Test-drive IR’s new Decision Support System on Jan. 23
January 17, 2012 •
Ever wonder who helps provide the President and other members of the UC community with the data and analyses behind important decisions affecting the university?
The answer is Institutional Research, which formed in 2008 with the goal of improving the quality of data-driven analysis and evidence-based decision-making at OP.
The group, which works closely with OP departments and UC campuses, provides information and analysis for university management, planning and decision-making, and conducts research on issues regarding students, faculty, staff, finance, budget and other areas that advance the university’s goals.
Come meet the IR work group at an open house, scheduled from 1 – 3 p.m. Jan. 23 in Franklin’s Lobby One Conference Room to learn more about what they do, and see firsthand the new Decision Support System that they have developed with the help of ITS.
Light refreshments will be served. A short presentation will be provided shortly after 1 p.m., and attendees will have a chance to try the DSS for themselves at several workstations set up around the conference room.
“We’re really excited to roll out the DSS to people here at OP,” said Kathleen Dettman, director of Institutional Research. “The DSS will give people across the university community direct access to data from many of the university’s major administrative systems, as well as provide a new approach to presenting information to our many and varied constituents.”
The DSS employs many types of applications and interfaces to meet the diverse needs of the UC community, including geographic information mapping, data query capability, high quality presentations and reporting, as well as interactive dashboards.
It allows users to navigate and manipulate various data sets, and makes it possible to integrate data from across the organization, as well as incorporate data from external sources. In addition, the development of a series of interactive “dashboards” revolutionizes the presentation of vast arrays of complex data, and dramatically improves the ability of both UC staff as well as the public to get timely and consistent data about the university’s students, staff, faculty, research and finances.
The DSS will provide an easy, self-service suite of tools that campuses and OP departments can use to conduct the analytical analysis that will help inform their decision making on key issues.
