From four weeks to 30 minutes: program reporting with Argos

Banner training was limited, data standards were undocumented, and inconsistent data entry created concerns about data integrity. Without timely, dependable reporting, leadership had limited visibility into institutional performance.

A review of statewide data revealed a 20% decline in enrollment and a 69% drop in graduates from before to after the pandemic. Mountwest also had the lowest retention rate among West Virginia’s two-year institutions for five years between 2018 and 2023, along with the highest DFW rates for about four of the past six years.

Leadership needed to understand what was happening within individual academic programs. For the first two years, producing annual program snapshots was entirely manual. An Institutional Research office of one had to run separate SQL queries, validate the data, move results into Excel, convert them into Word documents, and create final PDFs for each program.

The process took three to four weeks and coincided with major compliance reporting deadlines.

The college built Argos DataBlocks that bring together five years of program-level data, including enrollment, FTE, withdrawals, persistence, retention, degrees awarded, average course headcount, returning students, and students who neither returned nor graduated.

Each snapshot also includes definitions for persistence and retention, giving faculty and leadership a shared understanding of the data. Departments can examine program performance, identify areas for improvement, and better understand where students may need support.

Mountwest paired this reporting work with changes across the institution, including revised withdrawal processes, expanded tutoring, additional advising resources, and automated Argos reports for Student Services. When students have not enrolled for the next semester, the department receives contact information for targeted outreach. Faculty can also identify students who did not return and connect with them directly.

Faculty members are using the snapshots for assessment and requesting contact information for students who have not returned. The reporting process also gives Institutional Research more time to meet with faculty, answer questions, and help departments interpret their results.

Mountwest’s progress was recognized by West Virginia’s Data Policy and Advisory Committee for its work to improve student success. The state’s central office also recognized improvements in the timeliness and accuracy of the college’s compliance reporting.

The college also plans to give academic leadership direct access to the Argos dashboards and continue applying the same reporting approach across enrollment management.