The Higher Ed Data Problem: Confirmed By New Higher Ed Dive Survey

Higher Ed Dive recently performed a telling survey of #HigherEducation leaders about the state of their use of #data for decision-making. In Andrea Emerson ‘s?article?covering the findings --- in which I was quoted -- she?reveals how these leaders rate their own institutions’ #DataAnalytics maturity.?

An alarming percentage of institutions rely on “instinct, personal experience or preferences” or “peer input and experience” to make key institutional decisions.

Are these responses based on leadership preferences -- or a lack of mature, accessible data to use for decision-making? Anecdotally, from my experience with many institutions, most senior leaders want more data to make decisions but struggle to get meaningful access to it. In fact, their responses to the question about what they need is even more telling (emphasis mine):?

“Incomplete or disconnected data remains a barrier to gleaning more value from data.?Eight in 10 respondents (83%) said it would be “very” or “extremely” helpful to have a single source of truth for unified data across systems and departments.?Just two in 10 (18%) say they have that capability today.”

As I've?written about before, the solution to this problem is not a single process or product.?

“As Kieffer explains it, effective solutions encompass four disciplines: data governance, data repositories, analytics and integration. “All of these things are critical for good data and good analytical results. If you try to solve just one,?it’s like playing whack-a-mole,”?he reasons.”?

Pithy, eh??

Those four components of data management are the ones that we encourage institutions to focus on as a holistic strategy and practice.?

Thanks to Higher Ed Dive ??and Carly Berthiaume ?for including my perspective on this very timely survey. The findings confirm much of what we’ve observed anecdotally across higher education and should serve as a call to action for us as an industry.?

With all the external threats and internal stressors institutions face, investing time and money in maturing #DataManagement can be difficult to prioritize. Still, without these investments, institutions will continue to struggle with key decisions around #StudentRetention, program investments, and operational efficiency.?

What are the biggest barriers your institution faces in leveraging data for critical decision making? Which of the findings of the survey resonate most with you as a higher ed leader? I’d love to hear your perspective on this issue in the comments below!

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