Statement of Understanding
Collection and Use of FAEIS Data
The Food and Agricultural Education Information System (FAEIS) is a survey designed to collect voluntary data from institutions offering degrees in the areas of Agriculture, Forestry, Renewable Natural Resources, Human Sciences/Family and Consumer Sciences, Veterinary Medicine/Veterinary Science and related programs. While there are a large number of institutions nationwide who offer degrees in these fields, the institutions reporting to FAEIS are Land-Grant institutions (1862, 1890, 1994), members of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), and members of Non-Land-Grant Agricultural and Renewable Resources Universities (NARRU). FAEIS continually works to expand the database to include other institutions in order to have the most complete set of national data for the disciplines in our program areas of interest.
FAEIS reports are derived from self-reported data supplied by institutions. Numerous efforts are made to verify the information provided by the institutions. They include:
- At the data entry level, the survey forms flag any cell with a +/- 10% difference from the prior year’s data.
- At the HelpDesk level, FAEIS team members assist institutions by:
- Entering the data for the institutions.
- Monitoring data as it is received.
- Providing feedback to institutions as data is submitted.
- Reviewing student survey completion status reports by institution.
- Contacting institutions who are missing data or have anomalous data.
- Logging all FAEIS HelpDesk communications.
However, despite these types of checks, FAEIS cannot independently verify the accuracy of the data entered.
FAEIS data can be downloaded into a number of formats including word processing, spreadsheets, or PDF files. FAEIS is not responsible for the manipulation of data outside of the current system.
Confidentiality
Confidentiality of information is crucial. The Federal Education Right to Privacy Act (FERPA) guarantees that individual student’s rights are protected. FAEIS personnel have completed their host institution’s FERPA certification course.
We will never ask for student data where individuals can be identified. FAEIS collects student information broken down by discipline, race/ethnicity, and by gender. This is the same level of granularity that all institutions are required to report to the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).
We have adopted a similar philosophy regarding the faculty data. We adhere to the standards set by College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR), which are that no salary data are reported for positions with fewer than four (4) incumbents.
If you have specific questions, please contact the FAEIS HelpDesk at (540) 231-4941 or faeis@vt.edu.