Comparisons

In my new administrative role, I'm often asked to compile data to be used in comparisons: comparisons among departments in my school, across schools and colleges in my institution, or even across institutions. The data requested is often very similar; "What is the stipend amount for graduate students?" "What is the teaching load for faculty?" They seem easy enough to answer. For the 2010-22 academic year students supported as graduate assistants will get $16,000. In my school, the teaching load is 2/2, 2 courses each semester.

But how useful is that information? Some students receive support for the summer, some don't. Some on assistantships are teaching a class, others are grading papers. Some students find other ways to supplement their stipend, taking under the table jobs, some have the financial support of a partner or parent.

Some professors teach large introductory courses, others teach small graduate seminars. Some teach "service" courses outside of their research interests, some teach only things closely related to their areas of interest. Some teach 3 days a week, some only 1.

As a diehard empiricist, I want to believe that most of what we want to know can be determined, that there are answers to these questions, values attached to them. With data we can sort and rank and determine what is "best." I'm not ready to give up on empirical data yet, but as I fill out another form asking me to provide data on "the number of graduate courses per semester" I do have my doubts about the success of my efforts.