Managing and connecting data within universities
In her recent article for HEPI, Dr Helena Lim discusses the need for ‘Seeing the Whole Elephant’ within UK higher education.
Within universities in the UK, the collection of data is regular and routine. Whether information is gathered from students, collected from programmes or measured by outcomes, individual institutions hold a wealth of data about almost every aspect of the university.
Dr Helena Lim, Academic Lead and Head of Opportunities
However, it is often the case that data exists within departmental silos, meaning that connecting the dots and analysing data from an institutional perspective can be tricky.
In her latest article for the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI), our Academic Lead and Head of Opportunities, Dr Helena Lim, discusses the need for ‘Seeing the Whole Elephant’ within UK higher education.
Why joined-up data matters more than ever for UK universities
Using the classic story of the blind men and the elephant as the anchor for her article, Helena likens the parable to the current state of data within many UK higher education institutions.
The fragmented approach of holding data in different departments without institutional oversight prevents universities from seeing the entire picture and making informed decisions.
In her HEPI article, Helena outlines the cost of disconnected data, the importance of context and data linking and the challenges that can make an institutional approach more difficult to implement. Also included are case studies from two UK universities – Teesside and Middlesex – both of which outline successful approaches to connecting data with positive results.
You can read the full article here.
