Sessions at a Glance (Date/Times TBD):
Presented by: Rajiv Puli, Kansas State University
Theme(s): Collaboration, Continuous Improvement
The Wildcat Data Hub is a university-wide business intelligence initiative that centralizes key institutional reports, dashboards, and analytics in Power BI. This session will share how Kansas State University is using the Hub to improve data access, reduce fragmented reporting, and support data-informed decision-making through user-friendly dashboards, semantic models, workspace organization, and stakeholder collaboration.
Presented by: Christina Cox & Swarga Kakoti, St. Charles Community College
Theme(s): Collaboration, Continuous Improvement
St. Charles Community College developed a predictive enrollment model to identify applicants most likely to enroll and support targeted recruitment efforts. This session will share how we built and refined the model, key predictors of enrollment, lessons learned, and how results were translated into actionable outreach strategies. Attendees will leave with practical ideas for using predictive analytics to improve enrollment outcomes at their institutions.
Presented by: Christina Cox & Nhi Tran, St. Charles Community College
Theme(s): Collaboration, Continuous Improvement
St. Charles Community College developed an Early Alert Dashboard to identify students who may need intervention and connect them with support before challenges become barriers to success. This session will share the development process, stakeholder collaboration, implementation lessons, and strategies for turning student data into timely, actionable interventions that improve student outcomes.
Presented by: Mary Bohlen & Stephanie Dixon, Missouri State University
Theme(s): Collaboration, Compliance
Missouri State University leveraged institutional effectiveness, assessment, and evidence practices to complete its 2026 Higher Learning Commission reaffirmation of accreditation through a structured, multi-year process led by an HLC Oversight Committee. This session will show how the university coordinated evidence mapping, stakeholder conversations, and campus-wide communication to prepare an Assurance filing and offer practical strategies to strengthen accreditation planning and evidence use.
Presented by: Nick Irby, Oklahoma City Community College
Theme(s): Continuous Improvement
This session demonstrates the construction of a fully automated, self-updating dashboard using Python, Windows Task Scheduler, and Tableau. Content will feature a basic "how to" along with a discussion of best practices. While the presentation demonstrates the process using these tools, the principles and methods are applicable to a wide range of coding and visualization platforms.
This will be a lecture-style presentation.
Presented by: Josephine Kershaw & Matthew Husky, Jefferson College
Theme(s): Continuous Improvement
Jefferson College for a number of years has been using First Quarter Feedback from faculty as part of a campus-wide effort to improve student outcomes. Often by the time traditional midterm grade deficiencies are reported, students do not have ample time to change course. Furthermore, faculty can usually tell early on which students might struggle. A faculty-led initiative at Jefferson College works to identify problems early to help students access campus resources and end the semester strong.
Presented by: Ryan Kelly, Jefferson College
Theme(s): Continuous Improvement
Jefferson College hosts on-campus tutoring services at our Academic Success Center. For several years we have tracked student usage to assess the impact these services have on student performance. Using statistical analysis across multiple variables such as clock time and visit count, we have found statistically significant differences in student outcomes.
Presented by: Christa Smith, Washburn University & Dr. Samantha Bradley, Associate, rpk GROUP
Theme(s): Collaboration
This lecture-style session spotlights Washburn’s evolving business intelligence strategy, led by institutional research in partnership with IT, centering on new uses of existing data and systems. Designed for institutional researchers navigating a fast-changing higher education environment, the presentation shows how BI can help leaders make timely, informed decisions with long-term impact. Attendees will hear the story of a practical BI journey that IR offices can adapt on their own campuses.
Presented by: Matthew Simpson, Ozarks Technical Community College
Theme(s): Continuous Improvement
This presentation will cover how Ozarks Tech used Microsoft Power BI and Fabric Lakehouse capacities to build a new data architecture and move from report and dashboard based deployments, to a single personalized app environment for the delivery of data. It will cover the process of creating this new architecture and app environment, concluding with live demonstration of the results and discussion on how this work led to higher levels of employee engagement with their data.
Presented by: Tyler Hall & Sandrine Zerbib, University of Kansas
Theme(s): Continuous Improvement, Compliance, Collaboration
As survey use expands in higher education, institutions face survey fatigue, duplication, and inconsistent practices. The University of Kansas developed a cross-functional Survey Coordination Committee to address these challenges through shared governance. This session explores the committee's development, policies, review processes, implementation challenges, and early outcomes, offering a practical framework for balancing institutional data needs with respondent engagement and survey quality.
Presented by: Emmanuel Ocran & Ankita Maharjan, Southeast Missouri State University
Theme(s): Continuous Improvement
Traditional rating scale surveys can make nearly everything appear important, making prioritization difficult. Using an academic advising study as an example, this session explores how principles of MaxDiff can help reveal clearer student priorities. Attendees will see how Qualtrics and R were used to collect and analyze preference data and will gain practical ideas for applying similar approaches in institutional research.
Presented by: Emmanuel Ocran & Eric Chambers, Southeast Missouri State University
Theme(s): Continuous Improvement
This session explores the challenges faced by new and internationally trained Institutional Research professionals as they navigate IR responsibilities, U.S. higher education, and workplace culture. Drawing on practitioner and supervisor perspectives, it offers practical strategies for building confidence, strengthening communication, understanding expectations, and fostering inclusive environments that support professional growth and effectiveness.
Presented by: Kirk Skoglund, Maryville University of Saint Louis
Theme(s): Continuous Improvement
Ever been frustrated by custom IPEDS data files? Wanted to be able to combine IPEDS data for other benchmarking and unique ways without downloading new data? This session will cover the use of python to extract, transform, and load complete IPEDS data files into easy to use and load into any SQL database. The session will go over the basics of the python scripts used and share examples of ways this information has been used to help inform decision making and continuous improvement.
