“You can have data without information, but you cannot have information without data.” — Daniel Keys Moran
One data point: Enrollment on the NMSU main campus for fall 2022 was 14,268 students. This data point is a metaphorical onion. The closer you look, the more complex it becomes.
For example, that number of 14,268 students includes 2,328 first-time freshmen, 631 undergraduate transfer students and 771 new graduate students. Each of these students new to NMSU brings a unique academic history of test scores, GPAs, experiences and institutional transcripts, plus records of dual credit and advanced placement courses from high school. Each of those students needs an academic path to graduation based on that academic history and their degree plan. That one data point of 14,268 students holds literally millions of options for class schedules to earn those degrees.
From this data, we can learn about course sequencing and which courses are barriers to persistence. We can learn about teaching practices that get results and how changing majors affects time to degree for our students. We can examine the academic persistence of students with declining GPAs.
For decades, higher education has been using data-collecting tools that can yield powerful insights into factors that promote student achievement. It is only in the recent past that analytics software has started to make that data usable to people without a data science background. Over the next few years, our challenge is to use those tools and learn from that data to transform higher education.
Our students need this transformation. Increasingly, they face academic challenges that have been exacerbated by the pandemic. They deal with financial challenges and mental health concerns. Education remains one of the best options for a brighter future for students and their families. And NMSU must use those powerful data insights to make this future possible.
One data point: Enrollment on the NMSU main campus for fall 2022 was 14,268 students. This data point is a metaphorical onion. The closer you look, the more complex it becomes.
For example, that number of 14,268 students includes 2,328 first-time freshmen, 631 undergraduate transfer students and 771 new graduate students. Each of these students new to NMSU brings a unique academic history of test scores, GPAs, experiences and institutional transcripts, plus records of dual credit and advanced placement courses from high school. Each of those students needs an academic path to graduation based on that academic history and their degree plan. That one data point of 14,268 students holds literally millions of options for class schedules to earn those degrees.
From this data, we can learn about course sequencing and which courses are barriers to persistence. We can learn about teaching practices that get results and how changing majors affects time to degree for our students. We can examine the academic persistence of students with declining GPAs.
For decades, higher education has been using data-collecting tools that can yield powerful insights into factors that promote student achievement. It is only in the recent past that analytics software has started to make that data usable to people without a data science background. Over the next few years, our challenge is to use those tools and learn from that data to transform higher education.
Our students need this transformation. Increasingly, they face academic challenges that have been exacerbated by the pandemic. They deal with financial challenges and mental health concerns. Education remains one of the best options for a brighter future for students and their families. And NMSU must use those powerful data insights to make this future possible.
On April 14, the Division of Student Success, ICT and Doña Ana Community College will host Data Tools 2023. This day will provide an opportunity for department heads, academic program directors, associate deans, deans, faculty and staff who work with programs that support enrollment and retention to:
- Understand what data is available through NMSU’s enterprise data tools;
- Use that data to influence decisions that affect students and their success at NMSU; and
- Influence the future of data resources at NMSU.
You can learn more and register for this event, or send questions to vpss@nmsu.edu.
