Reviews
The authors do an excellent job of explaining the nuances between data-driven decision making and data-informed decision making, and why the latter is more appropriate in the context of higher education's shared governance process. I've never seen a book like this in our profession. I expect it to be regularly used in graduate programs in higher education administration. It will also serve as an excellent reference for institutional leadership teams planning to undertake major change.
Presidents, provosts, senior administrators, and trustees will find this volume informative and useful for bringing them up to speed on a rapidly evolving set of tools that will be central to higher education administration going forward.
Collecting a series of essays that relate to the roles of decision makers and practitioners, this wonderful book is nuanced, original, and complementary of other works in the field. The scholarship and sourcing are exceptionally thoughtful, thorough, and sound.
Webber and Zheng bring together scholars and practitioners working on the cutting edge of predictive data analytics on college campuses. Together, the chapters offer a comprehensive strategic, operational, and theoretical approach to the challenges and opportunities of data-informed decision-making in higher education. A 'must read' for higher education leaders and scholars.
Webber and Zheng have done an immense service to higher education, particularly in this age of the coronavirus. Institutions of higher education have rarely faced such great challenges with so little information on how to proceed. This book provides the construct and tools necessary for university leaders to make positive and transformative decisions in a post-pandemic world.
Colleges and universities are catching up rapidly to other industries in their use of data and analytics. This edited volume by Webber and Zheng reviews the state of the analytics art in key functional areas within higher education, while the editors' own chapters reinforce the need for critical human capabilities in data-driven universities.
Book Details
Foreword, by Christine M. Keller
Acknowledgments
Part I. Technology, Digitization, Big Data, and Analytics Maturity as the Enabling Conditions for Data-Informed Decision Making
Chapter 1. Data Analytics
Foreword, by Christine M. Keller
Acknowledgments
Part I. Technology, Digitization, Big Data, and Analytics Maturity as the Enabling Conditions for Data-Informed Decision Making
Chapter 1. Data Analytics and the Imperatives for Data-Informed Decision Making in Higher Education
Karen L. Webber and Henry Y. Zheng
Chapter 2. Big Data and the Transformation of Decision Making in Higher Education
Braden J. Hosch
Chapter 3. Predictive Analytics and Its Uses in Higher Education
Henry Y. Zheng and Ying Zhou
Part II. The Ethical, Cultural, and Managerial Imperatives of Data-Informed Decision Making in Higher Education
Chapter 4. Limitations in Data Analytics: Potential Misuse and Misunderstanding in Data Reports and Visualizations
Karen L. Webber and Jillian N. Morn
Chapter 5. Guiding Your Organization's Data Strategy: The Roles of University Senior Leaders and Trustees in Strategic Analytics
Gail B. Marsh and Rachit Thariani
Chapter 6. Data Governance, Data Stewardship, and the Building of an Analytics
Organizational Culture
Rana Glasgal and Valentina Nestor
Part III. The Application of Analytics in Higher Education Decision Making: Case Studies
Chapter 7. Data Analytics and Decision Making in Admissions and Enrollment Management
Tom Gutman and Brian P. Hinote
Chapter 8. Predictive Analytics, Academic Advising, Early Alerts, and Student Success
Timothy M. Renick
Chapter 9. Constituent Relationship Management and Student Engagement Lifecycle
Cathy A. O'Bryan, Chris Tompkins, and Carrie Hancock Marcinkevage
Chapter 10. Learning Analytics for Learning Assessment: Complexities in Efficacy, Implementation, and Broad Use
Carrie Klein, Jaime Lester, Huzefa Rangwala, and Aditya Johri
Chapter 11. Using Data Analytics to Support Institutional Financial and Operational Efficiency
Lindsay K. Wayt, Susan M. Menditto, J. Michael Gower, and Charles Tegen
Part IV. Concluding Comments
Chapter 12. Data-Informed Decision Making and the Pursuit of Analytics Maturity in Higher Education
Karen L. Webber and Henry Y. Zheng
Contributors
Index