Building Institutional Capability through the Mining of Student Support Data

Alexandra Greene and Stella Birve

Outline of presentation

• Background of project

• Management Reporting Environment at UniSA

• Case Studies

• Future Direction

University of South Australia

2009 Snapshot

•29,000+ students (excluding transnational)

•4 metropolitan campuses

- City West, City East, Magill, Mawson Lakes

•2 regional campuses

- Whyalla, Mt Gambier

•2,500+ staff

Learning and Teaching Unit (LTU)

Learning and Teaching Unit – UniSA’s Student Services

• Learning advice: Writing assignments, Referencing, English language proficiency

• Counselling services: Time and task management, Personal and communication skills, Studying and making friends

• Career services: Career planning, Job search skills, Employer events, online vacancies for casual, part-time and graduate positions

• Disability advice: Assistive technology, Assessment modifications, Alternative format materials

• International advice: Student visa requirements, settling into Adelaide

• Research services: Research management, Research writing

Learning and Teaching Unit (LTU)

Learning and Teaching Unit services are provided:

• On-campus Workshops: workshops are offered throughout the year for students and staff

• In person: individual contacts through ‘drop-in’ sessions (a short 10-15 minute session with no prior booking required or pre booked 30 minute appointments

Planning and Assurance Services (PAS)

Business Intelligence (BI) Team within PAS

• Establishing and Coordinating the University’s BI strategy

• Developing and managing a corporate wide BI application environment

• Establishing a comprehensive and consistent enterprise data resource meeting the information needs of the University

Business Intelligence at UniSA:

UniSA’s Reporting Environment

• Web-based management reporting system

established 2004: UniSAinfo Reporting

• Products: data cube, reports

• 500+ staff trained

LTU pre-existing recording system

LTU recording system – LTU Reporting

•Session Date •Campus•Professional group•Reason•Outcome•Contact type

Poor reporting capability

•Ad-hoc basis•Time consuming•Comparative trend analysis was impossible

Deployment of LTU Student Visit cube

LTU and the BI Team within PAS worked together

•LTU Student Visit cube was created in 2005•Integration of LTU data with student demographic data•Allowed LTU staff to readily create reports•Enabled LTU staff to explore data and indentify patterns and trends by slicing and dicing the cube

Deployment and Training

Management of data quality underpinned by training

•Training to each professional group – small group sessions, staff have common understanding of teams reporting needs•Scenario training – relevant scenarios important to place into context for staff who’s work was previously non-data orientated•One to one training – made available for individuals having difficulties in using the cube and understanding data•Refresher training every year – maintain and improve skill levels ensuring data integrity

Committing to Continuous Improvement

Outcomes

•PAS and LTU continued collaboration•Awareness and appreciation of data influence•Commitment to improve data quality•Changes in work practice•LTU staff engaged with data

Improving Student Support Services

How the data is being used

•Provide regular reports to stakeholders•Division/Faculty activity reports•Planning and allocation of resources•LTU Evaluation Group•LTU student contact model review•LTU case Studies

LTU Career Contacts

Student Demographics and Learning Adviser Contacts

Students that made contact over 10 times

Repeat Contacts with Learning Advisers

Yearno. of

studentsno. of

contactsaverage contact

2005 45 731 16

2006 52 1052 20

2007 71 1189 17

2008 41 666 16

Top reasons for repeat contact •Written communication – English for academic purposes•Cognitive skills- interpreting tasks; developing a structure•Written communication – grammar and sentence structure•Cognitive skills – developing argument•Referencing and avoiding plagiarism•Study Strategies – time and workload mgt•Study strategies –studying a subject•Oral communication – for study and profession

Learning Adviser Workshops

• Generic workshops: Referencing, Improving your English,

Exam Preparation.

• Health Sciences UniSkills series: Surviving at Uni -Academic reading, Speed reading, How different is a scientific essay? Assessments –are they all the same? To Google or not to Google! Mind mapping, Finding your critical voice, Editing your own work, An ounce of Integrity - Using sources, Exam preparation workshops, Client Interaction

No. of Contactsas values 2006 2007 2008 2009

Appointment long 754 189 156 104

Appointment short 4129 1776 1321 913

Drop-in 6621 1672 1614 1370

Total 11504 3637 3091 2387

One to one contacts with Learning Advisers

1:1 contacts with Learning Advisers

Student Contact Model Review

For consideration:

• Move to appointment model, • No more ‘drop-ins’• Reducing unnecessary repeat visits• Online booking system• Putting the responsibility back to the student• Positive student experience

“Engagement is not the primary goal of university, but we do know that students won’t stick around to get an education unless they are satisfied with the overall experience” (George Kuh 2009)

Where to from here?

Future

• LTU and PAS continue to work together

• Ongoing training opportunities for staff

• UniSAinfo Reporting upgrade

• Opportunity for ‘real time’ reporting

• Management reporting integrated with other data

UniSA BI Environment

UniSAinfo Reporting