Information Builders Case Studies Central Washington University Gets SMART With WebFOCUS

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	Central Washington University Gets SMART With WebFOCUS Information Builders

Central Washington University Gets SMART With WebFOCUS

Information Builders

Technology Category	Analytics & Modeling - Predictive Analytics Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics
Applicable Industries	Education
Applicable Functions	Business Operation
Use Cases	Predictive Maintenance Real-Time Location System (RTLS)
Services	Data Science Services System Integration
Challenge	Central Washington University (CWU) was heavily reliant on an Oracle PeopleSoft enterprise resource planning (ERP) system for most of its reporting activities. However, the process was slow, laborious, and paper-intensive. Some queries took 20 minutes or longer to execute, which impacted the performance of the ERP system and sometimes caused it to crash. Keeping up with state and federal compliance requirements was particularly difficult. For example, one report for the Public Centralized Higher Education Enrollment System (PCHEES) included hundreds of pages and took eight months to produce. The university also had to create large reports for U.S. News & World Report, ACT, and Petersons. This meant the reporting team had to respond to dozens of public requests from state agencies and create more than 100 internal reports each year. Read More
About Customer	Established in 1891, Central Washington University (CWU) is a four-year public university located about 100 miles from Seattle. This prestigious institution of higher education has approximately 11,000 students, offers more than 150 majors, and graduates about 2,500 students each year. CWU has 478 full-time faculty, 174 part-time faculty, and 500 administrative staff. Until recently, CWU relied heavily on an Oracle PeopleSoft enterprise resource planning (ERP) system for most of its reporting activities, but it was a slow, laborious, and paper-intensive process. Read More
Solution	To provide more speed and flexibility to these reporting activities, the university acquired business intelligence (BI) technologies from Information Builders in one integrated package. The WebFOCUS BI platform permits them to sort, summarize, drill into, and visualize data through interactive displays. Since installing WebFOCUS, DePaepe and his team have dramatically streamlined campus reporting activities. They have developed WebFOCUS dashboards as part of a self-service BI environment called Student Metric Analytic Reporting Tool (SMART). These dashboards include standard reports as well as a self-service reporting environment that allows the faculty and staff to help themselves to the information they need. Available to all faculty and staff on campus, SMART currently includes 18 WebFOCUS dashboards and four WebFOCUS Active Technology reports. Data is derived from a data warehouse and three data marts that contain data from PeopleSoft, Data 180, MAP-Works, and Adirondack, as well as from external sources such as Pearson, National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), and Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE). Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Analytics & Modeling - Predictive Analytics

Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics

Applicable Industries

Education

Applicable Functions

Business Operation

Use Cases

Predictive Maintenance

Real-Time Location System (RTLS)

Services

Data Science Services

System Integration

Challenge

Central Washington University (CWU) was heavily reliant on an Oracle PeopleSoft enterprise resource planning (ERP) system for most of its reporting activities. However, the process was slow, laborious, and paper-intensive. Some queries took 20 minutes or longer to execute, which impacted the performance of the ERP system and sometimes caused it to crash. Keeping up with state and federal compliance requirements was particularly difficult. For example, one report for the Public Centralized Higher Education Enrollment System (PCHEES) included hundreds of pages and took eight months to produce. The university also had to create large reports for U.S. News & World Report, ACT, and Petersons. This meant the reporting team had to respond to dozens of public requests from state agencies and create more than 100 internal reports each year.

About Customer

Established in 1891, Central Washington University (CWU) is a four-year public university located about 100 miles from Seattle. This prestigious institution of higher education has approximately 11,000 students, offers more than 150 majors, and graduates about 2,500 students each year. CWU has 478 full-time faculty, 174 part-time faculty, and 500 administrative staff. Until recently, CWU relied heavily on an Oracle PeopleSoft enterprise resource planning (ERP) system for most of its reporting activities, but it was a slow, laborious, and paper-intensive process.

Solution

To provide more speed and flexibility to these reporting activities, the university acquired business intelligence (BI) technologies from Information Builders in one integrated package. The WebFOCUS BI platform permits them to sort, summarize, drill into, and visualize data through interactive displays. Since installing WebFOCUS, DePaepe and his team have dramatically streamlined campus reporting activities. They have developed WebFOCUS dashboards as part of a self-service BI environment called Student Metric Analytic Reporting Tool (SMART). These dashboards include standard reports as well as a self-service reporting environment that allows the faculty and staff to help themselves to the information they need. Available to all faculty and staff on campus, SMART currently includes 18 WebFOCUS dashboards and four WebFOCUS Active Technology reports. Data is derived from a data warehouse and three data marts that contain data from PeopleSoft, Data 180, MAP-Works, and Adirondack, as well as from external sources such as Pearson, National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), and Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE).

Impact #1	CWU gained more efficient federal and state reporting.
Impact #2	More accurate data for student retention, strategic planning, accreditation, and admissions.
Impact #3	Reports that used to take months are now generated in minutes.

Impact #1

CWU gained more efficient federal and state reporting.

Impact #2

More accurate data for student retention, strategic planning, accreditation, and admissions.

Impact #3

Reports that used to take months are now generated in minutes.

Benefit #1	Reports that used to take months are now generated in minutes.
Benefit #2	CWU produces about 100 self-service reports per year and numerous legislative reports.

Benefit #1

Reports that used to take months are now generated in minutes.

Benefit #2

CWU produces about 100 self-service reports per year and numerous legislative reports.

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Overview

Central Washington University Gets SMART With WebFOCUS

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit