Apples to… Oranges?
Challenges and Successes in Delivering
Strategic Management Information to
Academic Leaders
Presented by
Kristi D. Fisher
The University of Texas at Austin
How Would You Answer?
What percentage of lower division
undergraduate classes have been taught
by tenured or tenure-track faculty
members in each department in each
college over the past five years?
What are the 4-, 5-, and 6-year graduation
rates for each major in the College of
Natural Sciences over the past five years?
Data-Rich But
Information-Starved?
Reliable transactional systems; weak
reporting
 Programmers required to extract and
format information
 Process to retrieve information can be
time-intensive
 Coded data requires interpretation

Multiple Versions of the Truth



Definition of tenure
Organizational hierarchy
Discrepancies between data definitions,
naming conventions, and business logic:
- across information systems
- between processing units
- across colleges
-
…like comparing apples to oranges
Our Answer…
Project IQ
% Lower Division Classes by
Tenure Status
% Lower Division Classes by
Tenure Status
% Lower Division Classes by
Instructor Rank
Graduation Rates by Major
Overview
Project IQ: Approach and Structure
 Critical Success Factors
 Challenges
 ROI / Benefits
 Demo

The University of Texas
at Austin…






17 Colleges/Schools
$2 Billion Budget
$476 million in
Research
20,000 Faculty/Staff
50,000+ Students
13,000+ degrees
awarded annually
Project Information Quest
Project IQ is an enterprise-wide business
intelligence initiative
that provides accurate and flexible
analytical tools and management
information
to support University leaders in
making data-driven decisions.
Project IQ
Gives University leaders the information they
need in the way they want it …
•
•
•
•
•
Tools for reporting and analysis
Quick extraction of data without custom
programming
Systematically updated data
Flexible formatting of data
Appropriate security
Project Scope
Financial Info
Student Info
Alumni/Donor Info
Facilities
Human Resources Info
Research Info
Faculty & PBIS info
Project Structure

Oversight






Executive Sponsors
Steering Committee
Subcommittees of
deans
Project Sponsors
Steward Committee
Project Charter

Technical Team




Central Core Team (13)
Steward IT Teams
Steward Business
Analysts
Funding

Centrally Funded



Budget Council
VP Financial Affairs
Enterprise-Licensed
UT’s B.I. Environment






Transactional Systems: ADABAS/Natural
ETL tools: IBM Data Stage; Treehouse
tRelational / DPS
RDBMS: Oracle 9i/10g, SQL-Server
O/S: Sun Solaris RAC, IBM Z/OS, Windows 2003
BI tools: Cognos Powerplay 7.4, Impromptu 7.4,
Cognos 8.2/8.3 (new)
Named User Accounts: 1,250
How IQ Works
Development Process
Determine Requirements
2. Identify Data Sources
3. Define Business Rules
4. Load Data
5. Validate and Cleanse
6. Develop Cubes and Reports
7. Validate and Cleanse
8. User (and Steward) Acceptance Testing
9. Develop Training Curriculum
10.Communicate to Campus
1.
Project Phases
Phase I:
Financials
 Human Resources
 Fee Billing

Phase II

Academic and Student-related
Information
Phase II – IQ/PBIS
Academic Subject Areas
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Course Enrollment / Planning
Teaching Assignments
Faculty Workload
Faculty Demographics
Student Demographics
Instructional Cost / Budgeting
Course Completions / Output / Evaluations
Progress to Degree / Degrees Awarded
Facilities Utilization / Planning
Admissions / Advising
Why is Academic Data
Different?
Rules are “softer” – more exceptions
 Data relationships are more complex
 No inherent hierarchy as with
standard accounting practices
 Target users/audience are not
business people – they are faculty

Project Approach
Collaboration is critical
 Business/academic drivers, not IT
 Grassroots approach
 Focus on business questions that
the colleges (i.e. Deans) want
answered for decision-support

Project Approach
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
One-on-one interviews with leaders
Inventory the business questions
Clarify, refine, and categorize business
questions
Prioritize deliverables
Detailed analysis for each deliverable
(circle diagram sessions)
Project Approach
5.
6.
7.
8.
Translate information requirements into
cubes or reports
Document all business rules applied
Develop and deliver training
Communicate successes to campus
IQ/PBIS
Information to Support the Performance Based
Instruction System and…
•
•
•
•
Course and Instruction Planning
Enrollment Management
Bi-Annual Compacts
Accountability Systems
IQ/PBIS
Business Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
What percent of our undergraduate courses are taught by
professional faculty? By senior lecturers, visiting or clinical
faculty, lecturers and specialists?
How many TA’s are needed? How are they being used?
How many faculty do I have in each department that need
TA support?
What programs does course “GOV 310" draw students
from? What majors is this course serving?
How can we best utilize the space we have to offer enough
classes? What percent of seats were taken for each
course? Were room sizes commiserate with enrollment?
IQ/PBIS
Business Questions (cont.)
5.
6.
7.
8.
How do we effectively evaluate classes? Is there some
correlation between evaluation results and class size, the
use of technology, faculty rank, etc…?
What are our 4-year graduation rates? How do they
change if we exclude special classes of students (such as
those in 5-year programs)?
How can we best manage enrollment? What is the impact
of readmissions? SCH in excess of requirements?
Admissions under CAP?
What is our student/faculty ratio by student level?
etc…
IQ/PBIS
Subject Areas
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Course Enrollment / Planning
Teaching Assignments
Faculty Workload
Faculty Demographics
Student Demographics
Instructional Cost / Budgeting
Course Completions / Output / Evaluations
Progress to Degree / Degrees Awarded
Facilities Utilization / Planning
Admissions / Advising
IQ/PBIS
Circle Diagram
IQ/PBIS
Translate to Cube
IQ/PBIS
Business Rules
1.
Example of Business Rules (give
handout)
IQ/PBIS
Training Materials
Training Activities





DW 310* – Intro. to Academic Info. (Course Enrollments)
DW 320 – Teaching Activities and Faculty Workload
DW325 – Faculty Demographics
DW 330 – Student Demographics
DW335** – FTIC (First Time in College) Graduation &
Retention Rate
From November 1, 2005 to September 1, 2008:
 Approx. 230 people have attended DW 310
 Approx. 550 enrollment seats for all PBIS courses
 100+ formal classes taught plus approx. 40 one-on-one
sessions
* DW 310 is a prerequisite for all other IQ / PBIS courses
**DW 330 is an additional prerequisite for DW335
33
Business Dean - Question #1
34
Answer: Seats Taken by Major
35
Question #2
36
Answer: Trend for ACC 311
37
Question #3
38
Answer: % Taught by TN/TT
39
Answer: % Taught by TN/TT
40
Analyze a Specific Class
41
Class Profile Report
42
Outcomes
43
12th Day Teaching Activities
44
Teaching Activities Detail Report
45
Instructional Summary
46
Critical Success Factors

Involve executive leaders
Under-promise, over-deliver
 Provide accurate, complete data
 Actively listen, establish trust
 Deliver

Methods of Engaging
Campus Leaders

Incorporate project into established
academic performance initiatives (Provost’s
Office and Information Management):
 Performance
Based Instruction System
 “Compacts” (Performance Based Budgeting)
 Faculty Workload Policy Review
 Accountability Systems
 SACS Accreditation
Methods of Engaging
Campus Leaders

Meet with appropriate deans groups
Academic Affairs Deans
 Student Affairs Deans
 University Business Officers


Meet with University Leadership
Council (President, Provost, VP’s,
Deans)
Methods of Engaging
Campus Leaders

Form volunteer subcommittees







self-select or hand-picked (Assoc or Asst.
Deans)
meet periodically (e.g. every 2 weeks)
determine scope, priority
define business cases to tackle
clarify business definitions
assist in beta testing reports, cubes, and
training
represent the project to colleges and campus
Methods of Engaging
Campus Leaders
Offer on-site and/or individualized
training
 Offer college information sessions
 Establish dean’s office contacts
 Provide “Frequently Needed
ANSWERS”

Frequently Needed
ANSWERS
Challenges








Dual majors and joint degrees
cross-listed class sections
Grade inflation factor/index
“My” faculty?
Joint appointments…
Research award amounts vs. expenditures
Management data vs. THECB definitions
Momentum and PERSONNEL RESOURCES
Customer Testimonials
Marilyn Kameen - Senior Associate
Dean, College of Education
“This is a wonderful tool for analyzing
longitudinal data by individual
department and faculty.”
Neal Armstrong - Vice Provost,
Executive Vice President & Provost
“IQ gives us incredible insight into the
University’s academic operations.”
Arthur McDonald – Coordinator &
Director of the HUB program,
Financial Affairs
“A quick turn-around was needed and I
was able to produce the report in a
matter of minutes (with IQ).”
ROI: College of Engineering
“I was able to put together the financial part of
our college’s 6 year accreditation survey in 1 ½
days with our Cognos cube, as opposed to
several months the last accreditation cycle.
And I was able to give our dean a special
report that he needed on the spot (in 15
minutes) just the other day.”
Cindy Brown, Assistant Dean, College of Engineering
ROI: More Time for Decisions
Analyze & Interpret
Consider Options
Data
Gathering
BEFORE
Information Gathering
Analyze
Consider
Options
AFTER
ROI: New Enterprise Metrics /
Grade Inflation
Other Academic ROI

Also created cubes and reports to assist
executive officers with:








SACS - Faculty Credentialing
Legislative Inquiries into Faculty Workload
Formula Funding Analysis
NSF/NRC Survey
Task Force on Enrollment Strategy
Tenure Track Progression
Gender Equity Task Force
Affordability Initiatives
Other Benefits
Apples to Apples –
“Single Version of the Truth”



Common definitions (headcount, tenure, grade inflation)
Process streamlining and coordination
Improved data quality (source system and warehouse)



person identifier updates cross-walked between OIR,HR,
faculty and student databases
common definition of graduate “discipline” between units
Identification of authoritative source systems for key data
elements when they are redundantly occurring across
systems
DEMO
SCREEN SHOTS
Project IQ / PBIS
Demo #1 – Majors in Classes
All Seats Taken by Majors
Filter on Your College,
Department, or Course ID
Filter on
College
or Dept.
Answer for Communication
Project IQ / PBIS
Demo #2 – Sections Offered
Change Measure
Drill Down on Communication
Click on
college
Drill Down on Advertising
Click on
department
Then click on
subject area
Select ADV 344K
Select
course
Select “Line Graph”
Chart
Button
Trend for ADV 344K
Project IQ / PBIS
Demo #3 – Faculty Workload
Teaching Load Credits
by Category
Average TLC’s Per FTE
Individual Teaching Activities
Reports – Teaching Activities
Reports – Class Profile
Questions?
Kristi Fisher
(512) 471-3833
kfisher@austin.utexas.edu