Dickinson College Looks Ahead with Rapid Insight Analytics and Data Integration Software
Pennsylvania college simplifies data collection and automates detailed analyses to make smart, predictive operational decisions
Conway, NH - December 16, 2008 - Dickinson College is accurately predicting student enrollment, financial aid allocation, diversity, class size and a host of other critical operational variables using data analysis and integration applications from Rapid Insight Inc. The Pennsylvania school is using Rapid Insight® Analytics and Data Integration software to accelerate data collection and understanding, enabling administrators to make intelligent ad hoc and long-term business decisions.
"Accuracy is absolutely critical when analyzing student enrollment against the average tuition each student will pay, financial aid included," said Mike Johnson, director of institutional research at Dickinson College. "If we miss that calculation, called the discount rate, by as little as one percent, we're talking about a half million dollars. Rapid Insight Analytics and Data Integration allow us to look at more data in more ways to get a more precise view of these figures so we can strike the right balance."
Dickinson uses Data Integration to pull data from different departments stored on different servers into one repository. "Data Integration gives me transparent sourcing, allowing me to access all of my systems including Banner, Cognos and Recruitment Plus," said Johnson. His team uses the software's graphical interface to drag and drop icons and use arrows to connect the data sources to a host of functions such as: merge, filter, cleanse, aggregate, de-dupe, flatten, append, sort, rename, etc.
Additionally, the team uses Rapid Insight Analytics to automate such operations as exploratory analysis, predictive modeling, profiling, automated scoring, univariate analysis and one-touch reporting for PowerPoint presentations. Data Integration and Analytics greatly improve Dickinson's ability to complete all of the internal and external reports, including for the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), faster and more efficiently than before. The school has been able to cut some in-depth analysis and reporting operations from weeks to hours.
"I live by automated reports," said Johnson. "Since there is almost no opportunity for human error, I have confidence in the answers and can explain them fully in understandable terms. That confidence has helped grow our wish list of things to study."
Among those new analyses he'd like to conduct are a more detailed study of alumni to help the development office better prioritize whom to approach for annual giving, and a more comprehensive look at common traits of the few students who leave before graduation to help reduce that number.
"Like other institutions, Dickinson has to manage, study and act upon huge volumes of data quickly and accurately, even as data are becoming more complex and mandated reporting more varied," said Michael Laracy, president and CEO of Rapid Insight. "The school is attempting previously unexplored analyses that will help it make sound decisions that affect everything from class size to endowment, and student success."
About Dickinson
Founded in 1773 and chartered 10 years later, Dickinson College is one of the nation's oldest institutions of higher learning. But it is also one of the most contemporary in its ongoing mission to prepare globally engaged and informed citizens; developing in them the habits of mind articulated by the Dickinson Dimensions: global sensibility; ability to seek connections; a passion to engage the world; commitment to practice civility; sense of personal accountability. For more information, visit http://www.dickinson.edu/.
About Rapid Insight Inc.
Rapid Insight Inc. is a leading provider of business intelligence and automated predictive analytics software. With a focus on ease of use and efficiency, Rapid Insight products enable users to turn their raw data into actionable information. The company's analytic software simplifies the extraction and analysis of data, enabling clients ranging from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies to fully utilize their information for data-driven decision making. Founded in 2002 in Conway, New Hampshire, Rapid Insight is a privately held company with clients and partners across the nation.
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