Most campus meetings start the same way: someone asks, “How are we doing on retention?” or “Is the funnel healthy?” Dashboards open, people scroll, and the hour ends without an answer. A business prompt is not yet an answerable data question. Part 2 shows how to close...
When a college or university considers using an AI tool, the conversation quickly turns from use cases to security and privacy. Let’s discuss how these providers handle security and compliance and what to ask before sending student data to a model. We’ll start with...
The Chart This is a pie chart, useful when you want to show how a small set of categories make up a single whole. Each slice represents a non-overlapping group (age band), so you can see the composition quickly. For readability, keep the number of slices to 6–7,...
For more than 25 years, we’ve focused on one thing: helping colleges and universities use data and technology to move real work forward. Today we’re excited to introduce the Field Guide Series, a six-part collection of short, practical modules you can put to use right...
The Chart This is a stacked area chart, which is useful when you want to see both the total amount of a variable and the mix inside that total over time. Each band represents a source (Appeal, Donor Dinner, Event, and Other/Unknown), so you can read both volume...
The Chart This is a two-series line chart, which is good choice when you want to show how things change over time. Each line traces annual counts for one measure (here, new hires and terminations), so you can see direction, pace, and where the curves cross. What...
