Professional Development Opportunities (PDO) - Wednesday November 6

(PDO Sessions are included with your conference registration)

Note: For IPEDS you must register using the links below

Morning Sessions:

1A: Newcomers to Institutional Research (Panel)  8:30am-12:00pm (Sandra Temple Ball Room 240)

This popular workshop is designed for newcomers to IR - or anyone desiring a refresher! Each Institutional Research office is a unique entity shaped by an extensive assortment of internal and external forces. If you are new to IR and wondering what you've gotten yourself into, this PDO may provide some insight. Presented by two experienced IR practitioners, this half-day workshop will touch on a wide variety of IR-related issues. Our focus is on breadth rather than depth. After introductions and listening to what you would like to take away from the day, topics planned include: some definitions of Institutional Research, IR models, identifying common functions of IR offices and how they meet institutional needs, project management, ethics, common definitions, reports and surveys, national data sets, technical skills, and business intelligence and statistics commonly used in IR. 

1B: IPEDS Data Tools 8:30am-12:00pm (Kitterman Room 237B)

This workshop provides a hands-on deep dive into the IPEDS Use the Data website to better determine which of the various tools to use in applied higher education research. Participants can expect to learn when to use Data Trends, Statistical Tables, Summary Tables, Compare Institutions, and Custom Data Downloads leading to increased efficiency in responding to data requests. We will explore each of these tools and the benefits and limitations of each. 

To register, please use this link:  Data Tools Workshop Registration

Lunch Noon-1:00PM Sandra Temple Ball Room 240

Afternoon Sessions:

2A: PowerBI Playground: A Beginner's Guide to Excel in Data Visualization 1:00pm-4:30pm  (Sandra Temple Ball Room 240)

Layne Paubel - University of Missouri Saint Louis

At the PowerBI breakout session, tailored for beginners, delve into the world of data visualization. Join us in step-by-step demonstrations to unlock the potential PowerBI dashboards in a code-free environment and kickstart your journey into effective data storytelling.

2B: IPEDS Student Financial Aid Training 1:00pm-4:30pm (Kitterman Room 237B)

This workshop provides foundational training for completing the IPEDS Student Financial Aid Survey using an integrated approach to managing, storing, and extracting financial aid data required for survey completion. Topics include an overview of financial aid concepts and how they intersect IPEDS, how to effectively create frozen data files from enrollment and financial aid systems, how to use these files to answer the respective sections of the survey, and how the files can be leveraged to address additional internal reporting needs. The workshop concludes with exercises focused on how IPEDS financial aid data are used for external purposes as wel l as for internal benchmarking.  

To register, please use this link: IPEDS Student Financial Aid Workshop Registration

Note: Participants are required to bring a MAC or PC laptop with wireless capability and Microsoft Excel.

The workshops are limited to 45 participants and seats are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Seat confirmations are delivered via email on a rolling basis approximately 3 business days after an online seat registration is submitted.

Questions?

Email: ipedsworkshops@airweb.org

Welcome Reception - Traditions Restaurant at Mules National Golf Club (5 Par Dr. Warrensburg, MO) 5:00-7:00pm

Trivia Night!

Shuttle Available

Thursday November 7

Continental Breakfast 8:00AM Room 237 A&B

Keynote Address 9:00-10:00AM Dr. Rigo Rincones - Union Auditorium

Click here to view the presentation slides from Dr. Rincones

Concurrent Session 1:

1A: Facilitating Effective Program Self-review using PowerApps 10:15-11:00AM

Frederick Burrack & Brad Regier - Kansas State University

Most survey tools do not provide the availability to integrate former responses into program review questions, but this is a strength of PowerApps . Additionally, links to relevant tables and graphs can also be integrated as part of the self-evaluation tool. Data collected, former and current, then is available for use in visualization and analytic tools . This session provides an overview of the technology, examples of implementation, and contexts in which it can be applied.

1B: Beyond the Surface: Machine Learning Reveals Hidden Stressors in Students 10:15-11:00AM

Catalina Tibaduiza - University of Central Missouri

Understanding student stress is crucial for academic success. This study uses machine learning to analyze factors like purpose, supportive relationships, food access, and sleep, and their impact on stress levels in students. It also explores how students utilize resources when facing suicidal thoughts, applying Bayes’ Theorem for causal inference.

Click here to view presentation slides

1C: From Rapids to Smooth Sailing: Moving from manual process for Student Learning Assessment using Watermark 10:15-11:00AM

Christa Smith & Joshua Huston - Washburn University 

During this presentation, attendees will learn how Washburn University accelerated the adaptation of the AAC&U rubric and artifacts for reviews to occur in Watermark OAP. The presenter will discuss how Watermark OAP assisted with streamlining the calibration training, the faculty review process, and the third-party (tiebreaker) reviews. The audience will learn how the software expedited the results of the reviews to inform timely assessment of student learning outcomes at Washburn University. 

Click here to view presentation slides

Concurrent Session 2:

2A: Building an Automated Text Mining Tool with AI Functions  11:15-Noon

Yuhao Liu - Kansas State University

Text mining is important in many institution research work such as analyzing responses to open questions in surveys. This session will briefly introduce a few commonly used methodologies and procedures in text mining. Furtherly, the presenter will demonstrate an interactive and automated tool built with python that can analyze texts through both traditional natural language processing techniques and AI functions. Suggestions on resources to create such tools will be provided.

2B: The Impact of On-Campus Tutoring on Student Achievement  11:15-Noon

Matthew Husky, Josephine Kershaw, Ryan Kelly, Andrew Swanson - Jefferson College

As a follow-up to our presentation at last year's conference, we have done further analysis of how well out students have done when making use of the Academic Success Center on campus. We tracked the number of times a student visited, much like last year's presentation, as well as the duration of student visits. Our analysis finds that students with above average amounts of time at the tutoring center were more likely to pass their courses, especially in math. 

2C: Making Connections: Missouri’s New P20W Research Database 11:15-Noon

Julie D. Woods - Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development, P20W Office

Missouri now has a P20W Research team, which is working to link (P)reschool/early childhood data through K-12, postsecondary education and training (“Grade 20”), and the (W)orkforce. The goal is to use de-identified data in ways that center privacy and confidentiality to better understand the education-to-workforce journey and what programs and policies helped Missourians along the way. This session will share progress and future goals and invite discussion for future research and data linkages. 

Click here to view presentation slides

Lunch Noon-1:00PM Room 237 A&B: State of the Organization Address, awards, and other business

Concurrent Session 3:

3A: Your Data, Your Way: Create a Custom Dashboard with PowerBI- Part I 1:15-2:00PM

Stephen Terry & Smriti Thapa - University of Central Missouri

In this 2-hour hands-on session, participants will use their institutional data to build a dynamic PowerBI dashboard. The workshop will guide you through creating a tool to visualize key performance indicators like enrollment by race, gender, residency, full/part-time status, student level, and academic program. By the end, you’ll have a functional dashboard ready to share with stakeholders. Due to limited space, sign-up is required.

• Sign-up: Sign up here

• Data Template: Download the data template here

3B: More with Less: An IR Office Increases Productivity with Fewer Resources 1:15-2:00PM

Katherine Knuckles - Saint Louis University

Join us as we detail how we were able to maintain all of our responsibilities, while also taking on new projects and reporting requirements (FVT/GE anyone?) after experiencing turnover in 60 percent of staff and a new office structure. We will describe our office expectation setting, collaborative culture-building, and reliance on tools, such as Alteryx, to revise and semi-automate nearly every procedure in our office.

3C: Having bad data is not a reason to delay an analytics initiative, it's the reason to start one now 1:15-2:00PM

Aimee Cook, HelioCampus

Rarely does an institution say, “Oh, what great data we have!” More often, we hear it as a reason to delay the inevitable hard work. As in exercise, bad data are the muscles that have atrophied from years of under-use. The only way to make improvements is to start moving those muscles by actually using the data for institutional decision-making. A data analytics initiative is like a sturdy pair of running shoes that can enable your data-integrity couch-to-5K program in record time. With an accompanying data governance coach, to help during the training sessions providing a focus on consistency to ensure a solid foundation for success. In this presentation we will explore the root causes of bad data, various permutations of data governance and highlight best practices that organizations can adopt that will have them sprinting to success.  

Afternoon Snack Break 2:00-2:45PM Room 237 A&B

Concurrent Session 4:

4A: Your Data, Your Way: Create a Custom Dashboard with PowerBI- Part II 3:00-3:45PM

Stephen Terry & Smriti Thapa  - University of Central Missouri

Note: This is part II of the 3A session

In this 2-hour hands-on session, participants will use their institutional data to build a dynamic PowerBI dashboard. The workshop will guide you through creating a tool to visualize key performance indicators like enrollment by race, gender, residency, full/part-time status, student level, and academic program. By the end, you’ll have a functional dashboard ready to share with stakeholders. Due to limited space, sign-up is required.

• Sign-up: Sign up here

• Data Template: Download the data template here

4B: From Data to Direction: Strategies that Empower Institutional Success 3:00-3:45PM

Michael Taft - ZogoTech

Colleges today have access to vast amounts of data, from enrollment metrics and demographic details to early-warning indicators and student outcomes. The challenge for IR leaders isn’t gathering data—it’s transforming it into actionable insights that drive strategic decision-making across the institution. In this session, we’ll share stories from colleges using real-time data to support everything from recruitment and student success to resource planning and cross-departmental collaboration. Through practical examples, discover how a unified approach to data can empower IR teams to turn information into a powerful tool for driving institutional success. 

Concurrent Session 5:

5A: Data Governance at KU: A Year in Progress 4:00-5:00PM

Henry Hinkle - University of Kansas

Data Governance is a challenge facing all higher education organizations today. This lecture-style session will detail how The University of Kansas approaches to Data Governance in a large, decentralized organization. KU's approach to partnership with IT Governance will be discussed. Attendees will learn from our stumbles and hear more about what we have found has worked for us. 

Click here to view the presentation slides

5B: Praxis Problems 4:00-5:00PM

Michael Mcbride & Melissa Chesnut - Northwest Missouri State University

This will be a roundtable discussion where presenters will lead small group discussions about issues institutions have faced related to Missouri's switch to the ETS Praxis exam as the state's required educator certification assessment. Small groups will receive questions from the presenters, discuss their thoughts and share highlights with the larger group.

5C: Strategic Plan Implementation: Assessing Our Progress 4:00-5:00PM

Dr. Josiah Nyangau - Nuventive

Higher education leaders carry the responsibility of building comprehensive, data-informed strategic plans. This presentation explores UCM’s framework for strategic planning and how academic and support units fit into plan implementation. The session will highlight Nuventive dashboards and roll-up annual reports that allow the university to track progress on the strategic plan, leading to increased accountability and institutional change. Session leaders will also discuss lessons learned.

Social Event: Bowling at the Union Bowling Center 5:00-7:00PM

Friday November 8

Keynote Address 9:00-10:30AM Colonel Keith J. Butler - Union Auditorium

Morning Snack Break 10:30-10:45AM Room 237 A&B

Concurrent Session 6:

6A: Student Success, by first-generation college status and underrepresented minority status. 11:00-11:45AM

Ronald Thompson - University of Missouri System

This session will describe my attempt to model student success as a function of first-generation college status and underrepresented minority status using data from recent cohorts of FTC undergraduate students from the campuses of a Midwest system of research universities. 

Click here to view the presentation slides

6B: The Data-Informed Journey 11:00-11:45AM

Matthew Harris & Misty Tollett - Ozarks Technical Community College

This presentation will share Ozarks Technical Community College's journey to embracing a data-informed culture. We’ll define what being data-informed means at Ozarks Tech, highlight strategies we've used to generate buy-in, and provide examples of analytical reports and dashboards using available tools and resources. Whether your institution is just starting its data-informed journey or refining its practices, you’ll leave with actionable tips and insights to better serve your institution.

Click here to view the presentation slides

6C: Presenting K-State University's Data Governance Journey 11:00-11:45AM

Xiang Chen & Bin Ning - Kansas State University

K-State's data governance framework significantly enhanced compliance and supported strategic decision-making. This session will outline our journey, covering key components, implementation phases, and challenges. We’ll highlight the positive impact on operational efficiency and share lessons learned. Attendees will gain insights into developing a robust data governance structure that ensures data integrity and facilitates informed decisions.

Click here to view the presentation slides

This year we are pleased to offer a variety of options for Hotels near the UCM campus:

Quality Inn (626 E Russell Ave, Warrensburg, MO 64093) Starting at $86 plus tax a night. Additional $10 charge for each additional person. 

Cancellation Policy: Please cancel any group room reservations by 4 PM local hotel time, 7 days prior to arrival to avoid a cancellation penalty.

Reservations for this block need to be made before October 5th and they will need to call 660-747-3000 to reserve.

Comfort Inn (609 E Russell Ave, Warrensburg, MO 64093)- Starting at $99 plus tax a night. 

Cancellation Policy: Please cancel any group room reservations by 4 PM local hotel time, 2 days prior to arrival to avoid a cancellation penalty.

Reservations for this block need to be made before October 5th.

Reservations can be made at the link HERE or over the phone by calling 660-429-4848 to reserve.

Holiday Inn Express (1005 Hawthorne Blvd, Warrensburg, MO 64093) - Starting at $124 plus tax a night.

Reservations for this block need to be made before October 5th.

Reservations can be made at the link HERE or over the phone by calling 660-656-2020 to reserve. 

 Fairfield Inn (355 E Russell Ave, Warrensburg, MO 64093) Starting at $114 plus tax a night. 

Reservations need to be booked by October 16.

Reservations can be made at the link HERE