2023 AIRUM Annual Conference Detailed Schedule

11:00 am – 5:00 pm

Conference Registration Open

12:00 – 2:00 pm

Welcome &
Hands-on Workshops

Power BI Workshop

Have you been wanting to learn Power BI?  Join us for a 2-hour session with a little bit of background on what you and your users need for Power BI and a little hands-on work bringing Excel data into Power BI with data transformations, DAX, and data visualization. 
*Attendees must have Power BI installed on their laptops prior to attending this session.  A dataset will be provided at the beginning of the workshop

Tableau Workshop

An introduction to Tableau for beginners or those who are just curious and some tips and tricks for those with a bit more experience.

Link to Presentation Info:
Intro to Tableau

2:00 – 2:15 pm

Break

2:15 – 3:05 pm

Concurrent Sessions

Newcomer Session

Is this your first time attending AIRUM’s Annual Conference or are you in a new IR/IE role at your institution? This session highlights the basics of IR/IE, member benefits for both AIR and AIRUM, and how you can best navigate this conference to support your institution’s IR/IE efforts and network with others

Optimize to Maximize: Leveraging SAS for Financial Aid & Enrollment Wins

In a rapidly evolving academic environment, optimizing financial aid has emerged as a pivotal strategy to enhance student enrollment. This presentation delves into the art and science of financial aid optimization, highlighting its profound impact on attracting and retaining students. Explore the nexus of data analytics and financial assistance, and discover how tailored aid packages can revolutionize enrollment outcomes.

Impact of Federal Needs Change on Minnesota Students

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) Simplification Act implements significant changes to the federal financial aid process, including replacing the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) calculation with a Student Aid Index (SAI) to determine financial need. This session explores how the changing methodology impacts Pell Grant eligibility and affects state student aid programs in Minnesota.

3:05 – 3:15 pm

Break

3:15 – 4:05 pm

Concurrent Sessions

Out-of-State Tuition Premiums at Public Four-Year Institutions: Trends and Impacts

This presentation examines the current trends and impact of out-of-state tuition premiums at public four-year institutions in the Midwest and U.S. Various approaches to reducing out-of-state tuition premiums are described, and past research on the effects of tuition premiums on student enrollment and institutional finances is summarized. Policy considerations for setting tuition rates for out-of-state students are discussed.

Sustaining a Routine Student Survey Initiative with Limited Resources

This presentation is on the 'We Are Listening' initiative at Bemidji State University which administers short surveys to students throughout the academic year. We summarize adaptations that we made to keep the initiative going at BSU as we experienced reduced staffing. These adaptations include leveraging undergraduate research assistants, engaging campus partners, and using generative AI models to draft preliminary items.

Excel Tables and Pivots

During this session, you will learn the powerful yet easy tool of using the Table feature to filter your data and then turn on a total row that will analyze your data automatically by providing built-in sum, average, and count functions. Then, learn about how Excel Pivot Tables quickly summarize, analyze, and chart your data.

Files needed for session:
Excel Tables and PivotTables
Excel Exercise File 2023
Mock Data - AIRUM 2023 Conference

4:05 – 4:15

Break

4:15 – 5:05 pm

Concurrent Sessions

Where do we go from here? SCOTUS rulings, DEI Legislation, and Institutional Research

Join us for a conversation related to the proliferation of DEI legislation around the country and its potential impact on Institutional Research. The conversation will focus on what the latest SCOTUS and other rulings may mean for institutions especially from a data, compliance, and accreditation perspective as institutions continue to strive towards institutional and student success.

Excel Intermediate

Our Excel intermediate session will build on your current Excel skills. This hands-on session will focus on Excel functions, IFS statements, VLOOKUPs vs XLOOKUPs, and date/time functions. We will also cover list management including creating tables, sorting, filtering, and utilizing a Total Row and how to use subtotals. Lastly, we will discuss creating chart templates, protecting your files and worksheets, and how data validation can ensure your data is entered correctly. Null values and how to calculate with those.

Files needed for session:
Excel Intermediate 365
Excel Exercise File 2023
Mock Data - AIRUM 2023 Conference

5:15 – 7:00 pm

Social Gathering/Networking

7:30 am – 12:00 pm

Conference Registration Open

7:45 – 8:45 am

Breakfast Buffet

8:45 – 9:35 am

Concurrent Sessions

Success and the Student Life Cycle: A Program Review Dashboard

One exciting creation resulting from our Program Review process is a Power BI dashboard that displays an overview of the student life cycle within a program, from entry to employment, giving viewers a 60-second snapshot. This dashboard serves three purposes: deliver just-in-time data that informs immediate student outreach, monitor the success of students, make progress towards our racial equity goals.

Access to Success: Evaluating a One-to-One Technology Program at a Rural Technical College

At a small, rural technical college, lack of digital access was a barrier adversely affecting student success. To address the issue, a one-to-one laptop program emphasizing technical support was implemented in Fall 2020. This presentation describes the quantitative evaluation of this program, finding the program improved student success and reduced outcome equity gaps among eligible students.

Data Privacy with an IR Lens

Data is an asset for colleges. All assets should be protected, however the failure to use and share data when appropriate can also cause harm. Learn how to better protect and use your data in your IR role. This session will cover data privacy and sharing basics, how to be a good data steward, and privacy management techniques.

9:35 – 10:00 am

Break

10:00 am – 12:00 pm

Keynote Panel:

Dr. Kristina Keller, Dr. Tom Halvorson, and Dr. Priyank Shah

Data Democratization: Empowering Through Access and Transparency

12:00 – 1:30 pm

Lunch

1:30 – 2:20 pm

Concurrent Sessions

Modeling Post-Collegiate Outcomes of Students from Rural/Urban Backgrounds: Exploring Wage Parity in Minnesota

The rural-urban gap in college attainment, especially for those from lower income backgrounds, is growing. As part of the University of Minnesota Post-Collegiate Outcomes Project, this study utilized the parametrized covariance regression modeling to explore the earnings of the UofM baccalaureate alumni from rural and urban backgrounds. Results demonstrated the impact of students’ socioeconomic status on wage parity in Minnesota.

Small Surveys, Big Impact: How Student Voices Shape Continuous Improvement at Western Technical College’s Annual Data Summit

Inspired at AIRUM last year, Western implemented monthly mini surveys, collecting data on student mental health, resource utilization, preferences, and more. Learn how the student voice data collected through short surveys was used to fuel continuous improvement, enable data-driven decision making, and foster an inclusive and responsive learning environment. Get tips on developing impactful surveys and creating engaging data presentations.

Using Information System to Help Improve Student Success

In addition to satisfying requirements from various accrediting bodies and government agencies, higher education institutions must provide services to help students achieve their goals and experience success. This presentation will focus on research conducted to identify discrete student success indicators, including how the information system could be used to support an institution’s efforts to improve student success.

2:20 – 2:30 pm

Break

2:30 – 3:20 pm

Concurrent Sessions

Examining Equity Gaps in Completion Rates Among Transfer Students

Given equity gaps in completion rates for students who start at a community college and transfer to a four-year, we were surprised to see evidence on a dashboard showing consistently smaller equity gaps among transfer students compared to new freshman at universities.  Thinking this data might be an outlier, we examined similar data within Minnesota State and will present findings.

Transforming Course Evaluation from Historical Record to Real-Time Action

Understanding students’ classroom experience is critical to higher education institutions. Walden’s Office of Institutional Effectiveness has led a multi-year transformation process to move from manual survey management, multiple course evaluation tools, and quarterly reports in Excel to automated survey management, a refocused and revised student evaluation of learning and teaching, and dynamic dashboards through Qualtrics.

A Year of Data Snapshots – How We Got Started

Technically-focused information on how we went from manually comparing weekly enrollment and admissions information from spreadsheets to a) gathering and loading that historical data into databases; b) automatically capturing that data daily, and c) creating and using tableau dashboards to compare the year-over-year data.

3:20 – 3:30 pm

Break

3:30 – 4:30 pm

AIRUM Updates

Please join us for the AIRUM Annual Business Meeting. We will share updates, opportunities for involvement, draw for door prizes, and more.

4:30 – 7:00 pm

Social Gathering/Networking

7:30 – 8:00 am

Coffee/Beverage Service

8:00 – 8:50 am

Concurrent Sessions

The Art of Untangling Course Placement

Explore Minnesota State's diverse course placement methods (assessment tests, GPA, guided self-placement) between FY 2020-2022. Learn how challenges, including pandemic disruptions and faculty feedback, influenced data analysis and interpretations. Discover effective strategies for communicating findings to ensure transparency and consistent understanding of student success and equity.

In Their Own Words – Capturing student experiences through surveys and interviews

This presentation synthesizes insights from student experiences at Minneapolis College. Students’ perspectives were gathered from several sources: one-on-one interviews; a national campus climate survey, and two internal student surveys. We will share four common themes triangulated from these sources: awareness and use of student services and supports, breakdowns in institutional communication, racialized experiences on and around campus, and competing priorities.

SLEDS for Post-Secondary Use

This will be an overview of the SLEDS reports available for Post-Secondary Institutions including a look at the new Transfer Reports.

8:50 – 9:50 am

Breakfast Buffet

9:50 – 10:40 am

Concurrent Sessions

Thriving in Institutional Research: Easy Wins, Career Growth, and Success

This presentation will provide practical tips for new and veteran Institutional Researchers (IR). New employees will learn to achieve quick wins by building knowledge, streamlining processes, and utilizing resources effectively. Veteran employees will explore long-term success strategies, such as professional development, networking, and personal brand building. Resiliency and adaptability are keys to thriving in institutional research.

Using Machine Learning in Retention Modeling

Learn how the University of Mary utilizes Machine Learning to identify at-risk students, reports those students using Power BI, and leverages Jenzabar’s Early Alert system to track student interventions.

Capitalizing on Institutional Effectiveness Synergies to Rapidly Develop an Interim Strategic Plan

At the direction of the Board of Trustees and University’s President, improvements in strategic planning processes and materials were needed to facilitate several high-level leadership transitions and begin to re-establish a culture of planning. Establishing an institutional effectiveness office by cross-pollinating strategic planning, institutional research, analytics, accreditation, and assessment allowed for accelerated and effective work in meeting this critical challenge.

10:40 – 10:50 am

Break

10:50 – 11:40 am

Concurrent Sessions

What is Minnesota doing? New admission and free college programs and the impact they may have on border states

The Minnesota Office of Higher Education will present on two new programs: Direct Admissions (guaranteed admissions for high school seniors) and NorthStar Promise (free college for students from families with less than $80,000 AGI). Staff will present program basics, evaluation plans, initial results, and other aspects you should be aware of as the programs may impact your institution or state.

Data Visualization

Proper data visualization is key when building reports whether using Excel, Power BI, or other tools. Picking the right visuals conveys the message that data carries. Knowing what visuals to avoid and what visuals to favor ensures the customer utilizes the data.

Bridging from Data to Equity-Focused Action

The work of IE does not end once the data and reports have been passed on. This session will discuss how well positioned IE is to build an institutional bridge between data and action. Specific strategies, suggested structure, and lessons learned will be shared.

11:40 am – 12:00 pm

Closing Remarks