1. Tuesday, March 6, 2018 Convention Center, 115B
Utilizing Tableau to Visually Identify Spatial Correlations and Trends in Student Union Usage and Revenue Generation
Dr. Samantha Payton, The University of Alabama Dana Bonifacio-Sample, The University of Alabama
Tuesday, March 6, Convention Center, 115B

2. Learning Outcomes
ENGAGE with student union usage analytics for insightful decision-making.
COMPARE AND CONTRAST the benefits of advanced visual analytics versus standard tabular formats.
CREATE dynamic, visually inspiring spatial heat maps for a variety of assessment, research, and evaluation functions.
INCORPORATE spatial heat mapping into your unique analytics pipeline to serve departmental, divisional, and institutional needs.

3. Evaluating the University Student Union
University Student Unions routinely underappreciated analytically unless they program.
Benchmarking studies few and far between within the United States.
Student Union analytics pipelines are unique among Student Affairs, focusing on operational analytics.
Student Unions are critical campus town centers!
Student Union Engagement Correlates with Greater Sense of Belonging Among Students!

4. The Critical Questions
Who is using the Student Union?
Are students well-represented?
What facilities spaces are being utilized? Are there any underutilized spaces?
Are there spaces in need of attention/renovation?
Are there spatial correlations between utilization frequencies?
Are some spaces in hard to find or undesirable areas?
Which Student Union spaces are generating the most revenue?
Tailored marketing of spaces to profit generating groups versus full discount groups

5. Ferguson Student Center
304,297 square feet
Original facility opened in 1971
Major renovation in 2014
Added 75,000 square feet
Renovated 100,000 square feet
30,000 sq ft of meeting room space
19 meeting and event spaces
16,000 events per year
18 FTE
60 Student Employees

6. Tabular Results for Spatially Dependent Data

7. Crimson: University Departments
White: Student Organizations

8. Crimson: University Departments
White: Student Organizations

9. Making Spatial Maps Using Unique Background Images
The following slides contain videos showing the step-by-step process of creating spatial maps using YOUR unique background images.
Your reference hand-out follows these steps.

10. Where it Starts:

11. Where it Takes You:

12. Making Unique Polygons:

13. Saving Dimensions:

14. Creating Unique Background Image in Tableau:

15. Adding your Data to your Background Image:

16. Going Further… Spatial maps can be adopted across Student Affairs:
Student Housing uses this tool to spatially analyze trends in programming
Student Conduct uses this tool to spatially analyze trends related to Greek Life and Residence Halls
Spatial maps are visually stimulating to a diverse audience
Spatial maps require minimal effort or expertise from the audience to “see” trends

17. Discussion
How can your division or department incorporate spatial mapping to improve your current analytics process?
Can you articulate why this visual analytic would improve audience understanding of your unique data?
Are there questions that can be answered easily using this tool that were difficult to answer before?

18. Thank you for joining us today!
Please remember to complete your online evaluation following the conference.
See you in Los Angeles in 2019!