Building a Decision Support Culture - An Introduction

Jun 30

The Value of Knowing: A Newsletter for the Higher Education Community

Issue #1

August 2024

Introduction

Welcome to the inaugural issue of The Value of Knowing, a newsletter series focused on enhancing decision support culture in higher education. With nearly 25 years of experience on college campuses and more than six years as a higher education consultant, I have had the privilege of witnessing the transformative power of informed decision-making as well as experience the troubling outcomes of uninformed decision-making. This series is designed for college and university professionals who are in a position to leverage information and analytics to support mission priorities in alignment with available resources. In this first issue, I will introduce myself, my background in higher education, and two high-level approaches to building a robust decision support system at your institution. Whether you rely on internal resources or seek external consultancy support, the goal is to enable effective, data-informed decisions that align with institutional mission and the community being served.

A Career Built on Decision Support in Higher Education

I began my professional journey outside the academic world, first as a US Army Infantryman flowed by a position in consumer finance; however, higher education quickly became my career focus given the positive impact it had on me as a student. Over 25 years, I have held various roles across two- and four-year institutions, private and public colleges, and have served as a teacher, researcher, and executive along the way. My passion has always been focused on using data to empower administrators and faculty to make well-informed, mission-aligned decisions. After 2 ½ decades on college campuses, I transitioned to higher education consulting. During this time, I have worked with more than 60 institutions—ranging from rural community colleges to urban R1 universities. During this time, I developed more than 40 academic cost models requiring the integration of data elements across key functional areas such as finance, human resources, enrollment management, curriculum, etc. Further, I led nearly two-dozen financial assessments, organizational redesigns, administrative improvement projects that directly contribute to aligning finite resources with academic quality and student outcomes.

A Blended Approach to Building a Decision Support Culture

These experiences have demonstrated to me that there are two common approaches institutions employ to solve problems which are often exacerbated by underdeveloped information sources.

Internal Development: Leveraging the talent already present within your institution, the internal approach focuses on empowering staff to effectively align and utilize available data and tools. This method can lead to sustainable practices as staff develop institutional knowledge and become deeply invested in the outcomes. However, it often requires significant investment in training, data management, and change leadership.
External Consultant Support: Collaborating with a consultant brings specialized expertise and an outside perspective. Consultants can help identify gaps, share benchmarks from other institutions, and provide examples of best practices. However, successful outcomes require careful management, ensuring institutional leadership is able to articulate exactly what they need, the final deliverable, and what they intend to do with this information once they receive it.

In the coming newsletters, I will dive deeper into the benefits and challenges of employing these strategies by emphasizing a blended approach (internal and external) focused on clearly defined outcomes. Done correctly, this approach will ensure consultant efforts are supportive in nature and do not replace the decision-making responsibilities of institutional leadership. From a personal perspective, I would go as far as to say a consultant’s role should be to organize institutional data into insightful information and support leadership in developing a trusted, accessible, and sustainable decision support structure to be used for internal purposes.

Real-World Example: Bridging Internal and External Expertise

During my time as a consultant, I found that the best results are achieved when institutions carefully balance internal expertise with external support. For example, one university I worked with was struggling to align its budget with academic goals. The administration knew they had the data, but lacked a clear framework to use it effectively. By partnering with a consultant, they were able to organize and identify key academic and financial drivers, but it was the internal team that was able to contextualize this information and implement a practical solution, encouraging long-term sustainability and reducing reliance on expensive external solutions.

Closing Section

I hope you found this introduction to my background and the approaches to building decision support helpful. Whether you are looking to strengthen internal capabilities or considering external consulting, my goal is to offer practical insights that help higher education institutions thrive.

Upcoming Topic Preview

In the next issue of The Value of Knowing, we will explore The Value of Integration: Informed Decision-Making in Higher Ed and why it is essential for fostering transparency, collaboration, and informed decision-making in higher education. This newsletter will dive into the importance of integrating data from across campus—including curriculum delivery, faculty effort, human resources, finances, and enrollment management. By creating a holistic decision support system, institutions can break down silos, empower stakeholders, and ensure that decisions are aligned with institutional priorities. As colleges and universities face increasingly complex challenges, building a culture of transparency and data-driven decision-making will be vital for long-term success. Be sure to stay tuned for actionable insights and real-world examples that can help your institution navigate these challenges effectively.

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Mike Cogan