Customer story · Nicolet College
Expanding and centralizing data access with Argos
Preparing to move to PowerCampus, Nicolet College found its reporting scattered across systems. Argos centralized it, put real-time data in front of every staff member, and now delivers the daily and nightly reports the college runs on.
Rhinelander, Wisconsin
Public 2-year technical college
Argos
- Custom dashboardsDashboards tailored to end users, including some that let them enter data.
- Trends that steer enrollmentInteractive Charts show enrollment trends that direct future enrollment efforts.
- Errors caught soonerA nightly report of data entry issues encourages timely corrections.
Nicolet College at a glance
1967
Founded
1,930+
Students
153
Faculty and staff
19
Undergraduate programs
01
The challenge
Every system could only report on itself
Nicolet College, a technical college in northern Wisconsin, was getting ready to migrate its ERP to PowerCampus by Ellucian. A business process review conducted in preparation revealed a need to improve how the college did its reporting.
Nicolet found its existing reporting system and structure to be laborious and inefficient.
Scattered reporting
Each system and application on campus could only report off its own data.
Hard to compile
Collating data from the various sources took a lot of effort before any decision.
Access for all staff
Every staff member needed data, without reporting software on every computer.
The decision was made to move to a centralized reporting structure that would make student and class data available to all full-time staff, as well as adjunct instructors.
02
The solution
A one-stop shop, from the Welcome Center to the deans
Nicolet saw that PowerCampus could be bundled with Argos, Evisions’ enterprise reporting solution. After seeing demos and speaking with Argos users at other institutions, they realized Argos could be the forward-thinking one-stop shop they were looking for.
Implementation and training began in April 2014. Within a few months, a couple of dozen DataBlocks were in use by staff and administration, and people who had never written a line of SQL code quickly found themselves able to do so, thanks to Argos’ visual design tool.
Nicolet now provides real-time access to college data to everyone from the Welcome Center staff who direct students to the academic deans who must evaluate their programs and courses. Key users include the Business Office, Registrar’s Office, academic departments, bookstore, Institutional Research, and IT.
One use the college didn’t initially anticipate, but has since made great use of, is entering data through dashboards. Several dashboards let users enter data into various databases without requiring IT to build custom web applications.
Scheduling and delivery, put to work
A report of data entry issues is sent nightly to the Registrar’s Office. Automating this daily error checking encourages timely data corrections, which has made IT’s job of state reporting much easier and less time consuming.
Advisors and financial aid staff are notified daily of students who add or drop classes. That helps financial aid staff determine a student’s continued eligibility, and helps advisors see students who may need assistance. Instructors are likewise notified of adds and drops in classes that are in session.
An updated schedule of classes is sent to the website server nightly, so the public is always aware of current offerings and staff no longer create and upload documents by hand. LMS administrators receive a daily build status of every course (grade center, syllabi, open status) to confirm each is ready by its starting date.
| Before | With Argos |
|---|---|
| Reporting spread across systems, each reporting off its own data | Centralized reporting with real-time access to college data |
| Collating data from various sources by hand | A couple of dozen DataBlocks in use within a few months |
| Class schedules created and uploaded to the web by staff | An updated schedule sent to the web server nightly |
| Custom web applications needed for data entry | Dashboards let users enter data directly |
“
Argos has completely changed how I do my work as the Dean of Liberal Arts and Business. In a matter of seconds, I can access anything from tracking curriculum development to modifying instructional assignments. Information that used to be spread across Excel spreadsheets and email chains is now housed in one central repository.
Dr. Emily Stuckenbruck · Dean of Liberal Arts and Business, Nicolet College
03
The results
Less waiting, fewer requests, data on demand
Nicolet College has added to its reporting abilities with Argos’s advanced features. The Strategic Enrollment Team uses the Interactive Charts to view historical enrollment and demographic trends in order to direct future enrollment efforts.
The Business Office uses the OLAP Cubes for budget and expense tracking, and the API feature provides a college-wide phone directory via SharePoint.
Errors caught sooner
Nightly data entry reports encourage timely corrections.
Easier state reporting
IT’s state reporting is much easier and less time consuming.
Students who need help
Advisors see daily adds and drops of students who may need assistance.
Always-current schedule
The public schedule of classes updates nightly, with no manual uploads.
Enrollment, guided by trends
Interactive Charts help direct future enrollment efforts.
Budgets in OLAP Cubes
The Business Office tracks budget and expense with OLAP Cubes.
“
Argos has been a great addition to Nicolet College, making access to data a straight-forward, transparent process. Our ability to provide data to users with specific requirements has become a fast and easy process, eliminating most of our routine or repetitive requests for data.
Bethyn Baldauf
Reporting Analyst
“
Argos has made performance reporting infinitely easier for Nicolet College. Tracking program and student success metrics in real time is now available on demand, creating workflow efficiencies.
Kelly Haverkampf
Director of Institutional Effectiveness
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One reporting layer across a multi-campus college
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