Press Release: ASR Analytics Puts Predictive Analytics Directly into the Hands of Enrollment Managers
September 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Seattle, WA, September 25, 2008: While attending the National Association for College Admission Counselors (NACAC) 64th Annual Conference, ASR unveiled its new Predictive Analytics Solution for Recruitment and Admission. The new solution is designed to put the power of advanced analytics directly into the hands of enrollment management professionals for better evidence-based decision making. ASR’s Recruitment Analytic Models leverage institution specific data to estimate statistically valid forecasts of future enrollment, net tuition revenue, and even retention rates. These models provide enrollment managers with evidence based predictions for shaping the incoming class with the ‘ideal’ students for their institution.
ASR’s solution is different. Admissions professionals will be able to interact with the models to build various enrollment scenarios and change the model’s assumptions. This helps them understand the inevitable trade-offs that can happen when they simulate various policy ‘levers.’ ASR’s solution focuses on making these models accessible to non-technical admissions professionals. Most of the solutions on the market require an IT professional to extract data in a specific file format to provide to a third party that estimates an analytic model. The institution receives a static report to guide planning decisions, but it doesn’t let them simulate a variety of scenarios.
ASR’s new Predictive Analytics Solution for Recruitment and Admission will help the institution develop its recruitment strategy and at the same time enable better day-to-day tactical decision making. The solution will help institutions to:
- Identify causal factors for enrollment
- Analyze a prospect pool for more effective list purchases
- Simulate a multitude of enrollment scenarios
- Forecast enrollment on a daily basis throughout the recruitment lifecycle
- Perform decision impact analysis and assessment
There were three main goals in development of the framework:
- Provide a user-friendly way for busy enrollment management professionals to interact with predictive models to aid in institutional planning.
- Produce a solution that works with existing tools and technology already in use at the institution.
- Eliminate the need for clients to pay new recurring software license fees.
The secret to successfully meeting these goals lies in ASR’s ability to develop analytic solutions that help institutions integrate their people, process, and technology. “We think it’s critically important that advanced analytics are put directly into the hands of those that do the planning and make the decisions” said, Dr. Peter Arena, ASR’s founding principal and chief statistician for higher education. “Using simple, point-and-click interfaces – enrollment professionals can bring data and information to life. The result is a rich user experience that makes it easier to visualize data, simulate decisions before they are made, and ultimately optimize recruiting.”
To learn more about ASR’s solutions for higher education visit:
ASR’s Predictive Analytics Solution for Recruitment and Admissions: http://www.asranalytics.com/solutions/education/recruitment-analytics/
ASR’s solutions for Higher Education: http://www.asranalytics.com/solutions/education/
ASR’s business intelligence blog: http://www.asranalytics.com/category/blog/
About ASR Analytics, LLC
ASR Analytics LLC (ASR) provides high-end business intelligence and analytic consulting services to clients in higher education. ASR aims to provide institutional decision makers with self-service decision support tools to help them be more effective in their recruitment, retention, and accountability initiatives. To learn more about our solutions visit: http://www.asranalytics.com/
Webinar - 6 Best Practices for Successful Institutional Intelligence
June 3, 2008 | Leave a Comment
On June 18th, ASR will be hosting a Webinar titled “6 Best Practices for Successful Institutional Intelligence.” The Webinar is an extension of an article written by ASR’s Director of Higher Education Services, Graham Tracey, which was published earlier this year in Campus Technology Magazine.
Since institutional intelligence initiatives require ownership across the college or university community, registrants are encouraged to convene in groups including institutional researchers, IT professionals, and decision makers from the major operational divisions.
Click here to read the full presentation description and to register.
Back from the 2008 AIR Forum
June 2, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Is there a more committed group of higher education professionals than the members of the Association of Institutional Researchers (AIR)? Last week more than 1700 researchers, analysts, and planners gave up their Memorial Day weekend to descend upon Seattle and attend the annual AIR Forum. ASR Analytics was proud to be among them.
Like most of the attendees, my colleagues and I came back from the conference full of ideas and renewed excitement for the work that we do with and for our clients. Here are a few of the highlights from our perspective:
- During the Monday morning plenary, AIR executive director Randy Swing spoke about AIR members meeting new challenges in an increasingly transparent and more accountable environment. He called for members to look beyond the tools to provide institutional intelligence and renew focus on the methods to produce and disseminate information more widely across the institution - a point of view consistent with that of ASR’s methods for delivering institutional intelligence solutions to colleges and universities.
- While there were certainly many sessions providing practical every day advice, there were many more sessions than in past years emphasizing the increasing importance of the IR office in strategic planning.
- The poster sessions were really well done. Unlike at most conferences, there were dozens of poster sessions that were quite well attended. Attendees were clearly appreciative to learn new and innovative research methods that were on display at these sessions. Don’t skip these sessions next year if you’re interested in learning something new and networking with leaders in the field.
I want to thank the hundreds of people that took the time to come by the ASR booth and speak with my colleagues and me. I hope you learned a bit from our conversation as we most certainly did from you.
For those of you that entered our contest to win an iPod Nano, let your suspense go no further: Judith A. Jaffe from Brandeis University is the proud new owner of a black iPod Nano. Judith, if you’re reading, this sleek little number is on its way.
ASR Director Authors Featured Article in Campus Technology Magazine
March 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment
The March issue of Campus Technology magazine features a cover story written by ASR Analytics’ Director of Higher Education Services, Graham Tracey. The article, titled “Stir up Your BI Initiative,” details the ingredients needed to implement business intelligence successfully in higher education. His next article in the magazine is about data visualization and will be published in the May issue.
Population Trends Causing Universities to Scramble?
March 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment
In a recent article featured on the front page of the Washington Post, Valerie Strauss looks at how major demographic trends are impacting the higher education landscape. These demographic trends include a drop in the number of high school graduates (starting with next year’s graduating class) and significant changes in the racial and ethnic characteristics of the high school graduates. It is projected that over the next decade the number of white graduates will decline by more than 10%, while the number of minority graduates will experience significant double-digit growth. Minority student enrollment at colleges and universities is expected to grow during the next several years, with some analysts projecting that it will be as high as 37% by 2015 (it was 30% in 2004).
So what do all of these demographic trends mean for colleges and universities around the country? First, the student population at most schools is probably going to look quite different in a decade. Just ask Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, president emeritus and professor, from George Washington University who is quoted in the article as saying:
“The majority will become the minority, there will be more Hispanics, more African Americans, more Chinese, Indians, Pakistanis, Koreans. I anticipate that the most common last name in the freshman class will be Kim.”
These trends will also significantly impact the way colleges and universities recruit students, deliver financial aid, and market themselves to prospective students. A significant trend discussed in the article is for colleges and universities to focus recruiting efforts out of state, in areas where the pool of high school graduates is not shrinking like it is most areas of the country. For example, George Washington University has set up recruiting offices in cities around the country (e.g., Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago, Boston, and northern New Jersey) to expand domestic recruiting and at the same time is devoting more time and resources to overseas recruiting. American University is pursuing a strategy of increasing recruiting in population growth areas such as Arizona and other western states.
At the same time, institutions are thinking about ways to reduce the financial burden of pursuing higher education. Actions highlighted in the article include increasing financial aid budgets and expanding scholarships for students that remain in-state to attend their public, state university.
It would be a very interesting study to expand on the findings in this article by talking to more institutions and finding out how they plan to deal with these challenges. Specifically, I’d like to know the following:
- Are all schools feeling the effects of these trends?
- To what extent are schools with different characteristics feeling the effects (e.g., geographical location, size, public vs. private, etc)?
- What are some innovative ways schools are dealing with these recruiting challenges? What about financial aid?
If you know the answers to any of these questions, or know of any additional studies please let me know.
Measuring the ROI of Social Networking as a Recruitment Tool
March 7, 2008 | 2 Comments
In a recent interview appearing in Campus Techology magazine, we hear from Brad Ward, electronic communcation coordinator for Butler University. Mr. Ward is employing some innovative techniques to reach out to potential students, all based on the power of social networking. One of the sites used extensively at Butler is Zinch.
Zinch is a social networking site that is currently used by more than 300,000 students and 475 colleges and universities. The site allows students to create detailed profiles that go beyond the standard test scores and GPA that seem to dominate the college admissions process. By buidling a profile that contains information about their extracurricular activities, passions, talents, and skills, students can show themselves as a unique applicant and not just a set of standardized numbers. Zinch even has a feature called Z-Folio which allows students to upload their artwork, videos, writing, and athletic highlights.
Admissions officers at colleges use Zinch’s Advanced Zeeker search tool to filter and query all of the student profiles stored on the site. They can use this functionality to locate and target students with specific characteristics and interests. Student data can be downloaded and loaded into the college’s communications management system.
All of this allows students and colleges to better target each other and connect in the recruitment process. This is evident from the message displayed on Zinch’s homepage:
Dear student, showcase yourself to your dream college.
Dear admissions officer, showcase your college to your dream student.
At Butler, Mr. Ward is seeing intial success with Zinch and some other innovative social networking techniques (e.g., YouTube video blogs, Facebook fan pages). For example, the “open rate” (percentage of mail messages that are opened by a recipient) seems to be about 3 times higher (i.e., 33% vs. 11%) for messages sent to students on Zinch, than they are for typical e-mail blasts.
While these intial figures are encouraging, Mr. Ward speaks to the real challenge in these efforts in his response to the last interview question:
[Another problem is], in terms of YouTube and sites [like it], there’s not yet a defined metric of what is successful. If we put these videos up on YouTube, was that worth it? There’s nothing to measure this stuff with yet.
That makes it a little tougher when we try and pitch these new sites and new ways to recruit. Hopefully, in the near future, we’ll all start to be able to define what success is and whether it’s worth it to be on Facebook and those kinds of sites.
Mr. Ward has hit the bullseye with this comment. The key to this recruiting effort is figuring out how to define success, measure results, and acheive some measure of ROI. Admissions officers need to get creative. For example, by creating something like a “Student Engagement” metric, colleges could measure and track the responsiveness of students to different types of communication. For example, higher scores could be assigned to students who join social networking groups, post or respond on a blog, or participate in an admissions online chat. When combined with the data from your student information system a full engagement picture emerges. This data can then be used to help forecast and predict enrollment more accurately and helps you target the most engaged students to help ‘evangelize’ on your behalf.
Given the increasing use of social networking tools by high school and college students this is going to become an important part of the recruiting efforts of colleges. While building this strategy, admissions professionals should also think about measuring outcomes.
Accountability reporting turned upside down
February 21, 2008 | Leave a Comment
A few months ago I wrote about the proliferation of accountability reporting initiatives within higher education. In conversations we’ve had with institutional researchers, one thing is clear; accountability reporting takes up far too much of their time and provides very little strategic value. But it doesn’t have to be that way. So ASR set to turn the problem upside down and approach it from an entirely different perspective.
Today, ASR is pleased to announce a new solution for accountability reporting called the Accountability Framework for Higher Education.
ASR Analytics Introduces Business Intelligence Accountability Framework for Higher Education
February 21, 2008 | 2 Comments
ASR Analytics issued the following press release on Thursday, February 21. The press release is also available via PRWeb.
ASR Analytics Introduces Business Intelligence Accountability Framework for Higher Education
Institutions are struggling with reporting for IPEDS, Common Data Set, Achieving the Dream, and other accountability initiatives in higher education. ASR Analytics introduces a framework for reporting through these accountability programs while helping institutions use the data for strategic reporting and analysis. ASR Analytics’ new Accountability Framework for Higher Education uses business intelligence methodologies to make a sustainable reporting foundation for decision making.
Potomac, MD (PRWEB) February 21, 2008 — Students, parents, and the larger college or university community are demanding that institutions be more transparent about graduation rates, the admitted class profile, and the success of their alumni. In fact, the U.S. Federal Government is requiring institutions of higher education to be publicly accountable for outcomes and results.
IPEDS is continually changing to reflect this new reality, while accrediting agencies and associations are responding to the call with new accountability reporting systems, including:
- IPEDS
- Common Data Set
- U-CAN - University and College Accountability Network
- College Portrait - Voluntary System of Accountability
- Achieving the Dream
- Access to Success
With so many accountability initiatives in higher education it is becoming increasingly difficult for Institutional Research departments to keep up. Talented analysts are spending an exorbitant amount of time extracting often duplicate information from transactional systems to provide to these accountability initiatives in the proper format. Although the information produced through these initiatives is extremely valuable, it often goes unused by institutional decision makers as it is not stored in a format that makes it conducive for strategic reporting and analysis.ASR Analytics provides a unique solution to these problems by helping institutions establish a framework for accountability reporting using business intelligence methods and best practices. The goal of the Accountability Framework for Higher Education is to provide institutions with a system that facilitates strategic reporting and analysis using the same valuable data that needs to be reported to IPEDS, Common Data Set, and other important accountability initiatives.
“We’ve turned accountability reporting upside down,” said Graham Tracey, ASR Analytics’ Director of Higher Education Services. “First, we pull the data needed by the accountability initiatives out of the student information system and optimize it for strategic reporting and analysis, only then is the data layout prepared for submission.”
“It’s a bit like paying yourself before paying your bills each month,” said Tracey. “Why not use this valuable data for decision making before submitting it and effectively ‘throwing it away’?”
With ASR Analytics’ Accountability Framework for Higher Education, instead of worrying about extracting data and querying transactional systems, Institutional Researchers will be able to spend more time providing valuable insight and analysis to decision makers.
Deans, Department Heads, and Executives will also benefit through self-service strategic reporting that accurately reflects the reality that has been reported to governments, accrediting agencies, and voluntary accountability organizations.
ASR’s Accountability Framework: http://www.asranalytics.com/solutions/education/accountability/
ASR’s solutions for Higher Education: http://www.asranalytics.com/solutions/education/
ASR’s business intelligence blog: http://www.asranalytics.com/category/blog/
About ASR Analytics, LLC
ASR Analytics LLC (ASR) provides high-end business intelligence and analytic consulting services to clients in higher education. ASR aims to provide institutional decision makers with self-service decision support tools to help them be more effective in their recruitment, retention, and accountability initiatives. To learn more about our solutions visit: http://www.asranalytics.com/.
###
Accountability and the Higher Education Reauthorization Act
February 13, 2008 | Leave a Comment
It looks like the U.S. Congress is getting much closer to passing the Higher Education Reauthorization Act after several years of negotiation and debate. Last week the House of Representatives passed its version of the bill, while the Senate passed a separate version last year. Now the reconciliation process between these two versions of the bill begins in earnest.
Will the reauthorization of the higher education act have an impact on institutional strategy and business intelligence? You better believe it. Among the many proposals that have come up for negotiation in these bills is a provision for the U.S. government to provide grant money to states for the establishment of ‘unit record’ systems for accountability reporting. In addition, new accountability measures have been proposed for inclusion to be reported to IPEDS. These initiatives could have a major impact on the strategies an institution employs in the future. At the very least, the measures by which institutions are evaluated may change and that will require an analysis of the institution’s measurement and reporting systems.
These and many other proposals in the bill have the potential to impact policy decisions at colleges and universities across the nation. To get the word out about the potential impact of this legislation AACRAO is providing a free webinar on Thursday, February 14.
I have worked with Barmak Nassirian, AACRAO’s Associate Executive Director and host of the Webinar, on several occasions and have found him to be knowledgeable about matters of public policy and issues on Capitol Hill. He is joined by two other ‘heavy-hitters’ in higher education so I would imagine this presentation should be very worthwhile.
Look for analysis of this legislation from a higher education strategy and business intelligence perspective on this blog in the coming days and weeks as this legislation moves through congress.
6 Best Practices for Successful Business Intelligence
February 11, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Business intelligence (BI) is not about technology. No doubt there is much technology involved, but a sound business intelligence strategy concentrates more on methods. The outcome of intelligence gleaned from a strategic reporting or decision support system should be an action or decision. The decisions made from business intelligence will likely lead to changes made in strategy and/or individual business process.
These changes in strategy and business processes will necessitate changes to one’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) or other transactional systems. For example, new business rules or codes may need to be added to the ERP in order to operationalize a decision that was made. This will require an understanding of the business rules engine of the ERP as well as the implications from a historical measurement perspective of changing or adding codes to the system. People will need to be trained and constituents may need to be informed of new rules.
BI is much more about organizational alignment or people and processes around a common set of strategies and goals then it is about technology. To that end, follow these 6 best practices to move your organization from silo-based planning to one that is aligned around a culture of evidence:
- Define areas for exploration - What subject areas need to be studied? Not all can be effectively studied at one time - not at the start - therefore, you will need to prioritize. The organizations leaders will need to set the priorities based on the key strategies that need to be affected.
- Articulate problem statements - Now you have identified the subject areas to be studied. What are the problems in that area? Simple year-over-year trend analysis will often highlight where the problems are lurking. The problem should be stated as follows: [Subject Area] is down by 15% compared to last year.
- Identify causal factors - Perhaps one of the most overlooked steps in the process. Your problem statements only tell you what is happening. It is critical that you find out why it is happening. Statistical models need to be employed to determine the key drivers influencing the problem area. Identification of the key drivers in the area will help you isolate the problem and determine the factors causing the problem.
- Determine corrective action - Once the causal factors have been identified decisions can be made and corrective action taken. True evidence-based decision making.
- Align people, process, and technology - Decisions inevitably lead to change. Most often the change comes in the form of a new business process. The new business process will need to be codified in the ERP system and people may need to be reorganized and/or retrained. This will be the hardest step in the process toward a culture of evidence, yet it is also the most critical.
- Measure outcomes - Now that people, process, and technology has been aligned to solve the problem, you must measure the effectiveness of this action. Be careful that you allow a sufficient amount of time for the impact of the change. In fact, decision makers should agree about the length of time they will permit for the action to take hold and pre-determine a point in time for re-evaluation.
As you can see from the diagram above, the process is cyclical. As decisions are made and corrective action is taken, key drivers will change. This will constantly cause the organization to reevaluate and revisit its strategies and tactics over the course of time.