Episode 03: A Business Intelligence Primer

For the Record, An AACRAO Podcast

Technology is driving changes to the work of the registrar and data is the new precious metal. Understanding the registrar’s role as the steward of all student academic data is critical to succeeding in the role in modern higher education. Understanding data stewardship’s place within the business intelligence framework is equally important. This episode provides a primer on business intelligence, with special focus on data governance, data stewardship, and data quality management.

Key Takeaways:

The registrar is the steward of all student academic data; business intelligence is an umbrella term that includes the applications, infrastructure, tools, and best practices that enable access to and analysis of information to improve and optimize decisions and performance; technology has changed and will continue to change the work of the registrar, making our reliance and engagement with data commonplace.

Extra Credit Reading Section:

Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think (2014) by Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, Kenneth Cukier

Data Stewardship: An Actionable Guide to Effective Data Management and Data Governance (2014) by David Plotkin

Data Governance: Perspectives and Practices by Harkish Sen

The Analytics Revolution in Higher Education: Big Data, Organizational Learning, and Student Success by Jonathan S. Gagliardi, Amelia Parnell, Julia Carpenter-Hubin, Randy L. Swing *

*This was very Institutional Research focused but the overall message was still very interesting. Just replace “Registrar’s Office” every time they reference Institutional Research.