Categories
Cowley College Case Study
Category: Insights
6 Takeaways From The 2022 AIR Forum Conference
A team from Datatelligent ascended on Phoenix for the 2022 AIR Forum Conference, the first in-person event for us since 2019. Bringing together higher education professionals, specifically institution researchers, with data and analytics leaders, AIR Forum was well attended and full of energy.
The conference also allowed us to reflect on the current and future state of data across the higher education space based on the sessions we attended and the meeting and discussions we had with leaders. With that, here are our top 6 takeaways from 2022 AIR Forum.
1. It was Great to be Back in Person
Conference attendees, myself included, were excited to see one other, to share ideas, and to catch up. AIR Forum provided opportunities for networking, brainstorming, and problem-solving.
The coffee shop in the convention center was a regular hot-bed of connections and conversations, and it served as a good reminder that connecting face-to-face is an unparalleled experience. Virtual conferences have proven to be extremely effective when it comes to delivering great content, but I think we can all agree that nothing replaces those spontaneous hallway discussions. It sure was great to be back in person!
2. Data Literacy & Maturity are Critical
Data literacy is the ability to explore, understand, communicate and tell stories with data.
The good news is that from the discussion we had at AIR Forum, higher education institutions truly understand that data is the ultimate differentiator and that data literacy is the key to unlocking the value of your data and technology investments.
Understanding your institution’s data maturity in terms of your data and analytics vision, as well as your data sources and KPIs, is critical to advancing your maturity.
We met with several leaders and discussed data maturity. Through this, we learned that there is a wide spectrum across organizations, ranging from data aware to data proficient and then further up the spectrum to data savvy and ultimately data driven.
3. There’s a Severe Data Staffing Challenge… and Options
We can all agree that it’s difficult trying to find the right talent for the job, regardless of the job. But when you add in the need for specialized data skills, the challenge becomes even more cumbersome. On top of that, as we potentially head into a global recession, the outlook becomes grim.
It’s not surprising that we heard from several higher education leaders who said they were actively looking to get creative and “future-proof” their workforce in the face of:
- Not being able to hire due to a shortage of data workers
- Declining retention due to employee turnover
- Economic uncertainty in the face of a possible recession
- Inability to keep good talent due to the high demand for highly skilled data workers
One way to circumvent the hiring challenge was to actually not hire directly. Instead of hiring, leading higher education institutions that are looking to reduce risk while also increasing efficiency are turning to Datatelligent’s Data Analytics as Service (DAaaS) model, an alternative option to staffing and building your data team.
For the cost of just one senior data architect, with our DAaaS model, you can get a whole team to support your data needs—from solutions, strategy, to detailed expertise. We bring use of our leading-edge solutions to help grow your business—all under one unique subscription as a service solution.
4. Virtualization was Everywhere
For institutions looking for a new way to combine data from different sources that make it easier to access, understand and share across your organization, conference attendees didn’t have to look far. Virtualization was everywhere.
There were several sessions about virtualization and how to easily connect to data stored anywhere, in any format. Our technology partner, Tableau, was on hand at AIR Forum sharing how they can help institutions quickly perform ad hoc analyses that reveal hidden opportunities using drag and drop functionality to create interactive dashboards with advanced visual analytics. If you have questions about virtualization, let me know. I can help.
5. The Future for Data Inclusion & Equity is Now
For data solutions to be relevant and sustainable, they must be designed in collaboration with the communities they are intended to represent and support.
We are seeing organizations be intentional about their data. From what we saw at AIR Forum and the meetings that we continue to have, I think that higher education institutions are on the precipice of ensuring data is more inclusive, representative, and effective. In fact, viewing data as a strategic asset and committing to an organizational culture of data inclusion can lead to discussions about policies and how higher education institutions can and should invest in their communities into the future.
6. Student Recruitment, Retention & Success was a Hot Topic
Did you attend our session at AIR Forum? Titled “How Tableau Can You Go? Increasing Data Access for Decision-Making,” our own Larry Blackburn, Chief Solutions Officer, was joined by Deborah Phelps, Executive Director of Institutional Effectiveness at Cowley College during a session at AIR Forum. They shared how Cowley College has dramatically improved student recruitment and retention by successfully evaluating and reimagining their data analytics infrastructure to become a more data-driven organization. They also reviewed Cowley’s implementation of Tableau, a data visualization application.
If you missed our session at AIR Forum and would like a copy of the presentation slides, just email me. I’d also be happy to review the presentation with you detailing what we did to improve student success at Cowley College.
Feeding Westchester and Datatelligent Collaborate to Enhance Community Outreach Efforts
Connecting Donors, Volunteers, and the Community to Provide Data-Driven Solutions to Food Security Issues
GLEN ELLYN, Ill., December 23, 2021 — Datatelligent, LLC (www.datatelligent.ai) today announced it has been selected by Feeding Westchester to create a dynamic data analytics solution that will enhance staff efficiency and improve collaboration with volunteers, donors, and board members. Drawing upon its extensive experience in the nonprofit sector, Datatelligent’s team will build a Unified Data Platform to collect, clean, and organize data from sources throughout the Feeding Westchester organization, providing staff with timely and accurate data — efficiently and easier than their current approach.
Feeding Westchester, based in Elmsford, New York, is Westchester County’s largest nonprofit hunger-relief organization, and in 2020, provided more than 18 million meals to people in need. It does an exemplary job serving its community and galvanizing volunteers and donors, and its leadership team recognized that staff could further enhance operations and outreach with a more robust, turnkey solution to collect, analyze and report data. Consequently, Datatelligent has been engaged to reimagine Feeding Westchester’s data analytics structure and build a platform using Snowflake to standardize data collection and reporting, integrate disparate information, create highly visual reports, and enhance collaboration throughout the organization.
Using Datatelligent’s Data Analytics as a Service (DAaaS) offering, Datatelligent staff are building a solution to collect, track and report data as it relates to food donations and distributions, fundraising, and volunteer activities. The platform will provide Feeding Westchester with up-to-date, easy to interpret data, speeding access to accurate information, decreasing staff time spent compiling reports, and improving timely decision-making efforts.
Additionally, the solution will tap into Datatelligent’s expert knowledge of Snowflake’s data cloud to centralize data storage which will allow Feeding Westchester staff to create highly visual reports enhancing understanding of disparate information.
“We are thrilled to be working with an organization that is doing so much good in its community, especially as the ongoing effects of the Covid pandemic continue to create challenges and need. We look forward to creating an innovative solution in support of Feeding Westchester’s mission,” said Larry Blackburn, Chief Data Transformation Officer, Datatelligent.
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About Datatelligent
Datatelligent is 100% focused on data, analytics, and AI solutions. We help organizations compete and thrive in today’s data-driven world by providing a unique Data Analytics as a Service (DAaaS) approach—the People and Platform in Partnership with businesses—to achieve data and analytic success. With speed, agility, scalability, and more than 20 years of experience, our leadership team’s expertise spans all business sizes and industries.
About Feeding Westchester
Feeding Westchester is the county’s largest nonprofit hunger-relief organization at the heart of a network of 225 community partners and programs. With a mission to nourish their neighbors in the fight against hunger, the organization sources and distributes good, nutritious food and other resources throughout every community in Westchester County. In 2020, Feeding Westchester delivered 22 million pounds of food or 18.4 million meals through soup kitchens, food pantries, schools, shelters, residential programs, and mobile distributions. The nonprofit is committed to creating a community where all people have access to the food they need today and the fundamental resources to build a better tomorrow. Feeding Westchester is located at 200 Clearbrook Road, Elmsford, NY 10523. For more information, visit feedingwestchester.org.
Jessie Meehan
communications@feedingwestchester.org
Indianapolis Community Food Access Coalition Selects Datatelligent to Build Data Analytics Dashboard
Partnership Harnesses Data to Help Meet Food Access Needs in Indianapolis
(GLEN ELLYN, IL, JANUARY 20, 2022) — Datatelligent, a data, analytics and AI solutions firm focused on helping higher education institutions, not-for-profits and small to mid-sized (SMB) firms manage their data, has been selected by the Indianapolis Food Council to create a comprehensive data analytics solution that will help provide equitable access to food, improve staff efficiency, and analyze program efficacy. Datatelligent staff, drawing upon their extensive experience in the nonprofit sector, will work collaboratively with the Indianapolis Community Food Access Coalition (ICFAC) staff to integrate data sources and provide staff with access to accurate and up-to-date analytics.
“We’re proud to be working with a group that is making a valuable impact in their community. We look forward to helping the ICFAC work more efficiently and knowledgeably in support of their mission,” said Larry Blackburn, Chief Solutions Officer, Datatelligent.
Datatelligent’s team has been engaged to develop a data analytics dashboard using Tableau. For example, ICFAC staff will utilize the dashboard to review the performance of programs implemented in collaboration with Lyft. Using metrics tied to transportation to and from grocery stores, ridership demographics, destinations, and other markers, staff will have the information needed to determine program impact and make improvements for the future. This solution will integrate and cleanse data flowing in from both internal and external sources and will allow staff self-service access to timely information. The dashboard will free up valuable team resources by automating data collection and reporting efforts, speeding access to accurate information, and improving their ability to assess program impact and success.
About the Indianapolis Community Food Access Coalition
The Indianapolis Community Food Access Coalition is an organization focused on providing equitable access to healthy and nutritious food in the community. Their goal is to connect participants with healthy, local food across all ages and demographics as well as expand the market for local food and increase access to community-based programming to improve healthy eating habits. Learn more at indyfoodpolicy.org.
About Datatelligent
Datatelligent is 100% focused on data, analytics, and AI solutions. We help organizations compete and thrive in today’s data-driven world by providing a unique Data Analytics as a Service (DAaaS) approach—the People and Platform in Partnership with businesses—to achieve data and analytic success. With speed, agility, and scalability, and more than 20 years of experience, our leadership team’s expertise spans all business sizes and industries. Learn more at datatelligent.ai.
Categories
Cornell College Case Study
The Intersection of DEI, Data & Student Enrollment
All data are not created equal. To be actionable, and to have a chance of influencing behavior, information needs to be legible to the intended audience.
Many higher institutions have all the right diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) data points at their fingertips, but what they lack is the clarity behind what the data means and the decisions they need to make based on the data. Student information sitting passively in a myriad of databases is a far cry from actionable DEI insights.
Equity can’t be explained away by rhetoric—it’s about the numbers. Whether or not you believe equity is framed and defined by ownership or diversity, it is definitely quantifiable. Therefore, it’s essential to present diversity data in an easy-to-understand, customizable scorecard or dashboard that is relevant to its intended users. The data presentation should allow for easy comparisons between units and across time periods.
Enter Datatelligent. We understand that finding and enrolling the right students is more challenging than ever, which makes each stage of the enrollment journey even more critical.
DEI DATA SESSIONS
Datatelligent is participating in several upcoming sessions about the intersection of DEI and data, including:
- DEI Webinar – 10.28.21 at 1:00 PM
- I-AIR Conference – 11.1.21 at 3:00 PM
- AIRUM Conference – 11.5.21 at 8:00 AM
The sessions will review strategies for evaluating the effectiveness of your DEI data across student recruitment and enrollment initiatives. They will also feature a demo of Datatelligent’s DEI Student Outreach Solution Engine that gives higher education leaders a 360⁰ view of the student data, including:
- Insights into DEI-related recruitment opportunities for high school students
- Interactive map of counties highlighted by special population indicators and current college attendees
- Key demographic data (poverty levels, single female households, disability, unemployment rates, etc.)
- High schools per county displayed with student body demographic details
In order to advance DEI, you must drive progress through your data. Insight into your student data—from its racial and cultural makeup to geographical recruitment reach—is key to understanding your students’ experiences and the change that needs to happen.
Contact Datatelligent today to start fully tapping your DEI data.
