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May 23, 2011

Dimensional Enrollment Data

We have recently release a tool that allows one to create a custom pivot table for our enrollment data. This allows each of the nine dimensions, Term, Campus, College, Level, Class, Ethnic Group, Gender, FT/PT Status and Registration Status to be shown in many different ways, at the same time, on a table. This can answer common multi-dimensional questions our Official Enrollment reports cannot, for example, viewing the enrollment Gender by Ethnicity.

How this works
Under our student data page, you will see the link to the Fall Student Enrollment Pivot Reports. That link will bring you to the index page. We have provided two commonly asked reports, Gender over Ethnicity by Term, Campus, College and Ethnicity over Registration Status by Term, Campus, College, Level. On the right, you see a link to Build your own table..., this will bring you to the tool. Once there, you are able to drag and drop the dimensions to appear as a filter, column header or appear per row.

The first release of this tool used an older JavaScript library, so the drag and drop functionality was inconsistent and quirky. The old library has been replaced by the latest industry standard and should behave consistently across browsers and platforms. Mobile users will have to use the pre-build reports as the drag and drop functionality does not work on a non-traditional browser.

How do I see "All Campuses" or "All College" for a campus?
In this case, you would simply exclude the Dimension for which you want to see "All". For example, to see All Campuses enrollment by Gender and Ethnicity, pick "Term" for a filter, "Gender" for the column and "Ethnic Group" for the rows.

How does the drag and drop interface work?
A demonstration video is provided on the report page. The demo is based on the non-upgraded drag and drop framework for the HR Headcount reports, but the remains mostly relevant.

May 16, 2011

Mapping Student Data

On May 11th, we released a new version of our enrollment map and a map showing our students studying abroad. This release was developed because we purchased a mapping package from the provider of our charting package to replace Google maps. The big change this mapping software allowed was easily rendering Minnesota Counties, intensity mapping based upon numeric input and easy mouse-over popup showing data per location (e.g. How many students come from Hennepin county). The end result was a more usable map.

Enrollment Mapped by Home Location
Not only did the mapping tool change for this report, but we also changed how we report the data. Since the Minnesota county data was always skewed towards the largest counties, we decided to normalize the data by finding the ratio of students per total residents in each location. Since our enrollment varies by year, we utilized the census estimiates site to find the estimated population of each county, state and country per year, to match. The end result shows the impact of each institution on the local community as opposed to the raw numbers.

umntc_all_fall2010.png
Twin Cities - Fall 2010 Enrollment


umndl_all_fall2010.png
Duluth - Fall 2010 Enrollment


umnmo_all_fall2010.png
Morris - Fall 2010 Enrollment


As you can see in the images above, the coordinate counties near the coordinate campuses are impacted more strongly that the metro area, while the Twin Cities students impacts the metro area. Without normalizing the data, Hennepin and Ramsey county dominate the maps, as they are the two largest counties in the state, containing almost 2/5 of the state population.

University of Minnesota: Students Studying Abroad
This map below shows the number of University students participating in study programs in each country for a given Academic Year and Campus. Since we aren't as concerned about the population, the intensity map shows the raw data.

umntc_students_abroad_ay2009.png
Twin Cities - Students Abroad 2009-10


May 11, 2011

Site Update 5/11/2011

This morning we have released two new reports and enhanced the functionality of two reports.

New Reports
Fall Student Enrollment Pivot Reports: This tool brings the drag and drop functionality and ability to cross variables to the enrollment data. We have released the past three Fall terms, but for the next term, we will release the previous five Fall enrollment numbers on the tool, Fall 2007-Fall 2011. This release is coupled with an improvement to the drag and drop interface.

Students Studying Abroad: This report using the DW Education Abroad system to show the number of University students participating in study programs in each country for a given Academic Year and Campus.

Enhanced Reports
Fall Enrollment Map: The Enrollment data is now split into county, state and country level intensity maps, as well as normalized by the population of the counties.

HR Employee Count: The improvements made to the drag and drop interface for the Fall Enrollment also applies to the HR Employee count reports.

A detailed explanation of each of the reports will be released in the coming weeks.