University User Support Dashboard

This is the continuation of a transcript of a presentation by Stu Worman from Indiana University at an IT conference for university IT professionals.

Let me show you what our dashboard looks like. This is my university user support dashboard. This is our master report. These are all of my organizations and the top things I need to know every day. So I can go in here and look and say “does this look normal or not?”

This is our residential services. This is our operators, our call centers. You see that they get about 4 to 5,000 calls every weekday. These are weeks. These are on different campuses.

I have trained myself so that I know when the graph looks like this, it’s about right. Nothing is really happening to worry about. These are the contacts for the support center. You can see Monday and Tuesday are the biggest days, and we’ll look at the data a little bit more.

Case Study: Enhancing University Operations with InetSoft's Dashboard Software

In the modern higher education landscape, universities are increasingly relying on data analytics to streamline operations, improve student services, and optimize financial management. One such institution, Midwest State University (MSU), recognized the need for a robust data integration and visualization solution to address challenges across various departments. To achieve this, MSU deployed InetSoft's dashboard software, a leading data mashup and analytics platform, across its administrative and academic units.

This case study explores how MSU leveraged InetSoft's dashboard software to enhance decision-making, improve operational efficiency, and drive better outcomes in student services, finance, faculty management, and institutional research.

Background

Midwest State University is a mid-sized public institution with over 20,000 students and 1,500 faculty and staff members. Prior to deploying InetSoft, MSU faced significant challenges in data management, including:

• Data silos across departments, making it difficult to generate holistic insights.

• Inefficient reporting processes that relied on static spreadsheets.

• Limited real-time data accessibility, leading to delays in critical decision-making.

• Inconsistent metrics due to disparate data sources.

To address these challenges, MSU sought a solution that would integrate multiple data sources, provide real-time analytics, and offer user-friendly visualization tools for decision-makers at various levels.

Implementation of InetSoft's Dashboard Software

The university's IT team collaborated with InetSoft's implementation specialists to deploy the dashboard software in four key departments: Student Services, Finance, Faculty Management, and Institutional Research.

1. Student Services: Enhancing Student Retention & Engagement

One of the primary goals of the Student Services department was to improve student retention rates. MSU's previous system required manual tracking of at-risk students based on outdated reports.

With InetSoft's dashboard software, MSU:

• Integrated real-time student performance data from multiple sources, including Learning Management Systems (LMS), attendance records, and financial aid data.

• Created predictive analytics models to identify students at risk of dropping out based on behavioral patterns, grades, and engagement levels.

• Developed interactive dashboards that allowed advisors to monitor student progress, send timely interventions, and track outcomes.

Results: Within the first year, MSU improved its first-year retention rate by 8%, demonstrating the impact of real-time data-driven interventions.

2. Finance Department: Optimizing Budget Allocation & Expenditure Tracking

MSU's finance department struggled with fragmented financial reporting due to multiple legacy systems. Budget tracking was inefficient, and the university lacked real-time insights into departmental expenditures.

InetSoft's dashboard software enabled MSU to:

• Consolidate financial data from various sources, including tuition payments, grants, and operational expenses.

• Generate dynamic reports on budget utilization, highlighting areas of overspending or underfunding.

• Provide real-time financial insights to department heads, allowing for proactive adjustments to spending.

Results:

• Reduced budget variance by 15%, ensuring better fiscal discipline.

• Cut down financial report generation time from weeks to minutes, increasing efficiency in budget planning.

3. Faculty Management: Improving Resource Allocation & Performance Tracking

The university's faculty management system lacked integration between HR, payroll, and academic performance evaluation tools. This led to inefficiencies in tracking faculty workload, research output, and student feedback.

With InetSoft, MSU:

• Developed an integrated faculty dashboard that consolidated data on teaching assignments, student evaluations, research contributions, and payroll information.

• Implemented workload balancing analytics to ensure equitable distribution of teaching responsibilities.

• Enabled faculty to access self-service dashboards, allowing them to track their own performance metrics and make improvements.

Results:

• Increased faculty satisfaction by 20% due to transparent workload distribution.

• Improved student ratings for faculty performance by 12%, as instructors used insights to enhance teaching effectiveness.

4. Institutional Research: Strengthening Data-Driven Decision-Making

The Institutional Research department plays a crucial role in accreditation, policy-making, and long-term strategic planning. However, the lack of centralized data made it difficult to track key performance indicators (KPIs) and generate actionable insights.

InetSoft's solution empowered the department to:

• Create customizable dashboards to analyze enrollment trends, graduation rates, and faculty productivity.

• Develop benchmarking reports comparing MSU's performance against peer institutions.

• Use predictive analytics to model the impact of policy changes on student success.

Results:

• Enhanced data accuracy, reducing discrepancies in institutional reports by 30%.

• Accelerated accreditation reporting processes, cutting preparation time by 50%.

Challenges & Lessons Learned

While the implementation of InetSoft's dashboard software brought significant improvements, the university faced several challenges:

1. Data Integration Complexity: Some legacy systems required extensive data cleansing before integration.

2. User Training & Adoption: Faculty and staff needed comprehensive training to effectively utilize dashboard features.

3. Customization Needs: Some departments required highly customized views, necessitating additional development time.

Conclusion & Future Plans

The deployment of InetSoft's dashboard software at Midwest State University transformed how the institution managed data across departments. By breaking down data silos, enabling real-time insights, and fostering a data-driven culture, MSU significantly improved operational efficiency and student outcomes.

Moving forward, the university plans to expand the use of InetSoft's software to additional areas, including alumni relations and research grant management, further solidifying its commitment to data-driven excellence.

Key Takeaways

• Data Integration Is Crucial: Breaking down silos enhances decision-making across departments.

• Real-Time Analytics Drives Impact: Instant access to data leads to timely interventions and better outcomes.

• User Adoption Requires Investment: Training and user-friendly design are essential for maximizing software effectiveness.

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