Certification: IPEDS Fall Enrollment Report

This article provides historical information regarding the 2021 Data Governance project focused on the validation of the accuracy of the IPEDS Fall Enrollment Report.

Detailed Information

Issue Summary 

  1. Piloted the certification process from Phase I on the IPEDS Student Report for fall enrollment
  2. Created validation criteria and a documentation structure to ensure comprehensive review and transparency into review findings
  3. Readjusted the process as necessary and implemented for all new reports
  4. Identified existing reports for potential certification

July 2021 Proposal Forum

Resources

IPEDS Fall Enrollment Report Pilot Proposal

Proposal Forum Presentation Slides 

Proposal Summary

This proposal puts forth a pilot certified report: the IPEDS Student report has been moved from SQR to Power BI, and the data sources and calculations have been meticulously reviewed by Institutional Research professionals and IT data experts. The new report is the IPEDS Fall Enrollment Report, for which certification is sought. 

Through this pilot, we are also proposing revisions to the information required on the Certification page for reports, and proposing the usage of a draft validation worksheet used for this first pilot certification.

Background

The UMS publishes a number of centralized, standard reports each year, ranging from student profiles on census day, to workforce profiles, and financial statements. Some of these reports have been developed recently, but others are based on requirements gathered many years ago while definitions and coding may have changed. The goal of Report Certification is to conduct detailed reviews of UMS standard reports, make modifications to reports if inaccuracies or miscalculations are identified, and document & explain any inaccuracies that cannot be corrected.

Solution & Next Steps 

  • The SQR was moved to a Power BI report which does the analysis for the viewer.
    • Categories reflect IPEDS categories specifically
    • You can see info for your institution based on roles
    • Inaccuracies from SQR were identified and corrected for this report
  • Work accomplished:
    • Reviewed SQR data, definitions, sources and calculations
    • Created Power BI report 
    • Performed validation
    • Documented report
    • Recommended and made modifications
  • Pilot Recommendations
    • This report is ready to be considered Certified
    • The process by which it was certified is ready for broad usage
      • Validation worksheet was updated and should be reviewed regularly

Comments & Questions

  • Will we be certifying PeopleSoft queries?
    • We may certify as we move queries & reports to Power BI, but there is no set plan. We also have no way to identify which queries would be best to choose for certification.
  • Will all query writers move to PBI?
    • We do not have enough data available yet for everyone to work in PBI.
  • What will be the process for maintaining certification?
    • The reports are currently owned by the UMS and are in the care of DSIT. That will be a question for moving forward.
  • Will this report be available publicly?
    • Not currently. Rachel will check back with the group.

Resources & Research

Related Links

Strategic Goals Addressed

Data informs a diverse group of strategic decisions made by the UMS to achieve recruitment, retention and achievement of its students, as well as community development and research. In order to provide enhanced data use, reporting and security, the UMS is working to create a certification process for validating reports, datasets and data marts. Although not specified in the links below, data—and it's proper usage through accurate classification and validation—is a foundational element of all of them.

Implementation Plan

Audience

  • System-Wide
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