Data-informed decision-making: designing a decision support system for college leadership

Abstract

Having access to accurate and reliable data is essential in decision-making. A wealth of data is spread across the University of Delaware (UD). These data include, but are not limited to, financial information, budget information, student enrollment, credit hours taught, and numerous metrics about faculty, staff, and sponsored programs. These data are mined from various resources on campus, including PeopleSoft, Cognos, the Central Analytics Platform, and individual data sets kept on administrator computers. In the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) at UD, the dean, chairs, and directors of college departments often lack convenient access to consistent and reliable metrics related to faculty, staff, students, sponsored programs, and finances to aid in their decision making or answer general inquiries. If leaders can have more convenient access to these data, combined with their professional judgment, experience, and theory, they may be able to make more informed decisions for their units. ☐ This Education Leadership Portfolio (ELP) provides an evidence-based solution in the design, development, and deployment of a decision support system (DSS) solution to address the problem of access to data to inform decision-making. To develop a solution to the identified problem, surveys and interviews were conducted to understand end-user needs. Results of the research conducted for this ELP suggest that CEHD leaders want and need access to data. The research also suggested that a DSS is a desired approach to getting access to data. Using those data, the first version of the CEHD decision support system (CEHD-DSS) was designed, developed, and deployed as a case study. Materials including a CEHD-DSS User Manual, a Budget Support Handbook, a data inventory, and a frequently asked questions document were developed to provide users with resources to navigate and use the data provided by the CEHD-DSS.