Project Name: Business Intelligence Dashboard 

Lead Institution: Canterbury Christ Church University

Project Lead: Alison Grover

 

To transform current Management Information reporting into a Business Intelligence (BI) Dashboard: to suppport managers in decision making based on reliable, easy to access, up to date business intelligence.

 

Prototype reporting system has commenced: to query student data.

Solution will then rollout to include finance, staff and facilities data.

 

Background

See the full Transformations programme playlist

 

In order to realise the targets and goals articulated in the Strategic Plan, it was proposed that the University needed to work in a different way, with very explicit lines of accountability. Central to this was the establishment of a Change Programme, led by the Vice-Chancellor. The Change Programme focusses not only on systems and processes but also on changing how the University works, communicates and delivers the student experience.

 

The original goal of this transformation project was to set up a Business Intelligence Dashboard to provide reliable, comprehensive management information to all interested parties; including flexible user-defined views for senior managers and planning staff, and fixed views for other users. The system, allied to robust processes for accountability would provide decision makers with management information presented in a summary ‘dashboard’ relating performance against a suite of measures enabling timely and effective management intervention. It would compile and present key internal and external information in a concise, pictorial or graphical format, supporting decision-making, planning and strategic thinking. It would provide easy interactive access to reliable, good quality information, when needed, giving management confidence in the integrity and completeness of information as they move between an overview and a detailed view. This would allow managers to focus on the data and business process issues highlighted enabling them to take action from a position of fact and information rather than ‘gut feeling’.

 

Aims and objectives

 

• Applications to the University will be made as part of a joined-up process starting with the programme entry in the ‘Study Here’ section of the online prospectus.
• Applicants will be able to create their own log-on account and to exit and return to their application as required before finally submitting it.
• The applicant can expect a timely series of communications throughout the period that they are an applicant, the final action being to take them to the pre-registration portal.
• For the University to gain a greater understanding of the direct applicant group to allow for greater planning and targeted marketing.
• The University will be better able to collect data needed for planning purposes, induction and retention. This involves a closer definition of what is collected at applicant stage, via the pre-registration portal and at face to face registrations.
• This project will create an enhanced route for students to apply for University programmes, progress through the application procedure and begin their ‘orientation and welcome’ and induction into the University. It is expected to transform the student experience from a paper based approach to one that places the University amongst the market leaders in this area of work. 
• The project will remove the University’s use of paper application forms for credit bearing programmes. It will standardise the application process for non UCAS and Graduate Teacher Training Registry (GTTR) programmes and bring the direct application process into line with University requirements and the expectations of the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) Code of Practice, Recruitment and Admissions and organisations such as Supporting Professionalism in Admissions (SPA). 
• The project will also allow the earlier collection of complete data sets for applicants which will aid in the student number planning process, the invoicing of students and the return of data to funding bodies. 
• For the project to succeed it is important that the end user finds the system understandable and intuitive. It is important that a communication plan underpins the project and that there is buy-in from Professional Service Departments and those Academic Departments that have a heavy reliance on paper application forms. 
• The project will work within the communication principles set out by the Student Communication Steering Group so that communications are relevant to the student; personalised and tailored; timely; accurate and appropriate in tone; will recognise the different needs of different types of applicants; will be appropriate using email, letter and face to face communication; and will be designed to facilitate two way communication.

 

Context 

 

The significant shift towards the ‘marketisation’ of Higher Education means that it is vital to ensure that the University is fit for purpose and able to undertake its activities. Critical to this is decision making based on reliable, easy to access, up to date business intelligence. The University’s Strategic Plan clearly identified that “the development of a BI dashboard is required in order to present accurate management information to managers enabling them to view performance against target and to drill down into the measures for more detailed information as required”. Furthermore, the move towards a financial planning and performance management framework will result in a closer alignment of activity and resources, with incentives for innovation and development. The Change Programme, which includes the Business Intelligence dashboard, will incorporate staff development including a ‘new ways of working’ programme where expected behaviours are articulated; good performance is recognised and valued and barriers to progress are exposed and removed.

 

The original aim of the project was the implementation of a Business Intelligence Dashboard. However, during the early stages of the Dashboard project it became clear that although the quality of Finance, HR and Estates management information was good on a day-to-day basis, the quality of in year student data was inadequate for management information and administration purposes. The reasons for this were varied: the University had seen 10 years of very significant student growth and systems had not kept up with this growth; the student record system primarily catered for BA/BSc with other programmes being “fitted” into the structure; the University had not worked with its supplier to improve the quality of the student system. It became apparent that the primary focus for student data was ensuring that this was accurate at Year End for the HESA returns. To this end a significant amount of work was being carried out, by the University’s Planning department, in the weeks following year end to correct data. This took several weeks to complete. Consequently, individual departments kept their own databases of student information which they regarded as being the correct ones. The change to the HE landscape has meant that accurate and timely student data has become vital to the future growth and sustainability of the University.

 

There were different opinions regarding whether it was better to:

 

1. Start the Business Intelligence Dashboard project knowing that Finance and HR data were accurate and that student data was not in order to drive improvements to student data or
2. Improve student data before implementing the Dashboard

 

The concern was that if the first option were pursued this would lead to a lack of confidence in the Dashboard overall which would place that programme in jeopardy. The Change Board concluded that before driving forward the Dashboard programme it was essential to improve the quality of student data. A new project was established called the “Core Data Set”.  The project objectives were to determine:

 

• What is Core data?
• When should it be collected?
• How?
• For whom?
• How will the data be used?

 

The Core Data Set incorporated a sub-project for On-line Applications to be used for all non-UCAS applications (approximately one quarter of students). Assuming that data is accurately collected, validated and reported then the business information and statutory returns will fall out from that same Core Data Set. The Senior Management Team (SMT) sponsor for the Core Data Set project, as well as for the Dashboard project, is David Leah Director of Finance.

 

The business case

 

The project is about more than the collection of applicant data, it will also underpin an improvement of the way that the University engages with potential new students. The project also has a close relationship with current discussions about the implementation of a customer relationship management tool.

 

In relation to the collection of applicant data the project will play a key role in the overall success of the Core Data Set project. The development of an online application form features within the Business Plan 2012/13 produced by the Admissions Department in February 2012. The Admissions Department Business Plan states:

 

Over time an online application form would ensure that better collection of data, would bring the institution into line with competitors where online applications have been the norm for some time and would lead to a reduction in the resource needed to input applicant data (totalling approximately 4,000 new students a year across the institution). 

  

For the applicant the successful introduction of the online admissions project would mean that they could read about the programme they wished to apply to within the ‘Study Here’ section of the University’s webpages produced and monitored by the Marketing Department. They would then be able to commence the application process by clicking on the link appearing on that page. Applicants will be able to log on as a new user or return to their application form if they have already registered. On completion of the application it will be ‘processed/submitted’ and the University’s part of the application process will commence. The applicant can expect the University to maintain contact with them, principally via email, throughout the application stage. Once the applicant has been offered a place and accepted it, they will then be led to the pre-registration portal.

 

An online process will also allow the institution to monitor partially completed application forms and communicate with potential applicants still to complete their form offering help/guidance. Over time the level of partially completed forms would be monitored as part of a wider set of actions to increase the conversion rate of enquirer to applicant.

 

The expectation is that the online admission system will have and retain (future proof) a flexibility that reflects the needs of individual programmes and the data needs of external agencies. The online admissions process will also be a key development for the International Office with its responsibility to increase overseas fee-paying student numbers and maintain EU full-time undergraduate applicants.

 

Over time the University will also gain a greater understanding of the volume of applicants per programme and be able to better plan student numbers. The University will be able to communicate with applicants in a more timely way and there will be a mechanism in place to deliver what are currently referred to as ‘keeping warm’ activities.

 

The University will also have a more accurate and complete set of data than is currently possible and this will include data for unsuccessful applicants: this is not currently available.

 

The successful implementation of the project underpins the Senior Management Team ambition to centralise all admissions activity in the Admissions Department, rather than within faculties. This will support a move away from a wide number of administrative staff having an infrequent involvement with admissions activity to a smaller number of dedicated professionals within the Admissions Department. This move will also increase the University’s ability to comply with the QAA Code of Practice, Recruitment and Admissions and other national admissions initiatives.

 

The expectation is that there will be efficiencies in relation to the collection of applicant data and in the ways that we currently communicate with applicants (reduced postage and print costs).

 

The online application form is not a vehicle for collecting all the data that the University might eventually require. There needs to be a discussion and agreement about when applicant/new student data will be collected. There is already an online pre-registration portal used to get new students to confirm and update the data we hold about them. However, further work needs to be undertaken to make sure that at this stage in the recruitment cycle missing data is produced as part of the compulsory activity that the new student has to provide. Asking an applicant for data in relation to studying at the University requires a sensitive balance. Where information is not needed until the person becomes a student then this should be collected at the appropriate time.

 

The University currently uses a paper based system for non UCAS applications which most applicants see as old technology. Our main competitors have had an online application forms for some time. A paper based application route does not sit easily with the Canterbury Christ Church University brand as it has developed over the last two years.

 

The online application form will also make it easier to assess the fee status of students and to invoice them.

 

Key drivers

 

The project is a part of the Change Programme at Canterbury Christ Church University. The Change Programme is a joined-up programme of a number of high impact projects and initiatives. The Change Programme’s focus is to support the effective delivery of the Strategic Plan (2011-2015), particularly with respect to the student experience. The Change Programme’s vision is to provide our students with a consistently high quality experience which meets their needs and expectations at every stage of their student journey. To achieve this vision the Change Board agreed to a number of priorities and initiatives which would be taken forward in the first tranche, of which this is one. The Change Programme focusses not only on systems and processes but also on changing how the University works, communicates and delivers the student experience.

 

JISC resources/technology used

 

This project made use of the following JISC Resources:

 

• JISC InfoNet Business Intelligence InfoKit. This was used to assist with drawing up the business case and PID for the Business Intelligence dashboard. 
• A project audit was carried out using Office of Government Commerce’s (OGC) self-assessment model for assessing organisational maturity levels with respect to programme/ project management. The review provided: A baseline analysis of the organisation’s current ‘maturity’ in respect of programme and project management, an assessment of the key strengths and weaknesses of existing approaches to programme and project management and recommendations to SMT to enable the university to move towards the next levels of maturity 
• JISC InfoNet Change Management infokit. A considerable amount of research was carried out in relation to Change Management during the process of setting up the overall Change Programme structure. This incorporated a review of different theoretical models; different change roles (including sponsor, leadership, manager and team); resistance to change and transition management. 
• JISC InfoKit Project Management Toolkit. The Business Case and Project Initiation Document (PID) were taken from the Project management toolkit. Throughout the process the PID has been updated on a regular basis where significant changes to the plan have been made. SMT maintained an overview of the programme. A Steering group was set up with senior managers and representatives from business areas to maintain an overview of the project. The project manager reported to the Steering Group. The project team comprised an experience project manager, a functional manager, business analyst, systems staff. The project plan made boundaries clear with clear phases and milestones. A risk analysis and issues log was kept and these were regularly reported to the project team and Steering Group. The methodology used for project management was a combination of Prince2 and Managing Successful Programmes (MSP). 
• JISC Selecting technologies infokit. The 5 steps on the selecting technologies infokit were reviewed and further refined during the procurement process. (1. Project set up, 2. Define requirements, 3. Initiate procurement, 4. Evaluate suppliers, 5. Conclude procurement.
• Project Blog. A project blog was maintained throughout to enable us to disseminate our work to the wider HE community in the UK.
• Blackboard Collaborate was used to hold all documentation about the project in one place so that all members of the project team and Steering Group had easy access to the most up to date information.
• Training courses. University staff attended training courses set up by JISC for Enterprise Architecture and Digital Storytelling. Enterprise Architecture is now in use at the University.

 

Outcomes

 

The project is still on-going however outcomes from the project to date are as follows:

 

• The supplier has been selected and work is being carried out to determine the best method of implementation for the software 
• A number of lessons learned from the process so far have been identified. These will be carried forward into future projects. 
• The value of cross university working has led to significant improvements to the understanding of staff in the role of their colleagues.

 

Achievements

 

The achievements of this project were:

 

• Market research was carried out during the tender setting process and 13 potential suppliers were identified. Once potential suppliers were identified, due diligence was carried out as part of a capability assessment. This included financial and technical assessment. This ensured that time was not wasted assessing suppliers unable to meet our minimum requirements. 
• Initial supplier demonstrations (prior to the tender process) were invaluable in ensuring that we understood the options available and potential key issues. This preparation helped to inform the writing of the Invitation to Tender (ITT) documents. 
• The process followed for the setting and evaluation of the tender for the On-line Applications software was an excellent example of cross University co-operation.  
• The involvement of a Business Analyst on the project team meant that there was a clarity about existing processes before implementing proposed changes to business processes. 
• The project management structure was clear and regular meetings meant that all members understood their roles and progress being made. 
• The project team and Steering Group included representative from across the University: from Finance, Human Resources, Business Analyst, academic and professional services representatives from faculties, the student union president. The team was brought together by a Project Manager and led by a member of the SMT.   

 

Benefits

 

The benefits emerging from this project were:

 

• Joint ownership of the project and a shared understanding of the problems that needed to be addressed. 
• The collaborative work carried out which addressed issues and problems arising in an efficient and innovative manner. 
• More in-depth understanding of applicants, academic and professional service department requirements. 
• Following the awarding of the tender a lessons learned workshop was held to identify what worked well and areas for improvement. This has helped to refine our tendering process. 
• A programme of future collaborative action to move this agenda forward.

 

Drawbacks

 

A detailed analysis of how the preferred solution should be integrated with the existing student information system led to a delay for the project whist further consultancy work was carried out. However all team members, the Steering Group and SMT recognised that this was essential to the successful completion of the project.

 

Key lessons

 

The lessons learnt from the project were:

 

• The importance of involving staff from across the University in the design and evaluation of the tender.
• Regular project team meetings, reporting to the Steering Group, and SMT leadership and support were critical to the success of the project.
• The use of Blackboard improved access to shared information.
• Following the tender evaluation, the team participated in a workshop to identify “lessons learned” in order to improve future tender processes. Recommendations included:
• For technical requirements greater clarity about whether requirements related to staff or students’ experience.
• For institutional requirements: many of these should have been brought together to form minimum requirements.
• The process did not indicate whether a supplier needed to achieve a particular score in each section. This meant that it would have been possible for a supplier to have scored below 50% in a particular section and still be shortlisted on the basis of their overall score.
• Shortlisted suppliers were asked to demonstrate their systems to the project team. Scenarios had been set for suppliers as part of this process and these were extremely helpful as part of the process. This is to become standard practice across IT procurement initiatives.

 

Looking ahead

 

From the project a number of key actions are now planned to progress work started in this project: 

 

• It will be necessary to work closely with the preferred supplier and the supplier of our current student information system in order to reach the best solution for implementation. Work has commenced on this and will continue until September/October 2013.  
• Further development is required by the On-line Applications vendor as well as the supplier of our existing student information system and the University’s IT department in order to integrate the new software effectively. This work is due to commence shortly. 
• Once the consultancy work has been completed the project plan will be updated. 
• Following agreement of the consultancy work required and commitment to a completion date from the supplier of our existing student information system configuration, implementation and testing will be carried out on the new software. 
• Testing of the pilot areas will be carried out between November 2013 – April 2014; followed by an evaluation. Following the review any necessary changes will be made. The software will then be rolled out to all remaining courses in time to be used for September 2014 applications. 
• Training and development of staff will be carried out across the university: communication is a vital part of this process.

  

Sustainability

 

There are a number of key aspects to sustainability that we now need to address as follows:-

 

• A review of test areas and implementation of lessons learned 
• Engaging Programme leaders and administrators not currently involved in the project. 
• Communication with staff, applicants, the supplier, IT, the project team and SMT. 
• Regular review of the system and implementation of upgrades.
• Good communication with the supplier 
• Participation in supplier User Groups 
• Identification of benefits and follow up to ensure that these are realised.