University Business - November/December 2011 - (Page 48)

Business Intelligence Gets Smarter Dave Wells, a business intelligence consultant, teacher, and mentor based in the Seattle area, says BI systems have just followed the natural progression of a more intuitive interface and user-friendly design. BI evolved from data warehousing and started out as a combination of data integration and online analytical processing, Wells explains. More recently, the user interface of BI has been designed to look like a dashboard or scorecard, with a few high level points on which people can drill down to get more detail. At the desktop level, “the visual presentation of what’s happened [consists of ] charts and graphs instead of rows and columns of data tables. It’s just naturally more friendly.” Moving Beyond Anecdotal Info Basing decisions on opinions versus facts is neither a practical nor profitable way to conduct business. In the past, Tarleton State University (Texas) relied on anecdotal information around its enrollment and couldn’t pinpoint what helped or hindered it. Now, thanks to its SunGard Higher Ed Banner Enrollment Management Suite, the university can improve its enrollment strategies, determine which prospects are stronger Business intelligence tools help Florida State administrators recruit and than others, and focus limited resources on students with the most retain the best students. likelihood of attending. “The BI tool helped us use data and trend analysis to prepare for larger classes and increased enrollment,” explains Denise own through training,” says Michael Barrett, CIO of Florida State. Groves, dean of enrollment management. “We also were able to Since the move to one platform, the institution’s leaders have educate stakeholders, like academic affairs, so they could hire to definitely seen a productivity increase. In the past, departments prepare for increased enrollment.” Groves shares that they tried made formal requests of other offices to see information. Now the to prepare as early as February rather than be reactive and wait system facilitates that, says Byron Menchion, BI project manager. until August. The school has saved about $200,000 per year in redundant equipTarleton State relies on SunGard’s Banner Relationship Man- ment and software. agement and Banner Recruiting & Admissions Performance solutions. As a result of ‘There’s a newfound epiphany to access more information and more targeted and personal communications, ask more questions. It’s a shift from a backlog in developing attendance at the university’s campus preview day increased 79 percent, and group tour par- reports, but we remedy it by empowering people.’ ticipation grew 140 percent. —Byron Menchion, Florida State University “These tools helped us prepare for 19 percent enrollment growth and write custom reports for financial aid “The sharing of information has significantly increased, and to help with their yield,” Groves shares. “It also helped with budget departments can see a holistic view of students from admissions cuts last year to reassure administration we could rely on growth.” to financials,” Menchion explains. “It also empowers end users to develop their own reports.” In one example, Menchion says Florida State uses BI to deSelf-Service Reporting Florida State University’s journey with business intelligence, which termine how to recruit, attract, and retain the best students. began in 2000, is a mature one. The 40,000-student university The school can run scenario analyses based on variables and moved from third-party legacy BI tools to Oracle BI Suite Enter- acceptance criteria that determines which students to accept, prise Edition Plus last year to standardize on one platform. Today, deny, or put on hold. “Florida State has one of the best recruit classes I believe, in it boasts 1,600 users and 189 dashboards in 55 subject areas. “Our philosophy with business intelligence is to enable as much transac- the country, because of its decision-making processes,” Menchion tion-system content as possible to our end users and to empower asserts. “The challenge now is keeping up with the demand of our departments to do a lot of reporting and dashboarding on their user community. There’s a newfound epiphany to access more 48 | November/December 2011 universitybusiness.com http://www.universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - November/December 2011

University Business - November/December 2011
Contents
Editor's Note
College Index
Ad Index
Behind the News
Financial Aid
Viewpoint
Education Gateways
Models of Efficiency
Business Intelligence Gets Smarter
Internet Technology
Independent Outlook
End Note

University Business - November/December 2011