Background – Legacy Higher Education Admission Systems did not strictly enforce unique student records for those students without United States Social Security numbers. Names, addresses, telephone numbers, previous addresses etc. were often used for entering students into the University databases to determine if those without a valid SS# were already there. Nevertheless, duplicate (and partial) records often exist within Higher Education databases, especially for students.

Solution – Modern ERP systems for Higher Education do a much better job of verification of unique records because they use secondary sources to check on addresses, telephone numbers, and social security information. Before a new student record is added to the database, the “common matching” function is invoked and, depending on the algorithm, does a pretty good job of identifying potential duplicates before they are entered.

How MyEduLife can help – if the University is using “common matching” for new admits, then going forward the duplicates will eventually be minimized. However, existing entrees will still have to be scanned for duplicates – and that’s where MyEduLife can help.

MyEdulife can help with Data Issues such as Duplicate Student Records with ERPS such as Sungard’s Banner, Datatel, Jenzabar, and Peoplesoft

A huge amount of data is discarded after a study is over, with the exception of a few studies that are repeated year after year to compare “trends”. However, as the sample size keeps shrinking and the sample traits keep changing, these “trends” might not actually exist in reality. IT researchers have no large, established data-stores, nor do they have a standardized way to measure concepts like availability, disaster recovery, or user satisfaction.

Worst of all, there is no developed system of analytics for higher education IT. Before one can be developed, IT professionals need agreed-upon outcomes, uniform definitions for certain concepts, consistent data, and a large, centralized data-store. As analytics’ implementation is necessary for this branch of IT to develop and stay relevant in the future, one can only hope that higher education can help bring about the necessary conditions.

Unfortunately, installing a way to consolidate data like the MyData button would be expensive, and the cost would be passed down to students. Furthermore, student privacy laws like Ferpa (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) would be hard to reconcile with the new technology. Despite the costs, however, a MyData button would make it easier for transfer students, an ever-growing group, to keep track of their student data. Also, some educational companies say that the technology behind programs like the MyData button is advanced enough that, if given the money, they could have it installed within weeks.

In the absence of a MyData button, some independent programmers have created their own student data consolidation technology. Ben Greenberg and Rui Xia created software that “scrapes” textbook data from online school stores so that students can compare textbook prices. Greenberg argues that, until all data is made conveniently accessible, people like them will just find ways to work around the current system. Meanwhile, Harvard is taking a step toward free data by attempting to create a live data feed from course catalogues and dining hall menus, and the University of Waterloo has opened their course and exam-schedule information to students.

However, before people can start making student data truly accessible–says Michael D. Sessa, executive director of the Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council–they have to know what sort of data the recipients want and how they will use it. Until then, attempts to open up student data will be a tangled, inefficient mess with little to no benefit to students.

The College at Brockport said that they use historical data, graduation and retention rates, application counts, and demographic data to help increase their number of applicants. It also helps them see what sort of students will probably enroll and to target their marketing toward those groups.

Meanwhile, Wichita State University said that predictive analytics helps them unify data about students, financial aid, housing, and more. It also helps them predict which students will probably be “high-yield” and which will be “at-risk” (in Devaney’s words) even before they begin their first classes. As a result, they can offer “at-risk” students extra assistance, which can encourage those students to stay in school longer. Predictive analytics has helped the college to revamp their admissions process, making it more “evidence-based”. They can now predict which prospective students are most likely to attend the school and where, geographically, to focus their enrollment-related events. Overall, WSU states that the use of predictive analytics has saved them roughly tens of thousands of dollars.

Devaney predicts that, given predictive analytics’s success in the areas of recruitment and retention, schools will begin to use it more for financial practices, as it will help them see which financial plans will be most likely to work without needing to spend money and time testing it in the real world.

Hopefully, the use of predictive analytics will spread to more universities, allowing them to save more money and divert it towards where it can best help the students.

Fortunately, Izzo insists that the student loan situation still has some marked differences from the housing crisis. For one thing, the government, not banks and investment firms, lend most student loan money. Because of this, if the student loan bubble “pops”, it is unlikely to be as harmful to the economy as the housing crisis.

However, the fact that the government holds the loans means that, if students can’t pay, taxes will rise (though, thankfully, not by much). Furthermore, a government-held student loan is much harder to discharge than, for example, a mortgage. Even if the student declares bankruptcy, the government will still insist that the loans be paid.

All in all, Izzo warns that, while the current student loan situation is unlikely to harm the economy on a massive scale, it still has the potential to drastically limit students’ spending power for many years to come.

According to Taylor, the most effective new system offers “modules”. These modules can be downloaded as either individual lectures or as full, traditional classes. This system allows students to have more control over exactly what they learn, saving them money, breaking down subject barriers, and making for a more interdisciplinary approach to learning. If this system becomes more widespread, teachers would not only teach, but also advise students which modules they should download for their specific goals and needs.

The module system could spell out a brighter future for education, allowing for more cooperation among universities and a broader range of classes to choose from for each student. It could also allow students to gain a high-quality education at a very low price. However, Taylor warns that it might hurt smaller colleges who are unable to afford a program as large or as famous as—for example—Harvard’s, Stanford’s, or MIT’s. On the other hand, he urges that the educational benefits of interdisciplinary, self-tailored learning far outweigh the costs. By providing a larger number of students with wildly new ideas and ways of looking at the world, an educational overhaul like this could, in Taylor’s opinion, help the United States adapt in an era of financial problems and international competition.

MyEdulife is about Data Governance for your College or University. Data needs to be managed and secured, but you also need to take advantage of your school’s data to make informed decisions. Traditionally this data was difficult and expensive to gather and manage, but no longer.

Yourdon, an internationally recognized computer consultant, interviewed Dr. Mooney as one
of the world’s most influential chief information officers.

“CIO’s at Work” is available at most book stores and at Amazon.com.

Dr. Mooney co-founded MyEduLife to provide data governance for educational institutions.

Dr. Mooney’s profile in “CIO’s at Work” details how MyEduLife creates partnerships
between technology professionals, college and university business unit leaders and external
customers, suppliers and business partners to address data governance problems arising from
the emergence of new technology within the college and university environment.

Dr. Mooney also shares his personal insights into the changing role of technology in business,
such as his decisions and futuristic approaches to new data sources with the increased use of
mobile devices.

“New technology is reshaping the delivery of educational services in the industrialized world
and creating tremendous opportunities for educators and students,” Dr. Mooney said.

“The widespread use of mobile devices and new applications promises the potential to
provide higher education to greater numbers of students in a more cost-effective mode than
the traditional university campus, classroom and lecture halls,” Dr. Mooney said.

Dr. Mooney also said his company recently partnered with Baruch College on an overall data
governance initiative.