1 Presenters: Lucretia Parham Sara Connor Armstrong Atlantic State University October 30, :45 – 12:35 Copyright Sara Connor and Lucretia Parham, This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the author. Presenters: Lucretia Parham Sara Connor Armstrong Atlantic State University October 30, :45 – 12:35 Copyright Sara Connor and Lucretia Parham, This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the author. Improving Institutional Planning: A Decision Support System for University Administrators

The Future of Higher Education Is Drucker Right? Historical Perspective Increased Administrative Pressure

Mastering Change Harnessing Technology Planning is a Must Strategic Vision Add Value Use Data

The Process of Change Creation More from Drucker What is Change Creation? –Get accurate, up-to-date data –Define the future you want to create –Use the universal change principle –Use data to evaluate

Meeting the Challenge Strategic Use of Technology Be Proactive It’s all about Access

Why do we Need a DSS?  Slow and ineffective information retrieval methods  Increase in the amount and complexity of information required  Critical role of information management in organizational success  Sheer volume of the data

Our Solution Armstrong Atlantic State University Savannah, Georgia Tiered web-based reporting solution for extracting information from SIS

First Steps  Articulate a clear vision for student information reporting  Design a methodology for meaningful information retrieval  Implement a solution incorporating technology, security and user concerns

Multi-tiered approach Meta application to create standard reports Web site that allows users to create simple reports Interface for more sophisticated users to create complex reports using third party software Web site where users choose reports created by technical staff

Meta Application  PL/SQL code generation capability imbedded in Oracle database  Interface to code generation capability created by technical staff  Customized labels for report attributes  Criteria for the report selected from user-defined list  Report criteria saved by users for future use or revision

Examples  Registered or joint enrolled students  Financial aid students  Academic suspension/probation list  Honors, freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors, post baccalaureates, athletes, senior citizens, graduating seniors

Benefits of the DSS Solution  Ease of implementation  Non-proprietary solution  Little technical staff intervention  Cross-platform capability  Allows users to browse and create simple reports  Uses local tables and views  Exploits the data warehouse concept

Web site report creation Examples of views created include:  Registration, Admissions, Recruiting, Financial Aid  Design of the views/tables based on the requirements of the different areas

User benefits of web site  Immediate feedback to the ultimate consumer of the information  Simplicity of the interface  Views and tables based on user-defined needs  Daily updates of information

Technical benefits of web site  Use of non-production database  Authentication via Banner login name and password  Security control through Oracle roles  Ease of modification and maintenance

Using third party tools  Crystal Reports or Access to create reports  More complex reporting capability  Users trained by internal or external staff  Examples include cross validation and time series analysis

Web Site Report Retrieval  Mirrors the current practice  Technical staff create reports that users run  Available through web site  Includes the most complex reports  Examples include enrollment statistics

Issues and Concerns  Database complexity led to creation of local tables and views  Technical criteria include hardware and software needs  Training must be done  Security is always an issue

 Report Builder  Oracle Server  Acrobat Reader 4.0 Software Involved in the Creation and Presentation of Local Reports

Level One User  Can choose to AutoRun reports  User only has access to run reports for area  Access to Report Output

Level Two User

Level Three User Access to Application Development Links

Level Four User Top Level of Access Access to Technical documentation and utilities CIS access to Meta-App Development Links

Extra Benefits Users have the option to set preferences for icons and colors.

Extra Benefits Pop up help screens are available and are customizable.

Extra Benefits The ability for users to add their own help links will be in place soon.

Extra Benefits Error messages are incorporated.

Extra Benefits Color coded error messages are available as well

Summary  Users at all levels can create reports  Information format makes sense to users  Web-based intuitive solution  Comprehensive mechanism to solve the ongoing issue of information retrieval

Questions and Answers  Are there any questions?  Thank you for your time.