Basics
Benefits
Accessing The HES
Entering The Data
Managing The Data Entry
Data Use & Reports
Basics
What is the HES?
The Higher Education Data System (HES) is an innovative Web-based system that captures information about academic programs in communication sciences and disorders (CSD). The HES:
- facilitates data collection from programs through online submission;
- provides search capabilities across academic programs through an HES feature called EdFind; and
- integrates data from surveys and accreditation reports.
The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), the Council on Academic Programs in Communication Sciences and Disorders (CAPCSD), and the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology (CAA) worked collaboratively to design and develop the HES.
Why was the HES developed?
Each year ASHA, CAPCSD, and the CAA receive numerous requests for data about CSD programs at all degree levels from academic programs, state and federal agencies, researchers, and students. As a result, academic programs complete many surveys from several sources—increasing their reporting burden to each of these three agencies and leading to overlapping data requests.
To date there was no single comprehensive system to collect and report these critical data in a uniform and consistent manner...until the HES.
What is EdFind?
EdFind is a component of the HES system and replaces the ASHA Guide to Graduate Education. It is a search engine that offers one-stop shopping and convenient searches and reports on CSD programs at all degree levels. EdFind helps locate specific programs, segregate search results, and generate customized CSD program lists. EdFind results are available to students from high school through doctoral level programs, faculty, ASHA members, consumers, and the general public.
How do I get to EdFind?
Go to EdFind and select either the master's or doctoral program search interface to begin a program search.
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Benefits
Who benefits and how?
Academic programs, faculty, students, ASHA, CAA, CAPCSD, and the CSD discipline all benefit from a centralized data collection system for CSD.
Academic Programs and Faculty Members
- Increased efficiency for programs completing HES instruments through
- prepopulation of data across instruments and reporting periods reducing redundant reporting of the same data for various instruments;
- use of a standard format across instruments to access and enter data;
- consistent reporting periods (e.g., 2007-08 academic year);
- easy Web-based submission of responses and updates;
- built-in validations to ensure accuracy of data entry.
- Aid in benchmarking and trend analysis of data for programs with similar characteristics across the discipline.
- EdFind for marketing individual programs.
- Public reports of aggregate data about the discipline.
Students
- Search interface for master's and doctoral programs in audiology, speech-language pathology, and speech and hearing science.
- Identification of programs in individual states or by distinct program characteristics, such as distance education, part-time enrollment, and multicultural/bilingual emphasis.
- Information about programs including application and admission, enrollment and graduation, tuition and funding, specialty tracks, unique features, and research interests.
CSD Discipline
- Increased consistency of data collection on a coordinated schedule with annual reporting on data in the discipline.
- Comprehensive data to identify and analyze trends to support discipline-wide efforts for programs.
- Information collected via the HES helps address initiatives important to CSD.
ASHA
- Comprehensive data that informs ASHA initiatives undertaken on behalf of the discipline in areas such as these:
- PhD shortage in higher education
- personnel shortages in the professions
- recruitment and retention of diverse student populations
- internationalization
- specialization
- research initiatives
- advocacy
- Accurate and timely responses to member inquiries for data and trends about CSD education.
CAA
- Trend analysis across accredited programs
- inform the effectiveness of accreditation standards at producing quality academic programs and graduates;
- monitor the effectiveness of meeting mission and goals as an accrediting agency (program improvement);
- identify issues affecting faculty, curriculum, program and student assessment, and program resources that are evident across accredited graduate programs.
CAPCSD
- Consistency in the format and method of data gathering to increase participation by academic programs, thus improving validity of the data for the discipline.
- Identification of trends and formulation of strategies beneficial to CSD departments nationally and internationally.
- Increased accuracy of data collected in surveys through Web-based data entry.
- Decreased turnaround time for publishing survey results.
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Accessing The HES
How do I initiate access to the HES?
Each program director will receive an e-mail notification from hes@asha.org asking for verification of the academic program's information and identification of the authorized signatory and editors who will assist with completion of the surveys and reports on behalf of the program. Once the signatory and editors are identified for the program, the HES Manager will authorize access to the system.
How do I get to the HES?
Go to My Account and enter your ASHA login name and password. While you do not have to be an ASHA member, certificate holder, or affiliate in order to access the HES site, you must be a registered ASHA Web site user in order to gain access to your program's HES pages.
- Go to the ASHA Web site.
- Click on the "My Account" link at the top of the page.
- Login to the Web site (If you are not a registered ASHA Web site user, you will need to click on the "register with our Web site" link on the login page and create a Web user account. Please note: You will need your ASHA account number to create this login. If you do not have an ASHA account number or if you do not know your account number you may contact hes@asha.org to gain access.)
Click on the link to the HES at the bottom of the "My Account" page once you have logged into the Web site.
- Select the appropriate program name to view the dashboard for the program you want to access. (If you are affiliated as faculty or staff with more than one program, you will see a list of programs to select.)
- Click on the link for any of the instruments on the program dashboard that have the status of "open" to begin entering or editing data.
- Contact hes@asha.org if you have any questions or difficulty in accessing the survey instrument.
What do I need to access the HES?
The HES is Web-based and requires a computer with Internet access. The recommended browser is Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher. Although the applications within the HES work well through 56-KB modems, faster connection speeds increase the efficiency of any of the instruments. ASHA recommends having cookies enabled when using the ASHA Web site and Java Script enabled for the HES application in particular.
Who has access to the HES for my program?
Three types of authorized users have access to HES for your program, each with a different level of access to program data:
- Signatory – the program director serves as the signatory or identifies a designee
- receives notifications and updates about the HES and the instruments
- enters or updates data and program responses to instrument questions
- identifies editors to contribute to the completion of data entry in HES for each instrument (this information will need to be updated at the start of each survey to ensure that staff access to the site is appropriate for the item being completed)
- has sole authority to submit authorization for completed instruments by the designated deadline
- may access the program's data and confirmation reports
- can access the program's status page ("My HES Info")
- Editor(s) – faculty and/or staff member(s) as identified by the program director/signatory
- enters or updates data and program responses to instrument questions
- may access all of his/her program's data and confirmation reports
- can access the program's status page ("My HES Info")
- Registered user of the ASHA Web site affiliated with your academic program (e.g., faculty or staff member)
- has a formal relationship with the academic program
- can access the program's status page ("My HES Info") to view the launch schedule of instruments, as well as links to status page and confirmation reports
MYHESINFO is a preliminary screen in HES that identifies the instruments available to your program, the timeframe in which you are expected to submit the data, and the completion status of an open survey instrument.
Who updates the data in the HES?
Program directors have full responsibility to maintain the currency and accuracy of the data reported about their programs and instruments. Program directors are required to e-mail notification of system critical changes or updates, such as new signatories or editors, to the HES Manager at hes@asha.org.
What happens if the signatory changes?
The program must notify the HES Manager of a change in program director/signatory so that the HES may be updated and allow appropriate access. It is important for programs to inform the HES Manager when a change in program director occurs to ensure that the program receives e-mail communication regarding upcoming HES activities/events.
Who can help me?
Send an e-mail to the HES Manager at hes@asha.org or call 800-498-2071, ext. 5771.
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Entering The Data
What are instruments?
The term instrument refers to surveys and accreditation reports that programs are requested to complete. The HES includes the following six instruments:
- Graduate Guide Survey
- Joint ASHA-CAPCSD Research Doctoral Survey
- CAPCSD Demographic Survey
- CAPCSD Salary Survey
- CAA Application
- CAA Annual Report
The questions and associated data fields from these instruments form the basis for the HES.
What are key program characteristics?
Key program characteristics are a program's basic demographic information and features, such as contact information, degree(s) offered, and area(s) of study. The HES creates a program profile based on the contact and program information previously provided by the program.
The HES uses key program characteristics to identify the appropriate instruments to be completed by any one program, as well as the questions to be answered within a given instrument. For example, a program that has just one graduate degree program (e.g., master's level program in speech-language pathology) is not prompted to complete a doctoral program survey or asked to answer questions specific to an audiology program.
What data will be collected through the HES?
The data collected through the HES are the same type of data previously requested in the paper format of the surveys and accreditation reports (e.g., admissions, enrollment, graduation, employment of graduates, salary, curriculum, data verifying compliance with CAA standards). For example, the Graduate Guide Survey requests the following types of data: admissions, enrollment, graduation, and curriculum data, just to name a few. Worksheets are provided to assist with data collection planning.
Every time you respond to a question that is shared across instruments, the response is prepopulated into the next instrument to be completed so that programs just need to verify accuracy of the information. This HES feature makes the ongoing practice of completing instruments easier over time.
Which instruments will I be expected to complete and when?
The HES manager will send an e-mail notification to you or your designated program's signatory indicating the particular instrument(s) available to your program. The notification provides instructions and timelines to complete the instrument(s).
You will then be able to view a schedule for each instrument at My HES Info. It shows open and future instruments to be completed by your academic program. Although instruments are independently administered by ASHA, CAA, and CAPCSD, the status information for all instruments will be available in one location through My HES Info. Typically you have at least 4–6 weeks to complete and submit each instrument. For the CAA Accreditation Application and Annual Report, programs will have approximately 3 months to complete and submit data.
Who receives the notification?
The CAA's Accreditation Application and Annual Report will continue to be due according to the currently established schedule.
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Managing The Data Entry
Can I enter data for any instrument at any time?
You can only enter data during the open period. There is ample time provided to complete the instruments—typically a minimum of 4–6 weeks (except for the CAA Accreditation Application and Annual Report; see previous section titled "Entering the Data"). Each instrument has a specific period for which it is open for data entry. At the end of this period, the instrument will be closed. You can follow the status of open and future surveys on My HES Info.
Do I need to enter all of my data at one time?
No, data may be provided over the course of several separate sessions within the open period of the instrument. You may start entering your program's data, save what you have entered, and come back to complete the instrument for submission at a later time within the open period for the instrument. The HES allows multiple editors to update data for the same instrument. However, while users with the program-assigned role of editor can enter data, only the authorized program signatory (i.e., program director) can approve and submit the data. This is the last step that must be completed for any survey instrument.
Does HES have spell check?
No, there is no spell check feature, but there are character limits for text box responses. We encourage you to carefully check your spelling and character count. Alternately, we suggest using word processing software to compose the narrative responses and then simply copy and paste the text into the appropriate survey field. This is important because responses to the Graduate Guide Survey populate EdFind, a publicly viewed search interface.
How can I tell how many sections there are to complete in a given instrument?
A status page provides hyperlinks to each section of questions within each instrument, along with an accompanying icon indicating progress toward completion (e.g., "not started" indicated by a red button; "in progress" indicated by a yellow button; "completed" indicated by green).
What's the difference between save and submit?
The "save" function is designed to allow editors and/or the signatory to complete the open survey questions, save their work, and either return to modify/complete it later or have it reviewed by the signatory. Editors can continue to update existing data throughout the open period until the survey has been submitted. (Saved data that are part of the EdFind search results appear immediately on EdFind, even if the completed instrument has not yet been submitted.)
The "submit" function is used as the final step in completing an instrument and can only be activated by the authorized signatory once all sections of the instrument have been marked "complete" on the status page. The instrument must be submitted by the signatory within the designated open period in order for the instrument to be considered complete in the HES. This sign-off or submission authority signifies that all information provided within the instrument has been verified as being correct and a true representation of the program's status and activities.
What happens to my data if my session times out?
Unsaved data cannot be recovered. Therefore, please err on the side of caution and save your data frequently. If your session times out, your Internet connection is interrupted, or your power goes out, any unsaved data will be lost and must be reentered.
What happens if I need to modify a response or change contact information and the instrument has closed?
If you discover you need to adjust critical information in the instrument or program profile after the instrument has been submitted or is closed, contact the HES Manager at hes@asha.org.
What happens if I fail to complete an instrument?
If a program does not complete a particular instrument, the program does not benefit from the prepopulation of common data elements across instruments, and data about the program will not be included in aggregate reports about CSD education. If a program does not complete the Graduate Guide Survey Instrument, the program's information will not appear or be current in EdFind. Students will not be able to view the program's detailed information.
While CAPCSD surveys are optional, they were designed by the community of CSD programs to provide valuable information regarding regional and national trends. The CAPCSD surveys focus on demographic and salary data and provide data useful in program planning, including comparison of data to previous survey results across the last 20+ years. The validity of the data in each survey is affected by the percent of programs completing the surveys. Therefore, it is important for programs to participate in these two surveys. The results of the CAPCSD surveys are published and posted on the CAPCSD Web site.
All CAA instruments must be submitted to maintain accreditation.
How often is data uploaded to the HES?
Data goes "live" in the HES when the authorized signatory "submits" the entire instrument for your program. Several of the instruments are designed to capture data from all programs within a set time frame (e.g., CAPCSD's Demographic Survey). Therefore once a completed instrument is submitted and the instrument is closed from further data entry, a snapshot file is created for use with the related analyses and reports.
For those data fields that are part of the EdFind's reports, data goes live instantly whenever the editor "saves" data in a section of the instrument.
How can I see what I have submitted?
Data submitted from the Graduate Guide Survey will be immediately visible on your program's detailed listing on EdFind, the public search interface. A confirmation report will be generated as a PDF file and accessible through My HES Info for three instruments: the CAPCSD Salary Survey, the CAA Annual Report, and the CAA Accreditation Application. The confirmation report is a record of what the program submits.
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Data Use & Reports
How does ASHA, CAPCSD, or CAA use the data?
ASHA, CAPCSD and CAA use data collected via the HES instruments to report on trends in CSD education that will inform future directions and initiatives undertaken on behalf of the discipline. Individual program data from the Graduate Guide Survey populates EdFind. Individual program data from the CAA Reports are used in accreditation reviews.
Only aggregate data are available through:
- the CAPCSD Demographic Survey report
- the CAPCSD Salary Survey report
- the Joint ASHA-CAPCSD Research Doctoral Survey report
- supplemental reports from the Graduate Guide Survey
Programs will have improved access to comprehensive data-based information when the majority of CSD programs consistently participate in the HES instruments. Reporting and analysis capabilities of the HES are based on data directly provided by academic programs that complete survey instruments.
How can I access my program's data and reports?
Access to program data and reports is variable according to the particular instruments. Information submitted by a program for the Graduate Guide Survey can be viewed by everyone through the detailed program listing in EdFind. Select aggregate reports from the Graduate Guide Survey will be available on the ASHA Web site.
Individual data submitted to the CAPCSD Salary Survey and the CAA Application and Annual Reports can only be accessed by the individual program submitting the data via My HES Info as confirmation reports. Another program's individual data responses cannot be viewed by other programs.
Reports of individual program data are not available for the CAPCSD Demographic Survey or the Joint ASHA-CAPCSD Research Doctoral Survey. Rather, data submitted for these surveys are summarized in aggregate form across all programs and published on the CAPCSD and/or ASHA Web sites.
What data is available through EdFind?
EdFind, the online search interface available on the ASHA Web site, shows other master's and doctoral level program information such as admissions, tuition and fees, and program details based on the responses provided by the program directly via the Graduate Guide Survey.
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