Data-Driven Decision-Making Practices

This study aimed to address the state of data driven decision practices within the Division of Student Affairs at South County College. Framed by an exploratory qualitative case study, this project conducted semi-structured interviews of directors of student affairs and a document analysis of annual reports of the seven departments that constitute the Division. This exploratory case study set out to investigate how the departments within the Division define data, the practices and use of data, and the challenges that faced when managing data. The results from this study reported that participants defined data by the source's name, platform's name or simply the name of the office from where they retrieve the data. Participants also highlighted the important role data plays in their department's ability to identify and attend to students' needs. This approach connects with the findings on how student affairs personnel use data, the use of data to make improvement in their services and operations offered to students, and to inform their supervisors, leadership, and the college community about their departments' accomplishments and advances of their goals. When addressing participants' challenges on managing data, access to data is the major challenge emphasized by participants. This challenge of accessibility to data is described in two ways: more data access for staff and colleagues; and more communication about data availability. In addition, availability of data training is another challenge identified by participants. When talking about what type of training or data literacy is needed, their perception varies upon their experience and contact with data. Accordingly, this study proposes a series of recommendations to support continuous improvement of data practices within the Division of Student Affairs. These recommendations are: enhance data processes and procedures for data access, expand data literacy training, and improve communication and collaboration among the different colleges' stakeholders.