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data analysis

When "Very Good" Isn't Good Enough: Data Quality in Surveys

Survey participation is an investment — in staff time, in student time, and in institutional strategy. The value of lean, comparable data isn't just in your own data, but what you learn when you can trust the comparison.

7 Practices Research & Data Analysts Can Learn from DIY-ers

Research and data analysts in higher education, like many public sectors, find themselves doing a lot with a little. Just like tinkerers and DIY-ers you call up about a problem with your sink, analysts are problem-solvers in the student information and processing neighborhoods of their institutions.

6 Steps to Developing a Metric to Understand Course Compaction

Just as strategic enrolment management looks at metrics at the institutional, department, program, and course level, so too should course compaction and curriculum offerings be understood at different levels of aggregation.

6 Indicators of Healthy Course Compaction

In the continuation of the series on course compaction for strategic enrolment management, this post discusses what student and course metrics might indicate healthy course compaction.

Course Compaction: Indicators of Negative Compaction

Course compaction can improve student program progression rates by streamlining course offerings, but as with any enrolment management initiative, there must be metrics developed to evaluate its effectiveness.

Using Technology in Academic Advising to Empower Students

As technology shapes how we find information, I wanted to know what social media says about academic advising. Most Tiktok videos tagged with #academicadvising were negative. How can institutions use technology to change the story told on social media?

What Programs Do We Even Offer?

Working in Institutional Research, I often was asked questions around “What programs do you offer?”, or “How many programs are there?”. You’d be surprised that answering these questions is not as easy as it sounds.

When is a New Scenario a New Scenario?

Scenario versions are based on user-controlled parameters, automatically updated parameters, and changes in your data model. Tracking the outputs of your scenarios allows you to go back and reflect on the results, seeing where there are opportunities for improvement.

The Importance of Reflection in Enrolment Forecasting

You’re finished enrolment forecasting for the cycle. The targets you helped developed made it through Senate, and you can breathe a sigh of relief. Right…?

Learning Together: Leveraging Paired Analysis to Make Your Enrolment Forecast Successful

Paired analysis is an excellent method to encourage stakeholders to work more collaboratively on an enrolment forecast. As an analyst, you can learn immensely from your colleagues working on the “business” side of the institution.