Lifetime and Partner Achievement Awards 

2023 Lifetime Achievement Award
Jim Fillpot, M.A.
Dean, Institutional Research, Policy, and Grants,
Chaffey College 

Jim Fillpot is a seasoned professional who has dedicated over 35 years to institutional research in the California Community Colleges system. Jim is well known for being highly analytical and detail oriented, with advanced skills in database management and data analysis. His extensive knowledge of research methodologies, survey design, big data curation, and data visualization have reinforced him as a trailblazing IRPE leader who has continuously advanced the mission of The RP Group in his various roles.

Jim began his higher education studies as a California community college student himself, earning an Associate of Arts in psychology from Chaffey College. He then received both his Bachelor of Arts in experimental psychology and his Master of Arts in industrial/organizational psychology from California State University, San Bernardino. He served as a research assistant and analyst at Cerritos College for more than a decade before returning in 1999 to his roots at Chaffey College, where he began as Director of Institutional Research and worked his way up to his current role of Dean, Institutional Research, Policy, and Grants—a position he has held since 2011.

Jim has made significant contributions to IRPE leadership, equity, research, planning, and policy, at Chaffey College and more broadly in the state. He has played a critical role in executing accreditation, developing benchmarks that align with statewide initiatives, and fostering a culture of data-informed decision-making. He has a unique ability to compile, synthesize, and communicate complex data in a user-friendly manner. This skill is invaluable in ensuring that faculty, staff, and administrators have access to the information they need to quickly identify and address student needs.

In addition, under Jim’s leadership, Chaffey College’s Grants Development and Management Office has acquired close to $200 million in competitive grant funding, contracts, and fee-for-service awards aimed at improving learning, student achievement, and equity.

Jim’s contributions to the IRPE field have been recognized by The RP Group through several awards including Excellence in College Research (awarded in 2008 and 2015), Excellence in College Planning (awarded in 2008 and 2013), Achievement in Planning (awarded in 2007), and Excellence in Technical Application (awarded in 2005). He has contributed to several research publications and has served as an organizer at various state, local, and regional research consortiums.

In addition to his awards and publications, Jim has presented with colleagues on a wide array of topics including statistical validation of prerequisites and corequisites; incorporation of Completion by Design; transformation of student completion through hope; an integrated model measuring the impact of course, program, and institutional learning outcomes; and debunking of the two-year myth of community colleges. He also served as an RP Group Board member from 2004 to 2008.

In addition to his professional expertise, Jim is also known as a humble and dedicated mentor. Jim’s knowledge, skills, and generous spirit are well known amongst his colleagues and peers. IRPE professionals often seek him out for guidance and mentorship, which he freely gives. He has mentored dozens of new researchers and significantly contributed to their professional success. Many current directors and deans of institutional research began their careers under Jim’s leadership.

Jim Fillpot’s long and distinguished career has spanned more than three decades and has significantly advanced the field of institutional research. He has spent his career working to better the lives of students and his peers, and his dedication to their success is evident in everything he does. He is a role model for others in the field, and his contributions to the California Community Colleges system are invaluable. We are pleased to celebrate Jim’s leadership with the 2023 RP Group Lifetime Achievement Award.

2023 Lifetime Achievement Award
Cathy L. Hasson, Ed.D.
Co-Lead, Institutional Effectiveness Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) Project,
CCCCO and The RP Group;
Former Director of Institutional Research and Planning,
San Diego Community College District

With over 30 years of experience in higher education—primarily in California but also in Texas and Washington—Dr. Cathy L. Hasson’s career is deeply founded in the organizational development training she received from her doctoral program and her experiences in the California Community Colleges system.

Cathy’s studies began in bilingual/bicultural education at Cabrillo College, where she received an associate degree, and then she received her bachelor’s degree in English/linguistics from San Francisco State University. She went on to receive her master’s degree in education with a specialization in teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) from California State University, Fullerton, and later completed her doctorate in organizational leadership at Pepperdine University.

At the beginning of her career, Cathy spent 13 years teaching English as a second language (ESL) at colleges and universities in the Southern California area. She stepped out of education for several years to pursue her interests in research and began working for market research and educational assessment companies, where she learned about survey research and assessment.

As an institutional research, planning, and organizational development professional, Cathy has provided significant contributions to the field. She was Director of Institutional Research, Planning, and Grants at Saddleback College from 1995 to 2005 and then Dean of Planning, Research, and Institutional Effectiveness at Skyline College from 2005 to 2008. While at these institutions, she excelled at building effective research infrastructures that enhanced efficiencies and data integrity and expanded information capacity. She served as the Director of Institutional Research and Planning at San Diego Community College District (SDCCD) from 2008 to 2018, where she oversaw the research function for the district, mentoring a large team of researchers, as well as installing research offices at the four colleges.

Cathy was also the lead designer and technical consultant in building information capacity for California community colleges through the Hewlett-funded 2009-2011 Bridging Research, Information, and Culture (BRIC) Initiative. This groundbreaking work was ahead of its time, spanning topics from institutional effectiveness to the assessment of student services outcomes. To this day, IRPE professionals reference materials from the BRIC initiative that Cathy co-led.

As a seasoned research, planning, and strategic enrollment management professional, Cathy has also served as an institutional research and effectiveness consultant and interim director of institutional research for numerous colleges including Moreno Valley College, Clark College in Vancouver, Washington, and Eastfield College in Dallas, Texas, where she participated in the statewide Success by the Numbers initiative. She has also served as a strategic enrollment management planning consultant for the Peralta Community College District, Fullerton College, and Fresno City College. In addition, Cathy has been a strategic and master planning consultant for Compton College, City College of San Francisco, and Coastline College.

Cathy has facilitated survey research, focus groups, and assessment workshops for the Basic Skills Initiative Network and the California SLO Collaborative. She has presented and facilitated sessions for The RP Group, the Association for Institutional Research, the California Association for Institutional Research, and the Community College League of California. Cathy also served on The RP Group’s Board of Directors for three separate terms: 2002-2004, 2006-2010, and 2010-2012. Cathy continues to be involved in instruction as an instructor and chair of the Institutional Research Certificate Program at the University of California, San Diego.

For the past eight years, Cathy has been the co-lead and a core team member for the Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) Project, a collaboration between The RP Group and the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office. Through this project, Cathy has designed, developed, and implemented numerous SEM resources for community colleges including a set of SEM resource guides, a series of eight SEM webinars, and the SEM Academy for colleges. She has also served multiple times as a SEM coach for various colleges in the year-long SEM Program.

Cathy’s legacy includes advancing research, planning, and institutional effectiveness, which has led to a significant impact for the institutional research and planning community and the California Community Colleges system overall. In her professional roles as an administrator, consultant, instructor, facilitator, presenter, and trainer, Cathy has served as an inspirational mentor to many IRPE professionals and others in the field. We are pleased to celebrate her leadership with the 2023 RP Group Lifetime Achievement Award.

2023 Partner Achievement Award
Willard Hom, MBA
Former Director/Dean of Research, Analysis, and Accountability,
California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office

Willard Hom brought his decades of expertise to the California Community Colleges system and dedicated his talents to achievements in survey research, performance measurement/accountability, customer satisfaction, market research, and various public issues such as labor and higher education.

Willard’s personal interests have long centered around improving policymaking and research practice in the public sector, especially state government. He received his Bachelor of Arts in political science from California State University, Sacramento, and his Master of Business Administration from University of California, Davis. For 12 years, he served as the Director of Research, Analysis, and Accountability for the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office (CCCCO). During the early days of the California Community Colleges system’s accountability reporting, he created and implemented the Partnership for Excellence accountability framework, which included extensive field interaction and training.

In response to the Assembly Bill 1417 (Pacheco) legislation in 2004, Willard created the first cohort-based report examining transfer outcomes. He utilized a methodology for creating transfer rates that involved adjusting for K-12 test scores and establishing expected versus actual rates based on factors outside of the control of the institution. Current transfer outcomes reporting frameworks in the state still benefit from Willard’s early work in this area.

Willard’s contributions were pivotal in the next evolution of mandated accountability reporting. Working with his research team at the CCCCO and members of the accountability reporting advisory committee, Willard created the Student Success Scorecard, a set of student progress and success metrics to understand remedial instruction, job training programs, retention of students, and graduation and completion rates. The creation of the Scorecard advanced the work of accountability reporting by moving from simple volume counts to rates based on entering cohorts. Notably, for the Student Progress and Achievement Rate (SPAR), he implemented the use of course-taking behavior as a measure of intent, rather than a stated goal, when constructing student cohorts.

To address legislative interest, Willard and his research team at the CCCCO implemented a sophisticated model for creating peer groups, allowing colleges to compare their student outcomes with those of other colleges. The Scorecard’s presentation allowed complex data to be shown in a way that was easy to understand, thus facilitating dialogue within our campus communities. Notably, for many years it was highlighted as best practice for measuring and monitoring outcomes by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges.

Additional research projects Willard was involved in include reporting on wage gain outcomes for non- completers, student inflow and outflow, construction and testing of a “first-gen” question in a system-wide survey, and validation of community college transfers counts to the CSU and UC systems. Always a researcher, Willard served in his role with integrity and intellect. There was never a prompt or question on the RP Group listserv to which he could not respond. He also served as President of the California Association for Institutional Research (CAIR) for a number of years.

Throughout his career, Willard engaged with the local research community and welcomed participation and feedback. In doing so, he created a sense of commitment and collaboration for monitoring student outcomes across the system. Since Willard also held a multi-disciplinary perspective in his research interests, he regularly shared his diverse findings via abstracts for other researchers and staff to enjoy. He was an active strategic advisor on The RP Group’s Board of Directors for over a decade. 

Since his retirement from the CCCCO at the end of 2011, Willard has spent most of his time as the head tennis coach for a local high school, playing tennis with friends, collecting and listening to music (mainly pop oldies and jazz), and finally reading all the books he collected over the years on political science, economics, sociology, and research methods.

We are proud to celebrate Willard Hom for his unparalleled contributions toward advancing state and national accountability reporting, and for integrating conversations about student outcomes into the daily work of researchers throughout California.

2023 Partner Achievement Award
Patrick Perry
Former Director of Research and Data,
California Student Aid Commission;
Chief Information Officer,
CCC and CSU Chancellor’s Offices

The significance of Patrick Perry’s contributions to the field of research and planning in California community colleges cannot be overstated. In his three decades of leadership, Patrick successfully implemented improved community college metrics at the local, system, and national level, developed the first statewide accountability reporting framework, democratized access to data, and tirelessly advocated for researchers and planners statewide. His contributions and accomplishments underscore his tremendous impact in the California community colleges.

Patrick began his state career in the California Department of Boating and Waterways and the Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education before transitioning to the California Community Colleges (CCC) system. In nearly two decades (from 1997 to 2015) at the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO), Patrick functioned as statewide champion for community college researchers, heading the Technology, Research, and Information Systems Division—ultimately as Vice Chancellor. Under Patrick’s leadership, the Accountability, Research, and Planning Unit of the CCCCO developed an agenda that included system accountability, the study of transfer, basic skills, and wage outcomes of students. His stewardship was visionary, creating new and hybrid metrics to better measure outcomes for institutions and community college students.

Patrick’s first significant impact while at the CCCCO was the development of a community college graduation and transfer rate for the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) Graduation Rate Survey. This effort included using CCC student data and research to improve the standardization, reporting, and use of the survey for community colleges nationally, highlighting equitable outcomes. He then created a subscription service that allowed the CCCCO to submit IPEDS on behalf of all CCCs.

His subsequent contributions were equally visionary and impactful, including DataMart (online public access to Chancellor's Office Management Information System—or COMIS—data) and Data-on-Demand (providing detailed data to institutional researchers). In these tools and in his other efforts, Patrick infused equity by systematically including the ability to disaggregate data. He also negotiated a National Student Clearinghouse agreement for the CCC system that led to the improvement of tracking transfer rates, including transfer patterns to private and for-profit schools, further shining a spotlight on equity.

Notably, Patrick developed the initial accountability frameworks for CCCs, Accountability Reporting for the Community Colleges, and the Student Success Scorecard. He created innovative frameworks that included the use of cohorts and peer grouping and focused on equity that highlighted outcomes, measured student progress and success, and identified needs of different student groups.

Patrick created policy in service to research and planning and student success, including negotiating a data match with the Employment Development Department to capture wage outcomes of CCC students. That data match further led to the development of the Salary Surfer, an online tool for students and their families that reports wage outcomes for CCC graduates by programs of study. He also wrote legislation that enabled data matching between the higher education segments and other state agencies with a portfolio that leveraged matched data from a multitude of state and national data sources.

Following his tenure at the CCCCO, Patrick served as a Senior Research Associate at WestEd (2015-2016), Chief Information Officer for the California State University system (2016-2019), and most recently as Director of Policy, Research, and Data for the California Student Aid Commission (2019-2023). In his last two roles, Patrick has continued to advocate for transfer access and success among California community college students.

In addition, Patrick served as a strategic advisor to The RP Group’s Board of Directors for more than a decade, helping raise the profile of The RP Group in the CCCCO and across the state, working to ensure that researchers and planners had a voice in important consultation forums.

We are proud to celebrate Patrick Perry for his unparalleled contributions toward advancing state and national accountability reporting, for integrating conversations about student outcomes into the daily work of researchers and planners throughout California, and for his unwavering and longstanding support of The RP Group and the IRPE community.

2023 Partner Achievement Award Winner
Alice van Ommeren, Ed.D.
Former Executive Director of Institutional Effectiveness, Research, and Planning,
San Jose-Evergreen Community College District;
Former Director of Research, Analysis, and Accountability,
California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office

Throughout her career in the field of institutional research, Alice van Ommeren made significant contributions at both the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office (CCCCO) and the community college district level.

Alice began her higher education studies as a California community college student herself, studying liberal arts at San Joaquin Delta College. She then received her Bachelor of Arts from California State University, Stanislaus, and her Master of Arts from California State University, Sacramento—both in sociology. Alice then joined the CCCCO as a lead researcher in the information systems and analysis department, responsible for the implementation, evaluation, and improvement of the accountability system for the community colleges. While working in this role, she also received her Doctorate in Education from University of the Pacific.

At the CCCCO, Alice was a member of the team that created the California Community Colleges Student Success Scorecard and engaged with representatives from across the state to inform her work. She helped lead a Scorecard Advisory Committee composed of community college constituent group representatives, institutional researchers, program stakeholders, and legislative delegates. Her presentations on proposed metrics and data models were an important contribution to this work.

Alice is widely admired for her ability to clearly communicate complex data and research to diverse audiences. This skill was evident in her contributions to the creation of a framework that was much more than merely an accountability reporting system. Colleges used the Scorecard metrics in their planning and dialogue about how best to serve community college students. The illustration of outcomes for “prepared” versus “unprepared” students informed work to transform placement and instructional practices around basic skills.

An excellent researcher, Alice helped create the Scorecard’s peer groupings by refining the methodology and indices used to evaluate comparative performance of campuses on each of the accountability metrics. She is credited for her work on evaluating community college student movement to in-state private (ISP) and out-of-state (OOS) transfer institutions. She was the first to show (through a National Student Clearinghouse matching methodology) the actual volume of California community college transfers to ISP and OOS institutions, highlighting a system-wide movement of students to for-profit institutions. This work informed the creation of transfer degrees and advanced student outcomes reporting throughout the state and nation.

Some of Alice’s other contributions include assistance in the development of the Salary Surfer tool and the Skills Builder metrics. She was instrumental in creating the first public display of the Salary Surfer tool, showing wage outcomes of degree/certificate earners by program of study. Recognizing that some students attend a community college to strengthen their job skills and thus advance in their careers, Alice was integral in documenting these outcomes through her support in the development of Skills Builder metrics, which show enrollment patterns and wage gains for students intentionally engaged in non-degree pathways. Alice and her team received awards from The RP Group for State/Regional Excellence Accountability Reporting for the California Community Colleges (2008), the Salary Surfer (2014), and the Skills Builder metric (2016).

In recognition of her contributions, Alice was appointed as the Director of Research, Analysis, and Accountability at the CCCCO, a position she held for six years before transitioning to support the San Jose-Evergreen Community College (SJECC) district. At SJECC, Alice served as the Executive Director of Institutional Effectiveness, Research, and Planning, a cabinet-level position that provided leadership for district-wide research, accountability, strategic planning, and institutional effectiveness.

Alice’s leadership in the IRPE field can be seen through her service as President of the California Association of Institutional Research (CAIR) and on the Board of The RP Group. Her work has been featured in numerous publications and presentations, including her participation in seven RP Conferences as a special guest speaker.

After two decades in higher education research, working her way from analyst to administrator, in 2021 Alice decided to transition to a career in the wine industry where she helps people understand the importance of using data, research, and history in business and policy decision-making.

Alice’s significant contributions to the IRPE field, her ability to effectively communicate data and research, and her authentic approach to collaboration have all made a significant impact in the California Community Colleges system. The RP Group is proud to celebrate Alice’s many contributions and efforts with the 2023 Partner Achievement Award.