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Opinion
Institutional Intelligence
Applying business intelligence principles to higher education
4/11/2007
National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) has issued guidelines related to the issues raised by SOX. Though not directly impacted by Sarbanes-Oxley, institutions must still attend to issues such as auditor independence, corporate responsibility, enhanced financial disclosures, accountability, and certification of financial results.Beyond these general needs that apply to virtually every institution are issues and needs unique to various kinds of institutions. R1 universities have specific demands and requirements. Those with medical schools have special demands in compliance and many other areas. State regulated institutions, land grant schools, community colleges, parochial schools, and multi-campus schools all have divergent needs.
The Challenge of Institutional Intelligence
Why, then, the low rate of adoption? With the need so great, what is it that prevents most colleges and universities from embracing the concepts of business intelligence and implementing institutional intelligence programs? Scope and complexity are certainly barriers to entry. To simultaneously address needs of academics, administration, municipality, hospitality, compliance, etc. seems an overwhelming effort. Yet institutions know well the disciplines of incremental implementation--the practice of starting small and growing systematically.
Beyond scope and complexity lie challenges that are unique effects of the institutional culture and environment in which BI principles must be adopted and adapted to become institutional intelligence. Four key areas where institutional intelligence is distinguished from business intelligence are:
• Variable metrics and measures. A typical business has relatively stable key performance indicators and essential business metrics. A higher education institution experiences virtually unlimited variation in metrics of success.
• Volatile goals and strategies. Business cultures routinely have continuity and clarity of goals and strategies that are achieved through directed agenda setting for the business. An institutional culture typically works with distributed agenda setting, resulting in multiple, overlapping, and constantly evolving goals and strategies.
• Shifting subjects of information. Where a typical business has relatively stable customers and markets, students, faculty, and academic environments change continuously.
• Unpredictable information consumers. A mature BI program is able to optimize for known communities of interest with relatively predictable information and problem-solving needs. Higher education communities are diverse and volatile with ever-changing questions and problem-solving needs.
These are certainly not the only challenges an institutional intelligence program will face. There are sure to be more in many domains: economic, cultural, political, and technological. Yet this represents a road already traveled--issues faced by every business that has implemented a BI program. The problems are known and the solutions are found in BI best practices.
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