Developing an information portal Inair 2018 R. Edwin Welch, pH.d.

Overview This presentation will walk the participants through the project life cycle including: Needs analysis Vision casting Development of functional requirements and operational definitions Strategic partnerships Engagement of undergraduate students in development Deployment Promotion Next steps

Background Taylor University established in 1846 in Ft. Wayne Indiana as Ft. Wayne Female College Private Christian Liberal Arts Institution Fall 2017 enrollment 1,892 undergraduates Office of Institutional Research FTE – 2.5 Director of Institutional Research - 0.5 Institutional Research Analyst – 1.0 Information Resource Coordinator – 1.0

Time line – University program review University Program Review Began June 2014 UPR Final Report Feb. 2016 33 Academic Program Units 51 Different Data Points per Program Unit 61 Different Majors 13,000+ Data Points Delivered

Time line - vision June 2014 Feb. 2016 June 2015 University Program Review Began June 2014 UPR Final Report Feb. 2016 Vision Development June 2015 Make relevant and actionable data accessible to decision makers Provide a dynamic environment for the exploration of data Provide a self-service reporting environment for standard reports Relieve pressure on the OIR to minimize bottle neck for requests

Time line – needs analysis University Program Review Began June 2014 UPR Final Report Feb. 2016 Vision Development June 2015 Met With Dept. Chairs Fall 2015 Questions What information do they need on a regular basis? What do they wish they knew on a regular basis? What information do they need for accrediting bodies if applicable? What course information do they need or would like to know? Common Themes Admission data Course Enrollment, Trends & Capacity Curriculum Needs Individual Student Data Student Success

Time line - development Propose Concept to the IT/EDS team Spring 2016 Development Begins June 2016 Met with Vice-Provost and Deans to set scope Significant data validation and test of core reporting object critical to the development was completed by IR and the EDS team over the prior year Employed Rapid Application Design (RAD) Separated backend development (data queries) from front end development (presentation) Development team consisted of 2 students working 40 hrs. per week and 2 EDS team members

Functional requirements Blend of UPR data requirements and themes identified from interviews Trend analysis – not “Official” numbers Self-service reporting Data security – Department chairs can only see their respective data Senior leadership sees all university data Provost Vice-Provost School Deans Director of Assessment and Quality Improvement

Time Line - Development Propose Concept to the IT/EDS team Spring 2016 Development Begins June 2016 Testing and Data Validation Fall 2016 IR and the EDS team engaged in validation together Independent queries were generated based on independent sources for comparisons to data displayed in the AIP Discrepancies were investigated and adjustments made if appropriate.

Time line - launch Spring 2016 June 2016 Fall 2016 Jan. 2017 Propose Concept to the IT/EDS team Spring 2016 Development Begins June 2016 Testing and Data Validation Fall 2016 Official Launch of the AIP Jan. 2017

Content areas Enrollment Persistence Student Flow Graduates Faculty Load (Under Construction) Credit Hours (Under Construction) Geography Demographics Cross Department data (Under Construction) Fact Sheet On Demand Reporting

Features Primary Filters Operational Data Definition Info Drill Down Function available Open Chart in a New Tab

Persistence

Student flow

geography

Demographic information

Development tools Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio Pentaho Data Integration (Data Warehouse) Information Builders BI and Analytics Platform WebFocus BI portal AppStudio 8104 InfoAssist

Next steps Base trend data on frozen data (census data) instead of transactional Build out areas under construction Refine alignment with departmental annual report and 8 year review Continued promotion with department chairs Content and security review to prepare for access by all faculty