Melinda Roy
In the first two posts on this series on oft-overlooked data governance skills in higher education roles, we looked at Institutional Research, Registration, and Records Teams. While some may consider them where most data quality and data use accountability and policy applies, data governance is the responsibility of everyone. Good data governance practices, or the lack thereof, can impact a student's earliest impressions of an institution, as they interact with Admissions and Financial Aid Officers. These professionals are central to shaping student experiences and ensuring institutional success. By enhancing their data literacy, they can further contribute to strategic enrolment management (SEM) initiatives, and ensure data policy and practices ease the transition of new students into their institutions.
Admissions Officers
Admissions Officers play a vital role in attracting and selecting students who will thrive at the institution. While they excel in evaluating applications and managing recruitment, there are skills they could deepen to further advance SEM through strong data governance:
Effective Use of Technology Admissions Officers work with a variety of digital tools and platforms, from CRM systems to application portals. By mastering these technologies, they can streamline their workflows, automate repetitive tasks, and gain deeper insights into applicant behavior. Understanding how to effectively use these tools not only improves efficiency but also enhances their ability to make data-driven decisions.
Data Integration Principles Admissions processes often involve data from multiple sources—standardized test scores, high school transcripts, recommendation letters, and more. Understanding data integration principles enables Admissions Officers to combine these datasets seamlessly, ensuring a comprehensive view of each applicant. This skill is crucial for maintaining data accuracy, reducing errors, and improving the overall decision-making process.
Understanding Data Privacy and Compliance Handling sensitive applicant data requires a solid understanding of data privacy regulations and ethical considerations. Admissions Officers must be vigilant in ensuring their data collection and assessment practices comply with ethical information use and privacy laws, safeguarding the institution from legal risks and maintaining the trust of applicants and their families.
Financial Aid Officers
Financial Aid Officers are instrumental in helping students navigate the financial aspects of their education and their decisions directly impact student access and retention. Encouraging them to grow their data skills can empower them as individuals, have the office recognized as a vital part of SEM, and ensure that a data governance program addresses their unique data collection and analysis purposes.
Data Analysis and Interpretation for Award Distribution Financial Aid Officers are tasked with distributing limited resources to maximize student success and retention. Developing data analysis skills allows them to identify trends, assess the effectiveness of aid packages, and optimize the allocation of funds. By leveraging data, they can ensure that financial aid strategies are equitable and aligned with institutional priorities.
Understanding Cost of Attendance Calculations One often overlooked skill is the ability to accurately calculate and communicate the full cost of attendance. This includes not just tuition and fees but also living expenses, books, and other miscellaneous costs. Financial Aid Officers who are proficient in this area can better advise students and families, helping them make informed decisions about their financial aid options and planning for the full cost of their education.
Communicating for Predictive Modelling for Retention Understanding predictive modelling can enable Financial Aid Officers to help data analysts identify key features of students at risk of dropping out due to financial challenges. By proactively offering targeted support, they can enhance retention rates and contribute to the institution’s overall success. This proactive approach ensures financial aid resources are effective in supporting student persistence.
Plaid Integrate: A Solution to Incorporate Financial Aid and Recruitment Data into Enrolment Reporting
Student Enrolment Management reporting is more than conversion rates, headcount, and full-time equivalency metrics. Financial aid and awards data is crucial to identifying at-risk students, and prospective student engagement data is critical to evaluating a recruitment strategy. But this data is often kept in spreadsheets or standalone databases separate from enrolment data, making it a challenge to integrate into SEM reporting. Plaid Integrate provides an automated data integration service between your Student Information System and other data sources, and a SEM-focused institutional data warehouse to help you scale your reporting and analytics capabilities fast. Contact us today to learn more about our data integration services.
Bring Data Governance Workshops to Your Campus
Despite its importance, data governance is often misunderstood as solely an IT responsibility. Our workshops aim to dispel this notion, helping participants see data as a valuable business asset. Attendees will learn how data governance transforms raw data into actionable organizational knowledge, making it accessible and meaningful for everyone on campus. Book a meeting with Andrew to chat about your data governance goals.