Biography

Boston College's Office of Institutional Research and Planning supports University administration through the collection and analysis of institutional data, informing internal decision-making and ensuring compliance with reporting requirements. This function is distinct from academic research, which seeks to generate new, peer-reviewed knowledge for dissemination to the broader scholarly community.

The first iteration of the office was established in July 1971 under President W. Donald Monan, SJ, with John Bolin serving as director. Its work focused on collecting and standardizing information across the University to foster a formal planning process, and among its early accomplishments was the compilation of the BC Fact Book, a recurring reference publication of institutional statistics. In April 1974, Executive Vice President Francis B. Campanella announced its abolition, citing cost and changing institutional needs. Campanella characterized the office as a successful first phase that had raised awareness of planning as a discipline, while noting that the University now required information on a more continuous basis. A new body, the Systems and Information Group, was established to develop an updated institutional information system in its place.

The institutional research function remained without a dedicated office for approximately three decades, until Executive Vice President Patrick Keating announced in November 2003 the appointment of Kelli J. Armstrong as the University's new director of institutional research. Armstrong, a Boston College doctoral alumna who had previously directed institutional research across the University of Massachusetts system, was charged with centralizing Boston College's research function and establishing a new Office of Institutional Research. Over the following years, she expanded the office's portfolio considerably, and in 2007 it was renamed the Office of Institutional Research, Planning and Assessment to reflect a broadened mandate encompassing institutional planning, assessment, space planning, and strategic services. In recognition of her work, President William P. Leahy, SJ, named Armstrong Vice President for Planning and Assessment in 2012. She departed Boston College in July 2019 to assume the presidency of Salve Regina University.

Mara Hermano succeeded Armstrong as Vice President for Institutional Research and Planning, effective September 1, 2019, following an announcement by Executive Vice President Michael Lochhead. Under Hermano, the office returned to the name Office of Institutional Research and Planning, with a mandate encompassing institutional research, space planning, and strategic services.