Reporting for Colleague
Colleague answers for every office, without adding a person
Colleague holds your student, aid, finance, and HR records in one system, and a small team carries all of it. Argos lets that team build once and every office run it: reports, dashboards, and departmental applications on one platform, whether you're Colleague on-premises or in Colleague SaaS.
Trusted across community colleges, liberal arts colleges, and regional universities
The situation
What Colleague institutions are usually dealing with
Colleague keeps student, financial aid, finance, and HR in one system, on a data model that takes years to learn. SQL skills alone do not make someone a Colleague report writer, so one small team ends up answering for every office.
01
Two people know where Colleague keeps everything
Every question from every office waits on them. When one of them leaves, what they knew about every custom report leaves too.
02
The SaaS move puts every report on the table
Direct database access goes away in Colleague SaaS. Reports built against the old database often run to the hundreds, and every one has to be found, sorted, and moved, often by the same two people.
03
The board wants board-ready financials
Budget-to-actual and financial statements come out of Colleague Finance as raw figures. Someone rebuilds them in a spreadsheet every month, and the formatting takes longer than the numbers.
04
Institutional research is often one person
At institutions under 3,000 FTE, 41% of IR offices run on one FTE or less (AIR National Survey). Financial aid is absorbing federal changes with the same headcount. Nobody is hiring a report writer.
05
Every new need becomes another tool
A dashboard tool for the cabinet, a forms product for one office, a check-in app for another. Each brings its own license, login, and integration, and the same small team supports all of them.
Governed self-service
IT builds once. Every office runs it.
Your technical team writes the DataBlock: the query, the joins, and who can run it. Every office then filters, sorts, schedules, and exports from it in the browser, with no Colleague login and no SQL. The work stays with the people who know Colleague, because whoever builds a DataBlock works with the data underneath it. The answers reach everyone else, and the request queue stops growing with every new office.
Data governance is on the EDUCAUSE Top 10 IT Issues list, and the guidance is to standardize data sources while equipping local users to be self-sufficient.
- Your team builds and governs the DataBlocks
- Every office runs reports by choosing parameters
- One DataBlock answers for every term, program, and department, so the team maintains fewer reports
- Scheduled delivery sends the report to the person who needs it, on the day they need it
- Dashboard Designer builds and shares dashboards from the browser, embedded in your portal and readable on a phone
- Unlimited users and unlimited connections, with no Colleague seat required
“We're just pulling stuff that's already been pre-calculated by Colleague. It ensures that the Registrar, Financial Aid, and Advising Offices are all seeing the same kind of information.”
Michelle Shadrake · IT Director, Enterprise Applications · Alvin College
Argos X
The second question does not need a second request
The first answer often raises another one. Which of those students are first-generation? How does this compare to last term? Argos X lets people follow the thread themselves. Filter and sort across columns in Explore Data. Drag rows and columns into place in Pivot Mode.
Or ask Argos Data Agent. An AI pointed at raw Colleague data has to guess what each table means. Data Agent answers from DataBlocks that someone who knows Colleague already built, and shows the SQL behind every answer. In a one-person IR or aid office, that follow-up is the question nobody has time to request.
- Explore Data for multi-column filtering, sorting, and export to Excel or CSV
- Pivot Mode for reshaping a result without writing a query or altering the DataBlock
- Argos Data Agent for questions in everyday language, with the SQL visible
- Dashboard Designer, Explore Data, and Pivot Mode are included with Argos at no additional cost
- Argos Data Agent is licensed separately: Core with unlimited users, Advanced per seat
Finance reporting
Board-ready financial reporting, built once
Budget-to-actual, departmental statements, and board packets come straight from Colleague Finance as formatted Argos reports. Your team builds each one once. After that it runs on a schedule and lands in the right inbox, formatted the way the board expects. The hours that went into rebuilding the spreadsheet go back to the finance office.
- Budget-to-actual by fund, department, or account, formatted for the board
- Departmental budget views with drill-down to the transaction
- Scheduled delivery to budget managers every month, without a rebuild
- Finance data joined to student data in the same DataBlock, because both live in Colleague
Wherever your Colleague runs
Wherever your Colleague runs today
Argos runs against Colleague on-premises and in Colleague SaaS. If a SaaS move is ahead of you, Professional Services can inventory your existing reports first, so you know what you run, what nobody opens, and what needs to move.
Write-back is the one difference. On-premises, Argos can push data into Colleague, and many institutions have built input forms and approval workflows on that. Colleague SaaS does not give the same access, so Professional Services scopes each write-back process against your target environment before your date is set.
- Direct database connection on-premises, Data Gateway and Ethos REST APIs in Colleague SaaS
- Ellucian SaaS Verified for Colleague, and an Ethos Connected partner since 2020
- Colleague Starter Pack: more than 50 DataBlocks and reports across Registrar, Admissions, Advancement, Finance, Financial Aid, and HR
- Colleague Utilities dashboards that show where your data lives
- The Evisions CO-OP library, with Colleague reporting built and shared by peer institutions
- The Colleague Argos User Group, where Colleague campuses compare notes
- Runs alongside Ellucian Insights
- Professional Services hours when your team cannot take on the build
- Write-back applications on-premises only
Build instead of buy
One platform for the systems you would otherwise buy one at a time
A DataBlock is not limited to producing a report. Colleague campuses use the same platform, the same permissions, and the same team to run check-in, checkout, advising views, and exception workflows, instead of buying, integrating, and supporting a separate tool for each.
Reducing technology clutter and technical debt is on the EDUCAUSE Top 10 IT Issues list. The DataBlock that already runs the report can often run the small system too, without another license to manage.
Check-in and attendance
Orientation, athletics events, fitness center usage, and music performances, recorded off a card swipe.
Asset checkout and inventory
iPad lending, library materials, and equipment tracking, with the record in the database rather than on a clipboard.
Data entry back into the ERP
Forms that let a department update records without anyone writing a custom web application. On-premises only.
Advising and student success
Advisor caseload views, at-risk identification, academic progress, and outreach history.
Exception management
Find the bad or missing data, then route each case to whoever can correct it.
Budget and reconciliation
Departmental budget views with transaction drill-down, expense tracking, and audit workflow.
Read-driven applications work against Colleague on-premises and in SaaS. Write-back is on-premises only, so bring the specific process and we will tell you what is possible in your environment.
More answers for every office, from the team you already have
On-premises, migrating, or already in SaaS, see what one platform does for a small Colleague team.
In their words
Colleague campuses, in their own words
Every quote here comes from an institution running Argos against Ellucian Colleague.
“
Knowing our numbers ourselves rather than having to rely on a third party.
Carl Albert State College
Business Office
A cost-benefit report combining student balance, financial aid, and program cost now informs scholarship spend and concurrent-enrollment decisions.
“
I can see myself keeping this dashboard open all day. It's so much easier to use than Colleague.
Alvin College
Fiscal Affairs
Automated variance reporting narrowed payroll review from 580 records to 194, surfacing discrepancies before finalization and easing audit documentation.
Related
Who else needs to see this
For IT
Architecture, permissions, and what a SaaS migration asks of your team.
For Finance
Budget-to-actual and board reporting from Colleague Finance.
For Financial Aid
Verification, disbursement, and award letters from request to delivery.
For Institutional Research
IPEDS, state reporting, and cohort definitions that run the same way every year.
How it fits
How Argos fits with the rest of your stack
With Ellucian Insights
Insights brings data together across Ellucian products on a managed data layer. Argos works directly against your own Colleague environment, covering formatted reports, scheduled delivery, dashboards, and compliance output, all built on definitions your team controls. Most institutions run both.
Instead of a separate BI tool
Most campuses buy a BI tool for the cabinet dashboard, then build an extract to feed it and a second set of permissions to protect it. Dashboard Designer replaces all three. Dashboards are built in the browser on the same DataBlocks and permissions your reports already use, and come with Argos at no additional cost.
With your current process
Staying put works while reporting demand is stable and your Colleague expertise is not concentrated in one person. Three things usually change that. When that changes, extending reporting you already own tends to be easier to defend than a new stack. Working creatively within real-world constraints is on the EDUCAUSE Top 10 IT Issues list, which points to budgeting and hiring challenges that are intensifying for many institutions.
Trust and security
What your security and procurement reviewers will ask
The Trust Center is published and the HECVAT is available on request, so a reviewer can start before anyone schedules a call.
Permissions are enforced, never overridden
A report can only be opened by someone your team has permissioned to run it. Nobody needs a Colleague seat or a database account to run a report; the permissions live in Argos.
Authentication
LDAP group synchronization and SAML single sign-on, with folder-inherited permissions at object and report level across Execute, Modify, and Full tiers.
Production performance
Query queuing and priority management keep reporting activity from affecting your production Colleague environment.
Data handling
FERPA-aligned access controls through the layered permission model. Encryption in transit. Masking can block DataBlocks from AI workflows, mask columns, and redact values.
Deployment
Argos runs against Colleague on-premises or Colleague SaaS. MAPS runs on-premises or as SaaS, and for Colleague SaaS we recommend running it on infrastructure you control.
Documentation
Security documentation, subprocessor information, and compliance posture live in our Trust Center. HECVAT documentation available on request.
Frequently asked questions
Questions we get asked first
Does Argos work with UniData?
No. Argos connects to Colleague on SQL Server on-premises and to Colleague SaaS. If you are on UniData today, Argos fits when you move to either, and Professional Services can inventory your existing reports ahead of that move.
Who builds the reports?
Your technical team builds the DataBlocks: the query, the joins, and who can run each one. Every office then runs, filters, schedules, and exports from them without SQL or a Colleague login. Report writers can create new layouts without touching the query.
We have two people in IT. Is this realistic?
Yes, and it is the profile where it works best. A small group builds the DataBlocks once and every office runs them. When your team cannot take on the build, Professional Services hours can.
What is included with Argos, and what is licensed separately?
One license covers the Argos Client, where your team builds DataBlocks, reports, and OLAP data cubes, and Argos X in the browser, including Dashboard Designer, Explore Data, and Pivot Mode, along with scheduling, delivery, the Argos API, and the MAPS platform. Argos Data Agent is licensed separately, in Core and Advanced tiers.
Does Data Agent work against the Colleague data model?
It works from your Argos DataBlocks instead of the raw database. Someone who knows Colleague built those DataBlocks, so Data Agent answers from definitions your team already set, and every answer shows the SQL behind it.
Do our users need Colleague licenses to run reports?
No. Report access extends to every department head, advisor, recruiter, and counselor under unlimited-user licensing.
Is Argos running on Colleague SaaS today?
Yes, on customer deployments, through the Ellucian Data Gateway and Ethos REST APIs. Argos is Ellucian SaaS Verified for Colleague, and we have been a certified Ethos Connected partner since 2020.
We were told Insights comes with SaaS. Do we still need this?
They do different jobs, and most institutions run both. Insights brings data together across Ellucian products on a managed layer. Argos covers the operational reporting every office runs: formatted reports, scheduled delivery, compliance output, and departmental processes, on definitions your team controls. Professional Services can set up Argos alongside it.
Can Argos replace the separate tools we bought one office at a time?
Often, for reporting, dashboards, and read-driven departmental applications. That means one license, one permission model, and one team to support it. Bring the list of what you run and we will tell you which pieces Argos covers.
What happens to our write-back applications in Colleague SaaS?
Colleague SaaS does not give the same update and function access that on-premises does. Bring the specific forms and approval workflows you run and Professional Services will tell you what is possible in your target environment before your date is set.
How does the Starter Pack compare to what we have already built?
It is a foundation instead of a replacement: more than 50 DataBlocks and reports across six functional areas that your team extends. New institutions skip building the baseline. Existing customers use it alongside what they already run.
Where should MAPS run if we are on Colleague SaaS?
We recommend running it on infrastructure you control. It gives you direct control over connection configuration, data access settings, and integration timing.
We have several hundred reports in the old system. We cannot take on another conversion.
You do not rebuild them one for one, and the number is often smaller than the inventory suggests. The first step is an inventory: what still runs, what nobody has opened in two years, and how many of the survivors are the same query with a different filter. Several hundred legacy reports often collapse into a few dozen DataBlocks, because Argos handles the variation with parameters rather than with separate reports. Convert the ones that matter first, run both systems in parallel while people get comfortable, and retire the old one when nobody is using it.
We are in the middle of a Colleague SaaS migration. Should we wait?
Starting during the migration is easier than starting after it. The reports, state submissions, and definitions on the old environment are rarely in the migration plan. Inventory them early, decide what is mission critical, and move that first.
Can we start with one department instead of the whole campus?
Yes, and most institutions do. Start with the office whose reporting problem costs the most staff time, get it working on your own data, and expand when other offices start asking for access. Licensing is per institution with unlimited users, so a departmental start does not create a per-seat problem when it grows.
Who will we be working with?
People who have done your job. Our consultants came from campus IT, with some from institutional research, before they worked here. Support is in-house, with no outsourced agents.
How long does implementation take?
It depends on your environment and how much you want running on day one, so it varies from one institution to the next. The Colleague Starter Pack and the CO-OP library give you a running start. Professional Services scopes it with you.
Can we talk to a Colleague institution using this?
Yes. Ask and we will connect you with a reference customer in a comparable environment.
Does this help with IPEDS and state reporting?
Yes. IPEDS, state submissions, and census reporting, as fixed-width and delimited extracts formatted to agency specification, scheduled delivery, and cohort definitions that run the same way year over year.
What does it cost?
Licensing is per institution rather than per user, and price is driven by institution size and product mix rather than headcount. Argos, Argos X, FormFusion, and IntelleCheck all carry unlimited users and unlimited connections, with no per-connection or per-report charge and nothing billed for people who only read reports. The one exception is Argos Data Agent Advanced, which is licensed per seat. Data Agent Core is unlimited.
Next step
See it running against Colleague.
Reports, dashboards, and applications for every office, from the team you already have, on-premises or in Colleague SaaS.
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