What is the value of the dashboard?
The Academic Analytics Dashboard ensures that decisions are rooted in reliable information. Furthermore, the dashboard supports the need for user-friendly data presentation for all levels of the campus community for transparent and shared academic program data. This system is similar to the current campus use of the Academic Department Indicators but it is more detailed in that it includes academic programs as well as departments. Expected benefits of this initiative includes a greater opportunity across academic programs to manage resources based on performance against agreed upon goals and metrics, a greater ability to use common data sets to inform decisions related to department, college, and institutional initiatives, and more opportunity for units to set goals, track progress, and identify opportunities for innovation and change.
How does the dashboard fit with the NU system’s Five-Point Plan?
As outlined in the Chancellor’s memo detailing our UNO Strategic Response to the President’s Five-Point Plan, this initiative will present a framework to assess every program’s tie to UNO’s mission, align academic programs with career options, identify the right mix of programs for campus growth, create reports on degree program costs, analyze all costs with a 3-year growth projection for each academic program, and provide data on enrollment and retention. In addition, this initiative will do a cost vs revenue analysis to study the contributions of each program within each college, identify the current and trend of enrollments by program, and use data-informed strategy to identify ROI and sustainability.
Who decided the metrics on the dashboard?
Academic Affairs employed a highly inclusive process to identify the metrics used to create the Academic Analytics Dashboard. This process continues to engage institution stakeholders and respect processes of shared governance and decision-making as refinement of the dashboard will continue through a continuous improvement approach. After integrating campus input gathered from October to December 2023 through SVC He’s Campus Town Hall presentation, Academic Affairs facilitated a series of meetings incorporating feedback from the Data Working Group. This group consisting of Associate Deans and representatives from the offices of Institutional Effectiveness and Student Success, Innovative Learning-Centric Initiatives, as well as the Registrar, and Faculty Senate leadership. In addition to the Data Working Group, campus stakeholders will be asked to review the draft data and continue to provide input as we refine the dashboard.
Who is building the dashboard?
Our campus process refined our discussions toward a vended solution for our Academic Analytics Dashboard. Funding was identified via reallocation of existing funds designated for campus-wide initiatives and we began our process of identifying potential partners in January 2024 via the NU system formal contract request protocols for procurement. In Spring 2024, https://www.graydi.us/ was selected as the vendor to build the dashboard.