Patrick Perry

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.