If you’re a postsecondary education organization, chances are you already have a SIS in place to manage all kinds of student information, past or present. That’s certainly an integral part of a modern institutions’ daily operations. But there are ways you can enhance your SIS to become even more efficient. Is it quick and easy to enter the data into the system? Do you trust the data entered into the SIS?
In many ways, a SIS is simply a data warehouse, used to store and manage a plethora of structured data. And while the institution’s staff uses the data to generate management and compliance reports, these reports are only as accurate as the data entered into the SIS. As the saying goes, “Garbage in, garbage out?”
If the data entered is inaccurate, the report will reflect those inaccuracies requiring staff members to retrace their steps, double check entries to find which data is erroneous, correct faulty entries and finally, regenerate the report. And that’s only if those handling the report actually notice problematic data in the first place! Having to go back and repeat the process is incredibly inefficient and more often than not quite frustrating. The best way to avoid such irritation is to make sure you trust that the data going into the system is accurate from the start.
So how can you be sure that the data is correct the first time? The short answer is to ditch manual data collection processes! Consequently, institutions should embrace a digital platform to facilitate automated data collection, transfer, and synchronization with the SIS.
By leveraging a digital platform to handle data collection and entry, manual processes are eradicated thus saving institutional staff hours of effort that could be used for more pressing needs such as reporting, analysis, and intervention. It also eliminates the possibility for human error on both the data collection and data entry sides, giving institutions 100% confidence that their insights and reports are accurate. What’s more, through automated collection processes, institutional data can be uploaded into their SIS almost immediately, giving interested stakeholders access to information much sooner than currently possible.
Automated data collection not only improves efficiency but also acts as a data “conduit for compliance.” Having a digital record of data collection and entry introduces an audit trail that can be easily traced to understand when and how the data was obtained. With this in place, institutions are ensured that the origin of data isn’t left up to an individual’s memory or best guess, particularly when it comes to matters as critical as compliance.
Almost all post-secondary institutions utilize an SIS these days. Many of them, however, lack the automated data collection capabilities necessary to supercharge their compliance processes. How does your school fare in this regard? Want to solve the “Garbage in, Garbage out” challenge? It’s simple. First address the root cause; “Garbage in.” With standardized policies and automated data collection, CourseKey’s platform helps you get the most out of your SIS investment. And much, much more.
