Editor’s note: This is the first in a series profiling new staff of Ohio University’s provost.
Somewhere deep in the vast caches of Ohio University data lie answers to the institution’s problems, and it’s Barbara Wharton’s job to find them.
As OU’s new associate provost for Institutional Research and Effectiveness, Wharton, who previously worked at Otterbein University as the assistant vice president for Institutional Effectiveness and Planning, is expected to use her office to provide analysis and advice based on numbers many might not know are even collected.
Wharton was hired to replace long-time department head Michael Williford, who is now leading the university’s reaccreditation efforts. Wharton’s salary is $142,500.
Wharton stays in Athens three nights a week, alone, while her family remains in Centerburg, Ohio — about two hours away.
“(It’s about) always having an ear to the ground,” Wharton said. “My job, in some sense, is to predict we need a certain report and give (out) a three-year trend on the information.
“(It’s) where the data hits the road.”
Her office has seven employees who extract data, format databases, measure the effectiveness of university programs and initiatives and assess OU’s overall performance.
Their job is similar to someone employed in the business world who uses data to make decisions, Wharton said.
“Our mission is to make sure the faculty and academic departments and Student Affairs have the information they need to function for students,” she said.
As Responsibility Centered Management, a new budget model that decentralizes allocation of money from the central administration to the university colleges and units, takes hold at OU, Institutional Research plays a key role in providing necessary data as well as training college-level administrators on how to function under the new model, Wharton said.
“The big challenge with RCM is to implement it and have people not start behaving in just the best financial way,” Wharton said. “We have to be smart with our money but not cutthroat competitive either. … Our office comes in the middle.”
By providing Pam Benoit, executive vice president and provost, with honest and tested data, the university can both plan and execute better, Wharton said.
“In addition to her technical expertise in educational research and assessment, Dr. Wharton has previously held positions at two other universities,” Benoit said, in a statement. “This depth and breadth in Dr. Wharton’s background experience is critical to a central office, like (Institutional Research).”
Wharton said she meets with the provost one-on-one on a monthly basis, but interacts with Benoit and other senior staff during weekly meetings.
John Day, associate provost for Academic Budget and Planning, said he was on the search committee that hired Wharton.
“She has very good potential to take (Institutional Research) to the next level,” Day said. “I think she’s done well coming on board.”
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@WillDrabold
