Full Description
Internal and external pressure continues to mount for college professionals to provide evidence of successful activities, programs, and services, which means that, going forward, nearly every campus professional will need to approach their work with a data-informed perspective.But you find yourself thinking "I am not a data person".Yes, you are. Or can be with the help of Amelia Parnell.You Are a Data Person provides context for the levels at which you are currently comfortable using data, helps you identify both the areas where you should strengthen your knowledge and where you can use this knowledge in your particular university role.For example, the rising cost to deliver high-quality programs and services to students has pushed many institutions to reallocate resources to find efficiencies. Also, more institutions are intentionally connecting classroom and cocurricular learning experiences which, in some instances, requires an increased gathering of evidence that students have acquired certain skills and competencies. In addition to programs, services, and pedagogy, professionals are constantly monitoring the rates at which students are entering, remaining enrolled in, and leaving the institution, as those movements impact the institution's financial position.From teaching professors to student affairs personnel and beyond, Parnell offers tangible examples of how professionals can make data contributions at their current and future knowledge level, and will even inspire readers to take the initiative to engage in data projects.The book includes a set of self-assessment questions and a companion set of action steps and available resources to help readers accept their identity as a data person. It also includes an annotated list of at least 20 indicators that any higher education professional can examine without sophisticated data analyses.
Contents
Foreword —Robert A. Schwartz Preface Acknowledgments 1. An Optimal Time for Data People 2. The Data Identity Framework 3. How to Progress Along the Data Continuum 4. Back to Basics. Understanding the Balance of Needs, Processes, and Outcomes 5. Data in Action:10 Ways to Use Data to Improve Programs and Services 6. Data in Action Part 2. 10 Ways to Use Data to Monitor and Address Students' Progress 7. The Data Identity Self-Assessment Exercise 8. The Future of Data Use on Campus. Intersections of Technology and Human Decision-Making Conclusion Epilogue Appendix A. Supplemental Notes for the Data Identity Self-Assessment Exercise Appendix B. Mapping Data Identity Components and Sample Higher Education Job Advertisements References About the Author
