Click here to receive your FREE subscription to Campus Technology
News
Community College Applies Business Intelligence to Finance and Student Retention
2/28/2008
Broward Community College in Ft. Lauderdale, FL said it is using business intelligence software from SAS to better manage finances and increase enrollment. With eight campuses, BCC must collect, analyze, and report on financial and student data to justify state funding and compete with other educational institutions.BCC used to struggle with a time-consuming financial reporting that was prone to inaccuracies. "It used to take us four to six weeks to pull our financial data together into a spreadsheet and another three to four weeks to put the financial report together," said Patti Barney, BCC vice president of Information Technology. "Now, using SAS, we can produce multiple reports in a single day with all of the required information right on our desktop."
With SAS Financial Management, staff monitor financial reports, analyze operational effectiveness, and generate ad hoc reports, reporting data at the college level, by campus and by individual department and cost center.
The college also uses SAS software to understand why some students succeed more than others for its Achieving the Dream program, which comprises 136 students. Drawing intelligence from a variety of systems, such as student information, financial aid, course management, faculty reports, human resources, and budgeting, BCC tracks their success. The insights gleaned helps the college know when to intervene to help students stay on track, earn degrees, and ultimately transition to four-year institutions or the work force.
At BCC, the Achieving the Dream students boast a 92 percent retention rate, said Matthew Seeman, BCC information analyst. "Four out of the seven learning communities had 100 percent retention," he added. "Out of 136 students, only seven withdrew."
Dian Schaffhauser is a writer who covers technology and business. Send your higher education technology news to her at dian@dischaffhauser.com.
Cite this Site
copy text (above) for proper citation
Recommended Reading
- Gates Highlights R&D at CES08, Unveils Microsoft Touch Wall
Microsoft's Chairman Bill Gates spent a lot of time Wednesday talking about "empowering the workers" at the Microsoft's 12th annual CEO Summit 2008 in Redmond, WA, where he gave a keynote speech. However, Gates wasn't talking about political revolutions or even pay raises for office workers before the CEO crowd. Instead, he was referring to new software technologies that can better enable collaboration, social networking and decision-making on the job.
- Vista Vulnerability Study Puts Microsoft on Defensive
Microsoft and some independent security researchers had the blogosphere buzzing Wednesday over a series of denunciations after one company claimed that the Vista operating system was more vulnerable to malware and other exploits than previous operating systems.
- New Blackboard Sync Application Leverages Facebook
Blackboard Inc. today announced Blackboard Sync, an application that allows students to receive course updates and communicate with classmates while logged on to Facebook.
- Standards: The Sooner the Better
Technology solutions work best when they well together. That is why the nonprofit group IMS Global Learning Consortium is developing learning tools interoperability standards for the education technology community...
- U.K. Education Group Escalates Microsoft Complaints
A consultancy to the U.K. government has forwarded complaints about Microsoft's licensing and interoperability practices to the European Commission (EC), according to an announcement issued by the Becta consulting group Monday.
- University Students and Researchers Enjoy JavaOne
The JavaOne conference, held May 6-9 in San Francisco, brought together developers from industry, education, and other markets, filling the Moscone Convention Center with a wide array of sessions and exhibits for the open source Java developer community.
