Leading with Data

In what ways are institutions successfully integrating postsecondary data into campus life – and what can we learn from their examples?

Leading With Data: How Senior Institution and System Leaders Use Postsecondary Data to Promote Student Success, a new IHEP brief, takes a look at how institutional leaders across the country are using postsecondary data effectively, and highlights promising practices for institutions looking to use postsecondary data to improve student outcomes.

The brief also provides four recommendations that institutional leaders can leverage to use data in more impactful ways on their campuses:

• Establish a culture of data use for institutional improvement
• Distribute data responsibilities across campus offices
• Reach beyond campus boundaries to find and use data
• Participate in data policy conversations at the national level

At California State University – Fullerton (CSUF), for example, the provost oversees the strategic use of a data warehouse that pulls data from across campus to ensure that students are on the right path to graduation. Advisors are able to identify students who might be falling behind on requirements and proactively address their challenges to make sure they find success.

Leading With Data is the product of interviews with the Senior Institutional Leadership Council (SILC), a group of university presidents and senior level administrators from across the nation.