Driving the Data: Applying Business Intelligence at Community Colleges

An interesting look by Anne McClure at what a number of community colleges are doing in this area:

The most important part of BI is getting people to ask the right questions, notes Rafn, whose institution receives on-site technical support from SunGard. NWTC employees are receiving training that will help build a culture of evidence on campus. All constituents also have the ability to run ad hoc reports to find the information they need. After all, Rafn points out, if people have to go through the IT department, "they either don't ask or they create something outside the system."

DeHart echoes the sentiment. "We're trying to get away from the burden of one person running all the reports." End users at DMACC can create and save data sets on their own. And DeHart's starting to see a culture shift. "In higher ed, if you ask people what they want they won't know, but if you give them something to respond to, it gives them ideas. They'll see a report and ask for budget data too."

But being data driven isn't easy or inexpensive. "It complicates our lives to a degree," Drennon says, adding that making an investment up front is critical to staying competitive and retaining State Fair's niche, since students have many educational options.