Section: People
Metro State’s success begins with…Ellen Boswell
Jan 9, 2008

Ellen Boswell is a firm believer that success is in the numbers.

OIR Coordinator Ellen Boswell credits her passion for Metro State to the positive experience she had as accounting student at the College.

As coordinator of the Office of Institutional Research (OIR), Boswell oversees a staff of four who are tasked with gathering, analyzing and officially reporting all facts and figures related to Metro State. Statistics on graduation rates, hiring trends, faculty assessments and course enrollment represent only a fraction of the number wrangling that happens daily.

A 1977 graduate of Metro State in accounting, Boswell has spent the majority of her professional career--almost 28 years to be exact--in OIR, primarily serving as a self-described “worker bee” in positions ranging from program assistant to statistical analyst II. She served as the office’s interim coordinator for 18 months before being appointed as permanent coordinator--a transition that Boswell says has taken a fair amount of acclimation as she delegates that which she was previously responsible for producing.

“Now I’m having to develop those skills where I can make the presentation, present the data well, know it well enough even though I didn’t do all the work,” says Boswell.

“… For me, that’s where my growth has been.”

In May 2007, Boswell was the recipient of an Outstanding Women Award given by the Metro State Institute of Women’s Studies and Services to celebrate women at the College who have demonstrated leadership ability and/or made a contribution to enhancing educational opportunities and academic prominence for women. She was part of last year’s inaugural MetroLeads leadership program, was chair of the Student Success Committee in Academic Affairs, is past president of the Classified Council and serves as a role model for women in the traditionally male-dominated arenas of data analysis and mathematics.

Boswell acknowledges that the assistance and opportunities she realized as a Metro State student are paramount to her lengthy record of success as an administrator at the College. She says that had her student experience not been so positive, she might not have the same level of passion that daily contributes to the office’s success and her professional growth.

“I don’t have as many dealings with students as I would probably like, but when I do, I kind of like to give back,” says Boswell, who adds that she often volunteers at commencement ceremonies in addition to maintaining an active alumni role.

Currently, Boswell is involved with the Hispanic Serving Institution efforts at the College, where she is collaborating with others, like Assistant Professor of English Tat Sang So, to paint a picture of which majors attract Latino students.

(For more information, see this past @Metro article: http://www.mscd.edu/~collcom/artman/publish/hisp_twv5101707.shtml)

Boswell and her staff produce occasional performance reports that seek to track the College’s progress towards meeting its many goals, such as increased student enrollment, strengthened student retention and boosted graduation rates.

“… Retention is what we’re really working on right now…” says Boswell. “We do so much recruiting to get them here, we need to keep them until they graduate so it would improve our graduation rates.”