External reporting

There are a number of external organizations and initiatives that the University of Saskatchewan is involved with relating to the sharing and provisioning of data.  These are important engagements as they provide context on the post-secondary landscape and how our activities compare to other institutions within that landscape.  The following is an overview of external reporting activities that IPA leads and/or supports on behalf of the university.

As a member of the U15 group of Canada’s leading research-intensive universities, the University of Saskatchewan participates in a data sharing arrangement whereby data is shared, collated, and used to provide analysis and insight about higher education and research policy development.  The data exchange creates and maintains the resources necessary to construct inter-institutional and inter-jurisdictional comparisons to support local and collective policy decisions.  Areas of focus include:

• Enrolment and Degrees
• Executive Compensation
• Faculty Salary/Counts (based on Statistics Canada UCASS – the University and College Academic Staff System)
• Graduate Student Experience (based on CGPSS – the Canadian Graduate and Professional Student Survey)
• Graduate Student Financial Support
• Graduate Time to Completion
• Tuition and Fees
• Undergraduate Student Retention (based on CSRDE – the Consortium of Student Retention Data Exchange)
• Undergraduate Student Experience (based on NSSE – the National Survey of Student Engagement)

Sharing and confidentiality of U15 datasets are governed by strict data sharing protocols.  As such, the Assessment and Analytics team pays particular attention to ensuring that we comply with these protocols while leveraging this information in our planning and assessment activities. 

• U15 information

The University of Saskatchewan is involved in an initiative with the Ministry of Advanced Education other post-secondary institutions in Saskatchewan to collect, analyze and report on sector-wide post-secondary data.  This work consists of defining and reporting on indicators of activity to provide insight into the higher education landscape in Saskatchewan.

• Sask. post-secondary indicators reports

Universities Canada collects and reports on various areas of post-secondary activities in Canada.  This includes the annual collection and dissemination of datasets pertaining to university enrolments and tuition fees.  Enrolment numbers are based on the Fall (September-October) time period and provides insight on the number of students attending each institution.  The University of Saskatchewan participates in this exercise on an annual basis. 

• Universities Canada datasets

Through the Post-Secondary Student Information System (PSIS), Statistics Canada collects and provides detailed information on enrolments and graduates of Canadian public post-secondary institutions on an annual basis in order to meet policy and planning needs in the field of post-secondary education.  Similar to Universities Canada enrolment data, PSIS numbers are based on Fall enrolments and are made available by Statistics Canada annually.  Statistics Canada also collects information to provide insight on tuition and living accommodation fees within post-secondary institutions in Canada.  The University of Saskatchewan submits data annually for inclusion in the datasets released by Statistics Canada.

• PSIS information
• Statistics Canada datasets

CAUBO is a non-profit professional organization that represents administrative and financial activities at over 100 universities and affiliated colleges in Canada.  Part of their mandate involves collecting and provisioning annual reports on financial activities of member institutions.  Their Financial Information of Universities and Colleges (FIUC) is released annually as the only national source of comparable financial information for Canadian universities.  The data is based on an annual return submitted by each institution. The University of Saskatchewan’s submission is prepared annually by the Controller’s Office.

• FIUC information