Scenarios vs. Predictions
Relying only on predictions risks locking institutions into a false sense of security. Scenarios, on the other hand, open up conversations about resilience, trade-offs, and strategic agility.
predictive modeling
Reflecting on my First Term as an Adjunct Professor
There are four key roles when teaching a class: preparation and research, teaching in class, assignments and marking, and administration.
Brace for Impact: Projecting International Enrolment Declines in Atlantic Canadian Universities
The ripple effects of international enrolment declines will be felt across budgets, programming, and staffing. Yet, hard times have often been the catalyst for strategic reinvention.
Modelling Impacts of International Study Permit Changes in Canada
Since summer, the Canadian federal government has been musing about cutting back on new international student study permits. Well, it finally happened. This post discusses some of the potential impacts, and provides an forecast of how enrolments will change as a result of this new policy.
Is Final Final Final Projection the right Final file?
Scenario planning allows your institution to better plan for what happens when things change, and it can be automated to update in near real time if you need. But it's very hard to keep track of all those scenarios unless you have a robust system that was designed for collaboration from day one.
Why We Built Plaid Forecast
“I’ve got a PhD in robotics engineering, and you’
Is Enrolment Forecasting Cooperative or Collaborative?
Institutional Researchers can unintentionally end up as gatekeepers to the collaborative enrolment forecasting model. They've built it by hand, using tools and skills available to them at the time, but the models aren't built for scale. Plaid Forecast is.
Using a Database for your Enrolment Forecast
Databases are great at storing the inputs and outputs of your enrolment forecast. Depending on your configuration, horsepower, and forecast design however, they may be very subpar for the steps that happen between input and output.
Tripling Your Tuition Revenue?
Poof – you’ve now tripled your revenue in only five years. All from growing student intakes by 10% and rates by 15% per year.
I’m providing this tongue-in-cheek example as many people struggle with non-linear growth patterns, and overlooking those patterns at could result in erroneous conclusions.
Having Multiple Professionals Build Your Enrolment Forecast
What happens when your primary enrolment forecaster gets sick? Or gets another job? Would your institution be left scrambling?