| Policy Title | Census Day Reporting Policy |
| Type or category of Policy: | University |
| Approval Authority: | Provost and Senior Vice President |
| Responsible Executive: | Provost and Senior Vice President |
| Responsible Office: | Office of Institutional Effectiveness |
| Owner Contact: | Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs- Institutional Effectiveness |
| Reviewed By: | Margaret E. Madden, Ph.D. Provost and Senior Vice President | Siena University |
| Reviewed Date: | July 29, 2025 |
| Last Revised and Effective Date of Revision: | June 24, 2025 |
Reason for Policy
The Census Day Reporting Policy exists to provide the framework for institutional census day reporting. The policy defines census day, identifies activities related to execution of the census day freeze, and clarifies handling of data associated with census day reporting.
Scope of the Policy:
Entities or Individuals affected by this policy
The following Siena University organizations are involved with census day reporting and this policy directly impacts them:
- Office of Institutional Effectiveness (OIE)
- Institutional Research (IR)
- Registrar’s Office
- Enrollment Management
- Academic Affairs
- Information Technology Services (ITS)
The following are indirectly impacted by this policy in that they are recipients of census day reporting or raw data files that will be used in institutional planning.
- The president
- Vice presidents
- Deans
- Finance & Administration
- Members of the Board of Trustees
The Official Policy
Census day is the institutionally determined date used by institutions of higher education for the purposes of providing comparable year over year enrollment data for internal and external reporting needs. It provides an official point in time enrollment count to be used for reporting and informing enrollment/budget projections. For Siena University, census day has been defined to be the 21st day after the first day of classes for the term. Census day is applicable only for Fall and Spring semesters; there is no census day for Winter and Summer terms.
The Registrar’s Office is responsible for developing the academic calendar. The Director of Institutional Research is responsible for determining the specific date for census day based on the academic calendar and according to the definition of the 21 st day after the first day of classes for the term. Once the specific date for census day has been identified, the Director of Institutional
Research will coordinate the enrollment data freeze, also referred to as the Census Day Freeze, with Information Technology Services.
The date of the enrollment data freeze will be determined no later than 30 days before the start of the term. Recognizing the need for some flexibility in terms of when the enrollment data freeze can be performed, the selected date and time for the enrollment data freeze will be no earlier than 24 hours before the specified census day and no later than 48 hours after the specified census
day.
Offices to be notified of the selected date and time for the Census Day Freeze will be Institutional Effectiveness, Enrollment Management, Registrar’s Office, Academic Affairs, and Finance & Administration. Other offices may be notified and/or assistance requested from as part of the data integrity processes performed prior to the enrollment data freeze.
Institutional Research will release Census Day data reports no later than 72 hours after the Census Day Freeze and all required data validation is completed.
Exceptions
An exception to the requirement that the Census Day Freeze be performed no earlier than 24 hours before the specified census day and no later than 48 hours after the specified census day may be made in exceptional circumstances. If an exception is required, all organizations involved (Institutional Effectiveness, Institutional Research, Enrollment Management, Registrar’s Office, and ITS) must agree unanimously to the exception.