How is analytics different than reporting?
ANSWER: According to the recent thought leadership work by EDUCAUSE , Association for Institutional Research (AIR), and National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) that brought together three of the largest higher education professional associations
to push for analytic maturity, (https://changewithanalytics.com/statement/) analytics are broader than just simple reporting. Analytics is the use of data, statistical
analysis, and explanatory and predictive models to gain insight and act on complex
issues. Whereas reporting is focused on helping to understand what happened in the
past (and in many cases users are powerless to change what has happened) analytics
focuses on helping to understand why something happened so that we can help to shape
the best possible future for our organization and the people who work in it. Davenport
& Harris, 2007 posit the following crosswalk to understand the differences between
analytics and reporting and the level of maturity that is needed within an organization's
analytic program to compete - note: these are in ascending order from the lowest level
of maturity to the highest level of analytical maturity. 1) Standard Reports - What
Happened?, 2) Ad Hoc Reports - How many, how often, where?, 3) Query/Drill Down -
What Exactly is the Problem?, 4) Alerts - What Actions are Needed?, 5) Statistical
Analysis - Why is This Happening?, 6) Forecasting - What if Trends Continue?, 7) Predictive
Modeling - What Will Happen Next?, 8) Optimization - What is the Best That Can Happen?
How did UNT choose to go down this path?
ANSWER: The University of North Texas (UNT) recognized the strategic value of data
early on. Our executive sponsor and president, Dr. Neal Smatresk, was and remains
passionate about the use of data to help transform institutions of higher education.
His vision and commitment of resources in 2015 truly jumpstarted the program that
exists today, the UNT Insights Program. With the collaborative support of our IT partners,
we embarked on the journey to modernize our approach to data, analytics, and information
resources. Our initial goals were to respond to three mission-critical questions related
to student enrollment, cost, and academic impact. These goals served as guideposts
for decisions along the way.
What benefits has UNT seen already from the program?
ANSWER: The results for UNT have truly begun to speak for themselves. In addition
to earning a CIO 100 award for innovation in technology in 2019, we have enrolled
the largest class in our history and are seeing unprecedented gains in four- and six-year
graduation rates. The ROI from the UNT Insights Program has already covered costs
for the program and then some (ROI was derived from positive gains in funding associated
with record retention rate improvements, outcome funding from our state for graduating
more at-risk students, and the elimination of third-party contracts for services we
can now do in house). The Insights Program has impacted grading practices, strategic
enrollment management, financial aid processes, and the overall Institutional Research
capability. Insights has grown into a trusted source of data and analytics for our
growing community of trained users across the campus. This past fall, our retention
rates saw growth both in first time in college and transfer populations and that is
the ultimate outcome: more students staying on their path to achieve their dream of
a college degree.
What is SAS Business Intelligence?
ANSWER: Insights 2.0 is built upon the SAS Business Intelligence platform. This toolset
leverages high-performance analytic technologies and empowers organizations to explore
huge volumes of data quickly to identify patterns, trends, and opportunities for further
analysis. The highly visual, drag-and-drop data interface of SAS Visual Analytics,
combined with the speed of SAS Cloud Analytic Services (CAS), accelerate analytic
computations and enable organizations to derive value from massive amounts of data.
This creates an unprecedented ability to solve difficult problems, improve business
performance, predict future performance, and mitigate risk rapidly and confidently
Do you require new users to go through training?
ANSWER: Yes! As part of our on-going effort to protect the student and employee information
from evil doers, our team of superheros do everything possible to ensure that all
members of the Insights user community community understand the common expectations
required for leveraging these data and analytic tools.
How long does training take?
ANSWER: Trainings are diverse and the times vary according to the adventure you choose.
Visit the training page to read the descriptions for each training for specifics.
On average trainings last typically from 60-90 minutes.
How often is training offered?
ANSWER: Trainings are continually being scheduled and we want to make it convenient
for our data superheros to enhance their superpowers. Dates and times are advertised
on the Insights Calendar page.
What format can I get trained in?
ANSWER: No two superheros are the same and neither is our training approach! We will
offer trainings online, in-person, or when a user requests the ability to accept the
ultimate challenge of creating their own dashboards in Insights, one-on-one.
What do I need to bring with me to training?
ANSWER: Assuming you already emailed back your user acceptance agreement that was
sent to you in advance of training - nothing! As if you were flying high in an invisible
plane - to the outward observer you would attend Insights training just like any other
UNT meeting. DAIR will provide you with a training laptop in the instance of face-to-face
trainings or share our screen with you in online trainings.
How often do I need to attend training?
ANSWER: We believe in giving our superheroes the ability to choose their own adventures.
Training attendance is based solely on the needs of each user. Given new superpowers
are being produced by the Insights team on a regular basis we would encourage our
users to stay informed of updates on our Teams site (membership is added after you
attend your first training) for options.
Can students get trained?
ANSWER: In most cases no. Insights 2.0 is all about protecting the student, faculty,
and staff information we rely upon. Typically, users need to have an official job
role in HRIS to be deemed able to be trained. The only exception to this rule is student
assistants or federal work study students - in these cases these users would NOT be
given access to Insights.
What types of training does Insights 2.0 offer?
ANSWER: Training ranges on the needs of the superhero. For brand new users we offer
New User training, in the cases of existing users we also offer a refresher training
option, and finally for our super users we have a special training just for them.
Please visit the Training page for specific information.
Roughly, how many trained Insights users are there?
ANSWER: Our ranks are swelling on a regular basis. Come join our superhero community
of over 850 trained Insights users!
What computing policies do I need to agree to as part of the Insights 2.0 community?
ANSWER: In addition to FERPA mentioned above, we do require our data superheros to
abide by the guidelines issues by UNT. Specifically, users are responsible forr their
actions under the following policies: guidelines outlined in Texas Administrative
Code Rule §TAC 202.72 Staff Responsibilities for Information Security Standards for
Institutions of Higher Education; guidelines outlined in the UNT Enterprise ITSS Sensitive
Data Policy Guide found at: https://itss.untsystem.edu/divisions/ets/cws/sensitive-data-policy-guide;
guidelines outlined in the UNT Enterprise ITSS Information Security Handbook found
at: https://itss.untsystem.edu/divisions/mrs/policies. By holding our community accountable
through these expectations our superheros are that much stronger as we strive to do
good with data within a framework of acceptable practice and security expectations.
How do you protect student and employee data?
ANSWER: DAIR is committed to ensuring that student, faculty, staff, and financial
information is secure and safe. In partnership with UNT System Information Security
leadership DAIR leverages a multi-faceted approach to maintaining a commitment to
information privacy and confidentiality. The Insights 2.0 program leverages training,
role-based permissions, and other strategies to protect information and we follow
all appropriate State and Federal laws to maintain a commitment to our students, parents,
alumni, and employees.
Why is VPN required to access Insights 2.0?
ANSWER: Like a secret decoder ring, UNT utilizes a VPN to redirect your internet traffic,
disguising where your computer, phone or other device is when it makes contact with
the Insights 2.0 program. Our UNT VPN also encrypts information you send across the
internet, making it unreadable to anyone who intercepts your traffic. We take these
steps (and require you to as well) to ensure that we protect the data we make visible
to you in Insights 2.0).
What assurances do I need to provide to get access to Insights 2.0?
ANSWER: All users are asked to acknowledge the common community standards of being
an Insights data superhero. As part of the onboarding process you will be asked to
complete an agreement that spells out the various responsibilities you will need to
embrace to continue to get access to protected information. Remember with great power
comes great responsibility. In general the following commitments are expected: Users
agree that the purpose of their access to Insights Program is for internal institutional
policy analysis and/or decision-making. Users understand that Insights Program data
must not be used for personal purposes that extend beyond the campus. Users also acknowledge
that the UNT Enterprise Human Subjects Review Board and the department(s) responsible
for maintaining the data must approve the use of any data for published and/or presented
research. Users further agree to abide by UNT Enterprise mass email policies when
using data from the Insights Program to contact students. Users also attest that they
understand and will abide by FERPA guidelines. Users acknowledge that they understand
that user IDs and passwords used to access the Insights Program are issued on an individual
basis and they are solely responsible for all information obtained through the Insights
Program using their unique identification. Users see the danger in sharing passwords/access
and acknowledge that at no time will they allow use of their user ID or password by
any other person regardless of role. Given the tremendous power of the data, users
agree that the use and interpretation of any figures, tables, charts, or analyses
produced using the Insights Program tools are their own responsibility.
How was your security protocol developed?
ANSWER: The Insights partners worked collaboratively across the enterprise to build
a strong foundation for access, security, and protecting student, faculty, and staff
information. Collaboration worked because we brought together our Chief Information
Security Officer and her team, the CIO, CTO, and Chief Enterprise Architect to work
with Program leadership. This approach enabled security reviews, role creation, security
integrations, and ongoing privacy and security testing to act as a foundation for
success. The program believes in ensuring that users undergo multiple checks for appropriate
access, we prioritize effort associated with role provisioning, and trust our partners
in Information Technology to manage the external security and protection of our data.
This relationship allows the Functional Analytics team to focus on product development
and the IT team to focus on security and data protection. We encourage you to reach
out to the Program if you have a question as you are an important element in the larger
ecosystem designed to defend of our data from wrongdoers.
Where do I go to login?
ANSWER: The Insights 2.0 program wants to make access for our data superheroes easy.
In addition to being able to click on this website (data.unt.edu) users can also navigate
to http://insights2.unt.edu. By either clicking on a specific product on this website
or navigating to insights2.unt.edu you will automatically be directed towards an enterprise
Single Sign On (SSO) webpage. Assuming your VPN is active (more on that below) you
should only have to do this once each session. Depending on the doorway you chose
to access the system you will either come to a menu screen (using the generic Insights2.unt.edu)
where you will need to open your product from a folder/icon or taken to the specific
product you are interested in (by clicking on a product icon in data.unt.edu). We
hope providing our superheroes with mutliple vehicles to reach your data you can maximize
your time focusing on applying data to problems and not spending it attempting to
find it in the first place. Who doesn't like having a supercar, superplane, or superboat
when options are needed?
What is my username when I login?
ANSWER: It's super easy. Use your UNT provided EUID (example: unt1890) and your established
AWS password. If you need to update your UNT password in AWS this should automatically
refresh in Insights2 (just remember to update any saved passwords).
I am a former Insights user, did you finally vanquish the evil unt/ in front of the
login name?
ANSWER: YES! This was the proverbial Kryptonite for so many users for so many years.
With Insights 2.0 you no longer need this. We are thrilled to make access to the system
that much easier for our users.
I am trying to access Insights 2.0 from off-campus do I have to do anything different?
ANSWER: Yes. Insights 2.0 users who wish to access analytic products that are not
located on the public server must first connect via Virtual Private Network. As noted
above this is an additional strategy the teams have implemented to protect our environment.
This is a best practice regardless of where you attempt to access Insights 2.0.
What browser is best to use in Insights 2.0?
ANSWER: Google Chrome is considered the most stable browser to utilize. We strongly
reccommend not using Microsoft Edge. While others browsers may function and the program
continually tests in all browsers we have found that Chrome is your best choice to
leverage the Insights 2.0 program.
Can I navigate within Insights 2.0 using the built in menu once logged in?
ANSWER: Yes! We are pleased to offer you access to a navigation guide. As our data
products continue to expand, please email insights@unt.edu for the latest copy to help you find your way.
Does Insights 2.0 require a special password/login combination?
ANSWER: Yes and No. We do require a password and login (see question above) to access
the UNT specific Insights 2.0 products that contain non-aggregated student data. You
do not need a login/password to get access to our products on the Public Server. Note:
these data products are aggregated and do not provide specific student level detail.
How do I drill down in Insights 2.0?
ANSWER: We want to make this easy - so the Insights 2.0 Program has developed the
following hint sheet to help you do this and so much more. This can be found by clicking here. To drill down, typically double click on a chart of graph element and then choose
"Drill to (Name of Variable)." To drill down to see a data governance definition in
BDN, double click on a graph element and then choose "BDN: (Name of Variable)." Users
can also expand tabular data by clicking the right arrow (>) on the row. Click the
left arrow (<) to collapse a row. In tree-maps, you can select a particular cell to
drill down further into this variable (first click cell, then choose Drill). Take
special note of how the headings change and leave you breadcrumbs notes.
How do go from section to section on the dashboards?
ANSWER: You can navigate sections two ways. The easiest is to go the first tab to
the left on any Insights 2.0 non-finance product. On this overview sheet you will
see each section with a link and description. Select a section to be taken to that
particular page within the analytic product. If your product does not have this page,
then easily click on the section headings at the top of the analytic page. If you
are viewing Insights 2.0 using the mobile SAS app (please contact insights@unt.edu if you need assistance to put this on your device) then simply swipe left to move
to the next section. It is fast and easy.
How do I download data to a secure location?
ANSWER: We always want to urge caution here and recall the program agreement that
users signed off on to get access to Insights 2.0. We also know that in some cases
exporting data can be very helpful to our users. Part of the power of the system and
why we take privacy and security so seriously is the ability to see detailed dis-aggregated
student information in the password protected Insights 2.9 products. In most cases,
users simple need to right click on a graphic, chart, or data table and choose "Export
data" then select the variables you want included and click OK. Remember to "X" out
of any tables when you are finished.
How can I export a graph or image to another software program (Word, Excel, etc.)?
ANSWER: Right click on the graph or image and choose "Save image" - then select a
location on your computer to save the image.
How can I filter a result set on the screen to see information only impacting me or
my department?
ANSWER: Filtering restricts the data that is returned from a data source query. Depending
on the actions that were defined by the report designer, you might be able to filter
or select data within your report. For example, clicking a bar chart can control the
data displayed in a list table. To filter data in the target object (or objects),
click on data in the source object. Clicking on different data applies the filter
based on the new data selection. To clear the selection, click in the white space
that surrounds the source object. Linked selections enable you to see the selected
data simultaneously in two or more tables, graphs, or both. Click on data in the source
object to select data in the target object (or objects). To clear the selection, click
in the white space that surrounds the source object. In many cases, this is the same
as drilling down to see data in a particular field. Our Insights 2.0 designers will
typically place universal/global filters at the top of analytic products. These filters
impact all of the visual analytics on that particular screen. Some charts can be filtered
down by selecting on a particular school/college/unit by double clicking on it. Please
take note of your filtering choices as the new program will remember these the next
time you open the dashboard. You can check these choices by looking at the descriptive
text above the analytics element. It will show you the lineage of your filtering choices
(also known as bread-crumbing).
How do I find out where the data is coming from that I am seeing?
ANSWER: This is a classic use case for our data governance tool BDN. You will want
to double click on a chart element, variable, etc. and choose "BDN: (Name of Variable)
and click on the link. BDN will open in a separate browser window and you can utilize
the BDN environment to see source, attributes, lineage, and a host of other metadata.
What are a few tips in general to navigate the Insights 2.0 products?
ANSWER: To refresh a report, click the More options icon (3 vertical dots that look
like a snowman), and then select Refresh report. You can also use the tabs at the
top of a report to view the pages of the report. To view another report that has already
been opened, click the Opened items icon, and then select the report that you want
to view. The icon displays the number of open reports. If you are viewing a report
and you want to view another report that is not already open, click the More options
(Snowman icon), and then select Open. You can also click the View all reports icon
(icon looks like a list of bullets with lines) to see a tiled list of reports. To
restore your report to its initial view state, click the More options (Snowman icon),
and then select "Restore default report state". This removes any changes that you
have made to controls, navigation, drill states, and so on.
How can I tell if I have filtered results when I come back to a dashboard after a
few days?
ANSWER: To display the data source filters for an object, click the Information icon,
and then select the object.Any filtering choices are noted by the bread-crumbing above
the chart or graph. You can reset the entire analytic easily by clicking the More
options (3 vertical dots - a.k.a Snowman icon), and then select "Restore default report
state". This removes any changes that you have made to controls, navigation, drill
states, and so on.
How can I sort data?
ANSWER: For list tables, crosstabs, and graphs that support sorting, you can sort
the data by right-clicking the object, and selecting Sort. For each of the data items
that can be used to sort the data, you can select either data-item: Ascending or data-item:
Descending. For list tables and crosstabs, you can also sort by clicking the column
headings. To add a secondary sort, press Ctrl, and then click a column heading. Alternatively,
you can add a secondary sort by right-clicking a column heading, and selecting Sort
then select data-item: Add Ascending or Sort then select data-item: Add Descending.
How can I maximize an analytic chart, table, etc. to fill the entire screen?
ANSWER: Maximizing an object expands it to the full size of the canvas and displays
the details table for the object. To maximize an object, right-click the object, and
select Maximize view. You can also click the Maximize icon (four arrows going off
in different directions at the 2, 4, 8, and 10 hour position on a clock) in the object
toolbar.
I have a visual impairment, can I still use Insights 2.0?
ANSWER: Yes, as part of the upgrade to Insights 2.0, our vendor provides a Graphics
Accelerator. This Graphics Accelerator is a Google Chrome extension that enables users
with visual impairments or blindness to explore data visualizations. It supports alternative
presentations of data visualizations that include enhanced visual rendering, text
descriptions, tabular data, and interactive sonification. Sonification uses non-speech
audio to convey important information about the graph. For information about installing
SAS Graphics Accelerator, see http://support.sas.com/software/products/graphics-accelerator/index.html.
The following object types support SAS Graphics Accelerator: bar chart, bubble plot,
line chart, time series plot, pie chart, and scatter plot. To view an object with
SAS Graphics Accelerator, select the More icon for the object, and then select View
with SAS Graphics Accelerator. SAS Graphics Accelerator displays the object in a new
Google Chrome tab.
Can I print an Insights 2.0 dashboard to PDF?
ANSWER: Yes! You can print to PDF an entire report or pieces of a report. To print
a report to PDF directly from the tiles view and bypass the Print to PDF window, click
the Actions icon (snowman - three vertical dots) and select Print. To print an open
report to PDF, click the More options icon (snowman icon), and then select Print.
You can print specific pages or objects using the Select Objects tab. To print an
object to a PDF directly from the object, select it, click the More icon (snowman
icon)on the object, and select Print object. Printing option details include: Show
empty rows and columns in table applies to both list tables and crosstabs. Include
appendix information is selected by default if the report, page, or object has parameters,
descriptions, filters, warnings, errors, or display rule legends. Include supplemental
tables adds a section at the end of the PDF that includes the details tables for all
of the objects in the report. Expand clipped and non-visible content prints, to separate
pages at the end of the report, the entire content of tables, crosstabs, gauges, and
containers. Include cover page prints the name of the report, the PDF creation date
and time, the author name, the number of pages, and any text entered in Cover page
text.
What are some considerations to be aware of when generating a PDF?
ANSWER: Not included in the PDF: hidden pages, report prompts, page prompts, and prompt
containers. Filters that are applied to objects are listed in the appendix. You can
print a hidden page separately if it is linked from another object in the report.
Click the Print icon in the page window. By default, containers and crosstabs print
only what you see on the screen. Select the Expand clipped and non-visible content
option to print all content. A crosstab with more than 5,000 selected cells cannot
be printed. By default, an appendix is included in the PDF if the report, page, or
object has descriptions, filters, warnings, errors, or display rule legends. If an
object has a high-cardinality filter, and the Include appendix information option
is selected, the filter description might be truncated in the printed appendix. There
can be differences in the fonts in a printed report if the fonts that are used to
create a report do not match the fonts that are available on the server that generates
the PDF. Depending on your locale, a PDF might not render correctly in Microsoft Edge.
Try using Adobe Reader as the PDF viewer.
Are the data definitions secret?
ANSWER: No, all users can see the definitions. We store data definitions in SAS Business
Data Network software.
Can I access them?
ANSWER: Double-click on a graph, icon, or spreadsheet cell, and click on a data term
link to see the definitions.
How does UNT lead the nation in Data Governance?
ANSWER: We are a central data point for all UNT data and activities. Making us the
data liaison in all decisions that will help set and achieve strategic goals.
What makes this program different?
ANSWER: Our relationship with the university data partners allows us to leverage data.
Using the SAS business solutions software SAS Business Data Network, we are able to
collaborate with Functional, Technical, and Subject Matter Experts to define UNT system
wide data.
How many business terms are under active governance?
ANSWER: We have over 1,000+ business terms.
What tool does UNT use for Data Governance?
ANSWER: SAS Business Data Network (SAS BDN) manage data term lists that promote the
common understanding between stakeholders at UNT. It’s a university wide approach
to managing information, definitions, source and reference data, and process relationships.
How can my unit get access to Data Governance tools for our business data?
ANSWER: You can sign-up for Insights Part 1 training to gain access to analytic dashboards
and SAS Business Data Network. Click here to Sign-Up!
What does the governance process at UNT look like?
ANSWER: We divide the data into functional areas and identified key representatives
including technical and functional subject matter experts, data stewards and VP liaisons.
We have an enterprise wide data governance structure that is built starting with executive
strategy, support, data governance council, and operations that includes three horizontal
operational domains (Academic, Finance, and Student Data).
What are the governance requirements for new analytic products?
ANSWER: We embed links to term definitions into all analytic products. Users are able
to access the definitions of the terms that are involved in each product.
How does Insights 2.0 ensure data quality in analytic products?
ANSWER: Each business data term is attached to a workflow of approvals starting with
the technical, functional, and subject matter experts. Any additions and revisions
are placed into the term workflow, approved, and then published for all UNT Insights
users.
What are the current analytic products in Insights 2.0?
ANSWER: Please visit the UNT Insights Dashboards Page for a complete list of current Insights 2.0 products. Our initial list of products
were developed using a combination of factors including executive need, commonly requested
information, and data products related to the institution's strategic plan. The Insights
2.0 program believes in providing relevant data to answer relevant questions to make
a truly relevant impact on our university community.
How are new analytic products decided upon?
ANSWER: The Insights Program leverages a program charter and continual loops of feedback
with executives and key stakeholders across the institution to prioritize efforts.
Typically, complex challenges are raised up that require an analytical approach to
solving. Executives, stakeholders, data modelers, and institutional researchers then
partner to produce relevant products to meet the need of the community. Given analytics
is the totality of dashboard design, data modeling, and data governance efforts this
is a resource intensive process and we may have a backlog of products in development
at any point in time.
What if my unit has an interest in developing our own Insights analytics – what do
I need to know to get started?
ANSWER: We are very excited to announce the ability for other units to participate
as a developer in Insights 2.0. With this opportunity though units need to carefully
consider the time needed to learn the new tool, understand the expectations for supplying
data in an automated fashion, agree to data governance principles and work to champion
Insights within their own unit or area. A key first step would be to sign-up for our
Insights Developer training. Insights Developer training. In this three day course, DAIR will invest in you to
learn the basics to get started importing data, learning how to create visual analytic
items, prepare variables for the data governance process, and establish guidelines
on who will have permission to view the analytic. Once you complete this training,
DAIR will work with you to assist in moving the product through our various Development,
Quality Assurance, and Production environments. Please note that DAIR may not be in
a position to provide data modeling support and we would be happy to recommend strategies
for you to consider to overcome this challenge. That aside, developing in Insights
2.0 is a profound way to make a difference for your department, unit, or division.
We welcome you to the Insights 2.0 team and look forward to seeing what you produce
to assist your leadership and support our students.
How do I know if data is transactional or official in an Analytic product?
ANSWER: We provide multiple ways of determining this within an analytic product. Designers
will typically put a refresh date at the top of products that leverage nightly refreshes.
In the case of official data, this will be mentioned in the introductory slide. Users
can also right click on a datapoint and visit the link to go to BDN to see the associated
metadata (data about data). When in doubt, we encourage you to reach out to the Insights
User group Microsoft Teams site. A member of the Insights 2.0 Program will respond
back with a response.
How do I find out about new Insights 2.0 products that get released?
ANSWER: The Insights 2.0 program is committed to ensuring all of our data superheroes
find out about any new products. We will update the data.unt.edu webpage regularly,
we also will send out updates and announcements via the Teams User group, and in the
cases of brand new content areas design and invite users to specific training sessions.
Can I break an Insights product?
ANSWER: No matter how strong you are, how powerful your laser vision, or fast you
are at supersonic typing you CANNOT break an Insights 2.0 product! We provide training
to help ensure that you know how to derive the best information out of products including
filtering, drilling down, extracting, etc. but you cannot break a dashboard. One thing
to remember though is that Insights 2.0 is smarter than your average villain and will
remember any of your most recently used filtering. This is to save our superheroes
work if they are interested in only one unit, department, or division. Users are trained
how to recognize when these filters are applied but it is good to remind yourself
of your choices whenever opening an Insights 2.0 product again.
How do I get help if I get stuck or can’t remember how to navigate a specific Insights
2.0 analytic product?
ANSWER: We can relate. We offer so many different super-powers that it can sometimes
be a challenge to remember the right situation to use the right power. That being
said, you can always navigate back to UNT Insights Dashboards to see the list of tools. Additionally, we have a guide in our Insights Program 2.0
Teams site to help you from a user experience perspective. This total focus on your
care and support is a hallmark of the Insights 2.0 community.
What is the process for bringing a new Insights 2.0 analytic to life?
ANSWER: This is a great question and one that most superheroes grapple with as they
envision the data they need to do good. Unfortunately, many users believe that it
should be as easy as creating a document or chart in the programs they are already
trained to use. In reality, all new analytic products start with a strategic question.
What are you trying to know? What challenge are you trying to address? This separates
analytics from reporting. The following steps are used by the Insights 2.0 team to
deliver products to our community. 1) Determine and frame the strategic question,
2) Engage in active data discovery & staging, 3) Begin the effort to model the data
in the tools, 4) Initiate the data governance processes, 5) Conduct initial data validation
testing, 6) Begin to design the analytic product, 7) Conduct analytic testing in development
(Dev), 8) If stable in test (TEST) and responds to the need move the analytic to production
(Prod), 8) Inform users in the community of the analytic product and conduct assessment
to see if it addresses the initial question, 9) Revise and update as needed to maintain
current and timely data for the community. Users will see that in the nine steps outlined
above the actual analytic design process doesn't happen until two-thirds of the way
in the process. This is important to note because the pre-work is what ensures your
super-powers remain strong and that you can trust what is being produced.
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What software is Insights 2.0 built upon?
ANSWER: SAS Insight 2.0 is build upon SAS Viya. SAS Viya provides us with quick, accurate
and reliable analytical insights using in memory analytical insights which is cloud
enabled.
What hardware is used for Insights 2.0?
ANSWER:
How many environments does Insights 2.0 contain?
ANSWER: SAS Insights 2.0 is made up of four environments – Development, Test, Production,
and Public. Development, Test, and Production are SSO enabled; users are able to access
different environments based on granted privileges. The dashboards on the Public Server
will be available for a general audience within and outside the University. There
is no need to have access to consume these dashboards.
How frequent are patches and hot-fixes applied to the environment?
ANSWER: Application of SAS Viya Hot Fixes are determined by the severity or need on
our environment’s daily operation. New patches will be reviewed and installed as available
per SAS Institute’s release schedule. License updates will result in the updates and
most of hot fixes applied automatically.
What vendor did Insights 2.0 partner with to stand up this new system?
ANSWER:Pinnacle Solution Inc., in collaboration with the SAS Institute, installed
the underlying system that drives Insights 2.0.
Who is tasked with helping to maintain the technical infrastructure of Insights 2.0?
ANSWER: ITSS is tasked with helping to maintain the technical infrastructure of insights
2.0
What’s the source of Insights data?
ANSWER: Advancing an organization's analytic efforts requires looking at data from
both within the organization and external to it. Insights 2.0 leverages data from
a diverse array of sources. For some products we leverage our student information
system (PeopleSoft) or our CRM system (SalesForce). Looking beyond our borders, we
also leverage data that comes from the National Student Clearinghouse. Additionally,
some Insights 20 products exploit Statewide data furnished by the Texas Education
Agency, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB), and other Texas and
Federal sources. For some products, we rely upon secondary or tertiary derived information
that is created by our professionals in Institutional Research. In some cases data
are uploaded via a flat file. In all cases, we do not visualize data without first
documenting it within our data governance program SAS Business Data Network (SAS BDN)
(see more about our data governance efforts above). We recognize that we cannot afford
to only look at one source for information. Challenges and problems are complex and
our approach to triangulate data across a diverse array of sources is one of the reasons
Insights 2.0 is so powerful for our users.
What makes these data the gold standard?
ANSWER: Most users think that an analytic product is easy to produce. The Insights
2.0 process is intentionally designed to leverage the expertise of technical and functional
subject matter experts to build trust in the ultimate product and the data that serves
as a foundation for decision making. Insights 2.0 is currently the only program on
campus that intentionally leverages a data management and data governance protocol
to document all of the steps involved in surfacing data for our users. We document
how our data is derived, where it is housed, how often it is updated, and a host of
metadata (or data about the data) within our data modeling and data governance environments.
If you see data within an Insights 2.0 product you can trust that many layers of professionals
had a hand in ensuring it is valid. We also believe in being transparent about our
data and users can find out more by visiting BDN. We encourage units or departments
who would like dashboards created for their use to first consider the effort and lift
required to source, validate, and ensure data can be updated within a secure and trusted
manner. The experts within the program are happy to engage in these conversations
with interested parties.
What purpose does a data model serve?
ANSWER: In an oversimplified way, Insights 2.0 rely upon several data models to drive
some of our products. In its simplest form, an Insights 2.0 data model organizes data
variables and elements and standardizes how these data elements interact, feed, or
relate to one another. Since data models are made up of attributes that document real
life (Students, Faculty, Staff, expenditures, patterns, trends, etc.), our Insights
2.0 data models represents reality for life at UNT. For example a classroom has many
seats or a dining hall has several food lines/types. Generally speaking, data models
are often used as an aid to communication between the functional subject matter experts/consumers
defining the requirements for an analytic product and the technical subject matter
experts defining the design of data structures in response to those requirements.
They are used to show the data needed and created by our processes, outcomes, and
business decisions/policy. Ultimately, our data superheroes need to know that a data
model explicitly determines the structure of data. Insights 2.0 leverages data model
documentation practices in BDN and via modeling tools including Data Integration Studio
and ERWIN. Superheroes who use data for good recognize, prioritize, and resource the
creation of a data model as a critical first step taken after UNT sets requirements
for an Insights 2.0 product.
University of North Texas 
