The IR Team's Year: When Each Season Hits and What to Prepare

In our 50-interview whitepaper, IR teams described a predictable seasonal rhythm that determines how busy they are and what kind of requests dominate. The pattern was consistent enough across institutions that it can be mapped, prepared for, and used to time proactive work. This post is that map. If you run an IR office of any size, the cabinet asks do not arrive evenly; this tells you when they will arrive and what to have ready.

Peak season is when the ad-hoc request queue runs at 100% capacity multiplier and small teams hit 90% maximum utilization. The whitepaper found peak months coincide with the three points in the academic calendar when stakeholders make decisions: September (fall enrollment is final, census date passes, fall-to-fall retention becomes askable), January (spring enrollment locks, spring-to-fall retention becomes askable, the cabinet begins budget cycle prep), and May (commencement closes the year, 4-year and 150% graduation rates become publishable).

Dominant requests during peak: retention rate by cohort, enrollment headcount and FTE, the latest graduation rate, peer comparisons for board memos, and financial aid packaging questions. Urgent requests from senior management spike: "dropping everything else to service that request immediately" was the norm in 38.2% of institutions. Pre-Clema, this is when the office of one feels most underwater.

Moderate season runs at roughly 50% of peak volume but holds a different kind of work. October and November are accreditation self-study drafts; February and March are program review and strategic planning cycles. The requests here are deeper-analytical, not retrieval: "What is driving the retention dip we saw in September?" or "Which programs should we sunset in the next strategic plan?"

Moderate season is when IR teams have the most leverage to do strategic analysis, if peak season did not bury them. This is the season to invest in predictive analytics, peer benchmarking, and the data dictionary work that pays off in the next peak. See Clema's predictive analytics and peer benchmarking for the analytical surface that fits this season.

Low season runs at roughly 10% of peak. Most stakeholder requests drop because the academic calendar is quiet; the cabinet is not in session and deans are not writing block memos. The whitepaper did not find that IR teams are idle during low season; the work shifts.

Low season is when IR teams prepare for peak: tune IPEDS definitions, refresh the peer groups, build the dashboards that will be asked about next September, and run the strategic analyses that did not fit in peak. It is also when new tools can be piloted without disrupting the request queue. The 14-day free trial of Clema fits low season because the team has time to validate definitions and connectors before peak arrives.