Planning, Research & Institutional Effectiveness
Mission
It is the mission of the Office of Planning, Research & Institutional Effectiveness (PRIE) to provide data, information, and analyses to Merritt College in support of institutional decision making, planning and evaluation of services provided to the students and community.
Goals
- Help to foster a college-wide culture of evidence-based dialogue and self-reflection.
- Encourage data-driven decision-making and conversations that ultimately improve assessment, institutional effectiveness, and student learning
Service Area Outcome
- Effectively respond to data and analysis requests from students, faculty, staff, and administration.
- Systematize data reporting and publishing.
- Facilitate information sharing and data-based discussions across the campus
Research & Data Request
The Office of Research & Planning supports the practice of evidence-based inquiry and decision-making that contributes to an integrated and continuous improvement plan for student success. Please submit requests for data at least 2 weeks in advance. When necessary, the President’s Office will determine the prioritization of requests. For further information for data request e-mail Nathan Pellegrin npellegrin@peralta.edu.
Click here to open the research request form.
Transfer Level Completion Dashboard (State Chancellor’s Office)
Enrollment Trends and COVID-19 Impact Report
Impact of AB 705 Implementation on Completion of Transfer Math and English (Fall 2020)
Student Achievement Dashboards
April 2020 Peralta Student Technology Needs Survey Results: CLICK HERE
2019-22 Equity Report Executive Summary: CLICK HERE
Student Demographic Profile: CLICK HERE
Student Course Completion Data: CLICK HERE
Degrees and Certificate Trends: CLICK HERE
Career Education Programs: Use this resource to compare labor market trends for your program’s occupation: CLICK HERE
Equity Dashboard: Use this dashboard to look at the disproportionate impact on course success rates. See the instructions document for details on how to use the dashboard.
Data Sources
Most Commonly Used
Peralta CCD Data Dashboards (peralta.edu)
Launchboard
Labor Market Information
Employment Development Department (EDD) Data Center
US Bureau of Labor Statistics (East Bay Report)
Employment Outcomes
Community College Pipeline (Launchboard)
Career Education
Transfer-Level English and Math Completion (AB 705)
Transfer-Level Gateway Completion Dashboard
California Community College Chancellor’s Office
Student Centered Funding Formula (SCFF)
National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES)
Merritt College IPEDS Dashboard
Local Sources
Program Review & APU
Comprehensive Program Review (CPR) & Annual Program Update (APU)
Welcome to the 2024-2025 Program Review Process! Starting this year, Comprehensive Program Reviews and Annual Program Updates will be submitted in CurriQunet. The due date for CPR/APU reports is Monday, October 21, 2024. Program Review is a fundamental part of Merritt’s Integrated Planning and Budgeting (IPB) process. The critical dates to note are indicated in the following timeline:
Integrated Planning & Budgeting Timeline 2024-2025
Starting this year, we are transitioning to a new comprehensive program review schedule in which each program is designated a comprehensive program year. The following schedule shows which programs will undergo CPR in which year:
Comprehensive Program Review Schedule 2024-2027
Rubrics
Program Review/ APU General Rubric
PR-APU Assessment Validation Rubric
PR-APU Program Goal Validation Rubric
Data Resources
Power BI Reports:
- Course Completion and Retention Rates Dashboard – Instruction
- Course Completion and Retention Rates Dashboard – Student Services
- Enrollment Trend and Productivity Dashboard
- Degrees and Certificates Dashboard
More Information:
Training Videos
2020-2021 APU Training
Training Videos on the Integrated Planning & Budgeting Cycle
More Video Training:
Video 1: Overview
Video 2: Program Goals and Objectives
Video 3: Program Data and Assessment Results
Video 4: Program Resource Request and Recap
Glossary
Glossary
Term |
Definition |
ACCJC | Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges |
Annual Unit Planning (APU) | A report documenting reflecting continuous quality improvement containing progress on goals, assessment results, and program changes and improvements, as well as requests for new resources. |
Assessment | An ongoing process aimed at understanding and improving student learning. At Merritt, Assessment data is housed in Task Stream. |
CCCCO | California Community College Chancellor’s Office |
Certificate Completion | (PCCD definition) Number of Students earning a Certificate |
Completion Rate (CCCCO – Scorecard definition) |
Cohort measure of the percentage of first time students and achieved an outcome of Degree, Certificate, transfer or ‘transfer-prepared’ within six years of entry. |
Completion Rate (Course-level) | (PCCD and state definition) The measure of students earning a grade of C or better in a course. Also called success rate, or Successful Course Completion. |
CTE Rate (CCCCO – Scorecard definition) |
Cohort measure of the percentage of student who attempted a CTE course for the first-time and completed more than 8 units in the subsequent 3 years in a single discipline and achieved a Degree, Certificate, Transfer or ‘transfer-prepared’ within 6 years of entry. |
CurricUNET META | Software for assessment and curriculum management. |
Degree Completion | (PCCD definition) Student earning a Degree |
Enrollment | A student enrolled in a class is counted once. Enrollment for a department, division and college is ‘duplicated’ in the sense that all class enrollments are counted, including students taking multiple courses. |
FTEF | Full-time Equivalent Faculty 1FTEF = 1 instructor teaching 15 equated hours per week for 1 semester. |
FTES | Major student workload measure. It is the equivalent of 525 hours of student instruction per FTES, or one student enrolled in courses for 3 hours a day, 5 days a week, for an academic year of 35 weeks. |
Goals | Broad learning outcomes and concepts as a vision for the program and expressed in general terms. |
Headcount | Unduplicated count of students. Students are counted once per academic year. If the headcount is by term, the student is counted once per term. |
Institutional Effectiveness Indicators | System of indicators and goals that are intended to encourage improvement in institutional effectiveness at California Community Colleges. |
Institution-set Standards | Measures of evaluating student achievement performance of an institution and/or program required by ACCJC. |
Learning Outcomes | The skills and/or knowledge that a student can expect to have upon completion of a specific education task (course, program, degree, etc.) |
Mission Statement | A brief statement of the general values and principles which guide the program curriculum and/or department goals. |
Productivity | FTES/FTEF. A measure of the productivity of a class or group of classes. Number of full time students per full time faculty member. |
Program Review (PR) | Comprehensive reporting documents completed every three years, containing progress on goals, assessment results, and program changes and improvements, as well as requests for new resources. |
Remedial Rate (CCCCO – Scorecard definition) |
Cohort measure of the percentage of credit students who attempted for the first time a course designated at ‘levels below transfer’ and then successfully completed a college-level course within 6 years. |
Retention (Course-level) | (PCCD definition) The measure of students retained in a class, or earning a grade other than W. |
Retention (Institution-level) | A measure tracking students who enroll in consecutive terms at the college. Sometimes this term is interchanged with persistence. Can be tracked Fall to Spring, or Fall to Fall. |
Launchboard | California Community College Dashboards covering student success, workforce outcomes, Guided Pathways, and more. |
Transfer (as a metric) | Number of Students enrolling in a 4-year College or University after attending Merritt College |
Contact Information
Director of Research & Planning
Nathan Pellegrin
npellegrin@peralta.edu
(510) 436-2558
Org Charts
Merritt Org Charts

Administrative Procedures
Administrative Procedure Documents
- Data, Planning and Decision-Making
- Educational Master Planning
- Integrated Planning and Budgeting (IPB) Model
- Student Learning Outcomes and Assessment
Flow Charts

Planning
Planning

College Strategic Goals
Merritt College Strategic Goals
Merritt’s strategic goals, set forth in the 2018 Education Master Plan Update, steers the College over five years toward institutional achievement of deep-rooted
improvements in student outcomes. They are evaluated annually at college planning
summits to ensure that measurable progress and continual relevance.
- M1. Completion – Increase number of degrees and certificates by 20% over the next 5 years.
- M2. Transfer – Increase transfers to CSU and UC by 6% annually. (Reach approx. 35% in 5 years).
- M3. Time to Completion – Reduce the number of excess units earned by students.
- M4. Employment – Maintain at least 82% of students attaining employment in the field of study.
- M5. Equity – Reduce the achievement gaps for African-American, multiethnic, and male students.
