Enterprise Data & Analytics

The Enterprise Data & Analytics service is offered for the entire data and analytics platform, including Stevens’ data warehouse, core data integrations, and centralized business intelligence and analytics toolset to support the operational needs of administrative and academic units as well as data-driven strategic decision making for the University.

General Information

Stevens’ data warehouse allows for a centralized and managed collection of data from various enterprise information systems across different functional areas. This data can be cleansed, aggregated, and curated as needed for different uses and made available either directly, via system integration, or through business intelligence tools depending on the requirement. This also allows the data to be made accessible to users for querying, analysis, and reporting with proper access controls in place.

Data Collections

• Students: The student collection includes admissions data (Slate Undergraduate and Slate Graduate), current and legacy system (SIS) census snapshot data, PowerFAIDS financial aid data, and several data sets from Workday Student and legacy SIS, including matriculation, student records, enrollment, and degree conferral data.
• Legacy Student Information: A snapshot of all records from the legacy student system (SIS), captured after the system was taken offline, has been archived in the data warehouse.
• Personnel: Workday HCM data and Workday faculty appointment, tenure, and demographic data are available in the personnel collection.
• Faculty: The warehouse holds current faculty assessment and course evaluation data from the AEFIS system and archived assessment data from ACE. This collection also features faculty achievements and activities from Watermark Faculty Success.
• Learning Management: Select data sets from the Canvas learning management system are available in the data warehouse, with the full data set available for reporting on request.
• Development & Alumni Engagement: This collection features alumni and donor giving data from the Raiser’s Edge system.
• Financial: University financial accounting and reconciliation data is available from the Kuali Financials system.
• Research: This collection includes research proposals, awards, and expenditures, as well as faculty publication data (publications, citations, and h-index). Proposals and awards are sourced from Coeus and expenditures are sourced from the Kuali Financials system.
• IPEDS: Historical data is available to aid with census reporting and comparative analysis.

Technical Architecture

The data and analytics platform is built on a cloud data warehouse, uses cloud data integration and data modeling tools as well as serverless computing, and utilizes cloud business intelligence and analytical tools.

General Information

Power BI is the primary tool offered for reporting, analytics, and business intelligence. It is also the tool used to deliver the majority of analytics and BI solutions to the campus. Tableau is also an option for users who specifically require it and is available to faculty and staff for a cost, but usage of Power BI instead is both recommended and encouraged.

Power BI Access

Power BI Pro is available to all faculty and staff at no cost. Power BI Free is available to all students at no cost. Power BI can be accessed by going to https://app.powerbi.com, or by clicking the Power BI icon in the Apps list when signed into Microsoft 365. The desktop version of Power BI is also available for Windows through the Microsoft Store. No additional action is necessary to request access to Power BI.

Power BI Help & FAQs

There are several resources to help you with using Power BI.
• General help and support: https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/support
• Documentation: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi
• Community: https://community.powerbi.com

Tableau Access

Tableau is available to faculty and staff for a cost. For licensing information and to inquire about getting access place a request at support.stevens.edu.

Other Tools

Users who have received direct access to the data warehouse may employ other tools such as Tableau and are free to use these tools with their own data sets outside of the warehouse, but are advised to consult the Data & Analytics team first.

Access Request

To request access to a data collection in the warehouse or access to data currently being delivered through a dashboard, open a ticket at support.stevens.edu.

Approval Process

Access to data is governed by all applicable data and information security policies. Requests for access to data collections and dashboards will be sent for approval by the particular data owner of the associated data collection or dashboard.

To request the creation of a new data collection or the inclusion of additional data to an existing data collection, or to request the creation of a new analytics, dashboard, or reporting solution, open a ticket at support.stevens.edu. Complex requests may require the submission of a project request and are subject to approval and resource availability. More information can be found on the IT Project Management page.

Support

General support and troubleshooting is available by placing a request at support.stevens.edu. The Data & Analytics team provides consultative services upon request and as availability permits.

Training

Free training for Power BI is available through the Microsoft Learn site. The Data & Analytics team provides customized consultative training on specific data warehouse and business intelligence topics upon request and as availability permits.

Users who have access to the data warehouse and related BI solutions have a responsibility to safeguard that data and are entrusted to ensure confidentiality. As a general rule, data in the warehouse and accessed via dashboards and reports should not be shared with others except for those with a “legitimate need to know.” Authorized users have access specifically granted to the data and information they need as per prior approval. Other users requiring access to data should make a request to gain the appropriate access.

All applicable data and information security policies can be viewed on the IT Governance, Policy & Standards page.

Proper oversight of the key aspects of the data in the warehouse, including data standards, data definitions, and data access rights are crucial to maintain integrity and security. This oversight will be provided by a data governance working group which will be formed and include representatives from units across the University, including data owners and data stewards.