Reporting Conversations Recap

Since July 2023, we have met with the Division of Extended Studies, School of Social Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, School of Physical Sciences, the Rady School of Management, School of Arts and Humanities, Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the School of Global Policy and Strategy to discuss the future state of reporting. These engagements focused on the remediation process and associated responsibilities, the changes that will come and a request to gather a list of reports that each individual school and unit uses so we can discuss next steps. 

Each group asked important questions about the reporting changes and gave thoughtful feedback for the team to consider. Here are some of the themes we heard and discussed.

Report Developers and Report Consumers

During our discussions with reporting stakeholders, it has become apparent that a significant number of people find themselves in a position where the two roles of report developers and report consumers overlap, what we are referring to as the "advanced consumer" role. However, it is important to know that this advanced consumer role will not exist in the future state. Therefore, a crucial part of this report remediation project involves identifying the specific role that these individuals will assume in the future: developer or consumer.

Although it may initially seem that anyone who gets tasked with creating any specific reporting requests should automatically assume the role of report developer, the reality is far more complex. This role requires a unique set of knowledge and experience, including understanding how data reflects real-life situations and how it maps to specific data structures. Additionally, report developers must have domain-specific knowledge and be skilled in creating dashboards and manipulating data using Business Intelligence (BI) tools.

Report developers will need to request access to the data they wish to have access to for building student data reports, which goes through a review and approval process and may require additional training. They will also assume new responsibilities of granting access to reports through folders and Active Directory (AD) groups moving forward, which means they are responsible for ensuring the consumer is allowed to have access to the student data in the report. Given the complexity of this role, it is important for the project team to work closely with individual groups to clarify roles and responsibilities for all those involved in student reporting.

Centralized Student Reporting Team

We have also received questions about what would happen if their group does not currently have dedicated report developers or if there is a plan to create a specialized team that will be responsible for creating new student data reports, similar to the Business and Financial Services (BFS) reporting team that builds reports for the Finance Activity Hub. Our team is currently engaged in discussions with university leadership and project governance to determine whether the creation of a centralized reporting group would be appropriate for the student area. This is one of our top priorities and we will keep stakeholders informed on what is decided. 

Ad-hoc Reporting Requests

Stakeholders have communicated that it is imperative to maintain the ability to accommodate ad-hoc reporting requests in the future, especially in light of the evolving roles. We understand the importance of ad-hoc reporting for our stakeholders, and how this will be handled in the future state will depend on whether there will be a centralized student reporting team, as well as other variables, such as the roles that advanced consumers take going forward. We will be sure to keep our stakeholders updated on this piece as we learn more. 

Other Data Systems

Some stakeholders have also expressed concerns regarding reports they use that rely on data from sources other than the Data Warehouse or Activity Hub. It is not unusual for groups to maintain records in spreadsheets or other homegrown data systems to meet their reporting needs due to ISIS limitations. We are working with the owners of these databases to find a new home for the data or ensure it is included in the Student Activity Hub (SAH), depending on the capabilities of the newly selected Student Information System. 

We thank each of the groups we have met with for staying engaged with us. We know that in order for this project to be successful, we must collaborate with all reporting stakeholders to ensure their needs are addressed. We are excited to continue meeting with each of these groups as we move forward through the remediation process. 

If you or your team are involved in creating or using student data reports and haven’t heard from us yet, please reach out! We understand each group may have unique reporting needs that we would like to review with you and ensure we have a plan in place. Please email us at esr-student@ucsd.edu to set up some time for us to meet to discuss the project in further detail.