reports were processed to the folder level by Melinda McMartin Isler in August 2007. A finding aid was prepared in a word processing format and converted to EAD 2.0. A collection level MARC-format record was prepared and placed in the library online public access catalog. Description was based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2004).
Technical Requirements
This collection consists of bound reports on 8.5 x 11 inch paper. Reports after 1998 are also produced electronically. These files have been saved into the Ferris Institutional Repository as a collection. The repository was created using an open-source software called dSpace and can be viewed through a web based browser.
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Content Listing
Series 1. Productivity Reports. 1981-2006.
This series consists of approximately 0.5 cubic feet of paper records and one collection within the Ferris Institutional Repository. They provide statistical breakdowns of faculty and student credit hour production.
The paper based materials are organized chronologically.
| Box | Folder | Contents | |||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Productivity Report. Summer 1981-Spring 1986. | |||||||||
| 2 | Productivity Report. Summer 1982-Spring 1986. | ||||||||||
| 3 | Productivity Report. Summer 1983-Spring 1988. | ||||||||||
| 4 | Productivity Report. Summer 1984-Spring 1989. | ||||||||||
| 5 | Productivity Report. Summer 1985-Spring 1990. | ||||||||||
| 6 | Productivity Report. Summer 1986-Spring 1991. | ||||||||||
| 7 | Productivity Report. Summer 1988-Spring 1993. | ||||||||||
| 8 | Productivity Report. Fall 1993-Winter 1994. | ||||||||||
| 9 | Productivity Report. Fall 1993-Winter 1995. | ||||||||||
| 10 | Productivity Report. Fall 1993-Winter 1996. | ||||||||||
| 11 | Productivity Report. Fall 1993-Winter 1997. | ||||||||||
| 12 | Productivity Report. Fall 1993-Winter 1998. | ||||||||||
| 13 | Productivity Report. Fall 1994-Winter 1999. | ||||||||||
| 14 | Productivity Reports. Fall 1995-Winter 2000. | ||||||||||
| 15 | Productivity Reports. Fall 1996-Winter 2001. | ||||||||||
| 16 | Productivity Reports. Fall 1997-Winter 2002. | ||||||||||
| 17 | Productivity Reports. Fall 1998-Winter 2003. | ||||||||||
| 18 | Productivity Reports. Fall 1999-Winter 2004. | ||||||||||
| Box | Folder | Contents | |||||||||
| 2 | 1 | Productivity Reports. Fall 2000-Winter 2005. | |||||||||
| 2 | Productivity Reports. Fall 2001-Winter 2006. | ||||||||||
| 3 | Productivity Reports. Fall 2002-Winter 2007. | ||||||||||
| 4 | Productivity Reports. Fall 2003-Spring 2008. | ||||||||||
| 5 | Productivity Reports. Fall 2004-Spring 2009. | ||||||||||
| 6 | Productivity Reports. Fall 2005-Spring 2010. | ||||||||||
| FIR | 7 | Productivity Reports. Fall 2006-Spring 2011. | |||||||||
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