Analytics
The National Association of College and University Business Officers recognizes that higher education institutions are under increasing pressure to find new efficiencies at their institutions and to demonstrate that they are being good stewards of public dollars.
Colleges and universities are embracing analytics and using data, technology, and specialized knowledge to answer questions, reveal institutional needs, predict outcomes, improve student success, and improve financial performance.
Accelerating Analytics
NACUBO's resource series, Accelerating Analytics, provides members with briefs that offer awareness, knowledge, and guidance that can support data-informed decision-making practices at colleges and universities.
The following resources are available to members:
- Communicating Business and Financial Information
- From Data to Decisions
- Data Governance for Business Officers
- Understanding Academic Costs
Analytics Research
Colleges and universities are confronted with myriad challenges, and analytics can support institutional leaders as they make critical decisions. Yet, leveraging analytics can prove to be a challenge as well.
NACUBO convened six chief business officers who participated in the 2019 NACUBO Study of Analytics to discuss how they are navigating challenges and creating data-informed cultures at their institutions. Read the advice from these institutional leaders in the brief 6 Ways to Improve Your Analytics Use.
The 2019 NACUBO Analytics Study examined the use of analytics in higher education from the business officer perspective. Findings showed that although colleges and universities are leveraging analytics to inform decisions, business officers think analytics should be used to a greater extent. However, findings also revealed cultural and capacity barriers to the integration and use of analytics.
In addition to the report, two infographics that illustrate report highlights and an op-ed, Analytics is a Skill, Not a Tool, are available.
Collaborative Statement on Analytics
Analytics can save higher education. Really. This statement, a collaborative effort between the Association for Institutional Research, EDUCAUSE, and NACUBO, is available at www.changewithanalytics.com.
Colleges and universities are increasingly charged to navigate challenges—from new enrollment trends to a heightened focus on student outcomes and from public questions about the value of a degree to concerns about equity. Analytics is a key that can support campus leaders, including business officers, in making mission-critical decisions. Use the six principles outlined in the statement to begin to tap into the power of analytics on your campus.
Analytics: Informing Decisions in Higher Education
In preparation for NACUBO’s first Integrating Analytics Forum in 2018, the Analytics Advisory Group designed the Higher Education Data Analytics Framework to guide the program’s curriculum development. Recognizing that students are our most important constituent group, the group identified culture, capacity, analytical questions, and return on investment as key components of the framework for understanding how analytics informs decisions in higher education.
Articles, Podcasts, and Case Studies
Review articles, podcasts, and case studies related to higher education’s integration of analytics to achieve institutional strategic goals.
Change With Analytics Case Studies
NACUBO collaborated with AIR and EDUCAUSE to curate case studies about the use of analytics at colleges and universities. Case studies on this resource page address topics such as the use of analytics to create efficiencies within student financial services, monitor and forecast enrollment, improve student engagement and success, and others.
IHEP's Data-Informed Efforts to Help Students Complete and Succeed
In this NACUBO in Brief podcast, NACUBO's vice president for policy and research, Liz Clark, speaks with the interim president of IHEP, Mamie Voight, about her organization's efforts to create equitable and innovative degree pathways to help students and institutions.
Protecting Student Privacy and Information Security in a Federal Student Data System
In this NACUBO in Brief podcast, NACUBO's senior director of government affairs, Megan Schneider, speaks with Joanna Gramma, senior consultant at Vantage Technology Consulting Group, about centralizing a new set of higher education student and institution data at the federal level.
The Analytics Imperative
NACUBO president and CEO, Susan Whealler Johnston, makes the case for the use of analytics for strategic decision making in higher education; to propel analytics initiatives, business officers must participate in campuswide collaboration.
Ethics at the Core
This article calls attention to the importance of having appropriate data analytics policies and practices in place to ensure institutions are equipped to ensure ethical use of analytics and assure student privacy.
In Tandem
The authors of this article, one a chief analytics officer and the other a chief information officer, give insights into the importance of collaboration in campus efforts to make data-informed decisions to advance the college mission.
On-Demand Webcasts
Review on-demand webcasts related to higher education's integration of analytics to achieve institutional strategic goals.
Navigating the Unknown: Projecting Enrollment and Tuition Revenue Before, During, and After a Pandemic
Webcast panelists discuss the impact of COVID-19 on enrollment forecast development and model assumptions. They share methods used at their institution for communicating data and analyses with various stakeholders to influence decision-making.
Optimizing Resource Allocation Through Integrated Financial Modeling
Panelists share how two institutions leveraged an integrated financial modeling framework to support data-informed decision-making for institutional senior leadership.
Using Analytics to Improve Planning and Budgeting Decisions
This bundle of three webcasts includes a session on the role of data, equity, and ethics in budget decision-making processes as well as two sessions on using data to support critical decisions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dude, Where’s My Data? Leveraging Data Governance to Improve Analytics
Expert panelists describe their data governance journeys, including their data governance structures, their pain points and celebrations, and how they leveraged data governance to support a campus culture that embraces analytics.
Using Data on Markets and Money to Make Collaborative Academic Program Decisions and Long-Term Program Plans
Learn about a proven approach that uses comprehensive, integrated data analytics to select, plan, and manage academic programs.
