Improving Data Use at Postsecondary Institutions: Practical Lessons from Minority-Serving Institutions
This practice guide series was developed through the Strategic Data Project’s Minority-Serving Institution (MSI) Fellowship, which brought together data leaders from 17 MSIs across the country to investigate shared challenges, learn from one another, and develop practical guidance for the field. Drawing on fellows’ experiences sitting in varied roles within their own institutions, the series examines how MSIs are navigating increasingly complex data environments and building the capacity to use information effectively in support of student success. These guides are intended for use universally across roles in postsecondary institutions and systems. Together, these practice guides position participating fellows and institutions not only as practitioners responding to change, but as leaders shaping the future of data use in higher education.
Practice Guides
From Identification to Intervention: Using Equity-Centered Analytics Across the Postsecondary Student Life Cycle
While postsecondary institutions collect substantial amounts of data across the student life cycle, from enrollment to graduation and beyond, it can be challenging to translate that data into timely, coordinated student support. This paper shares the stories of five Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) that are using their existing data systems to provide more timely academic intervention, equitable advising, and proactive career engagement—ultimately improving student outcomes. The guide also includes a set of questions to ask in choosing your first high-impact analytic project.
Beyond Data Silos: Developing Human-Centered Data Governance in Postsecondary Institutions
This paper explores how four Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) are addressing fragmentation in their data environments, and tackling the hard—and people-centered—work of building more accessible, trustworthy, and actionable data systems. Their stories illustrate the realities of advancing data governance within resource-constrained MSI environments and share barriers and accompanying strategies that have enabled momentum in real schools, for real students.
Data Governance in the Key of C: Orchestrating Data Use in Postsecondary Institutions
This paper introduces the Key of C, an institutional framework for identifying the conditions that enable formal data governance. In music, an ensemble creates harmony when distinct parts perform within a shared key. Likewise, a shared data structure allows different offices to work together productively. This toolkit includes a practical shared vocabulary of 8 Cs, diagnostic reflection questions to identify gaps, and vignettes of institutions working to improve data governance, alongside an Institutional Entry Point Matrix to help identify which Cs to strengthen.
Measuring Retention and Persistence: Using Data to Support Postsecondary Students
Student retention efforts are an essential connection between access and completing a degree, yet traditional metrics—such as first-year retention and graduation rates—don’t allow institutions to intervene early when issues arise. This paper offers a practical guide for measuring student retention and persistence at Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs), including guidance on selecting meaningful success metrics, an inventory of indicators for retention and persistence, and stories of implementation from four institutions.
Discussion Guide
The SDP Minority Serving Institution (MSI) Data Community of Practice
The SDP Minority Serving Institution (MSI) Data Community of Practice was a grant-funded two-year program with generous support from the Gates Foundation, developing IFS MSI data leaders in their analytic, research, and decision-making skills, while crafting a community of practice to share the unique successes, advancements, and challenges of their institutional context.
These fellows focused on four focus areas: data governance and systems; pathways analytics for student success; data communication and literacy; and student voice.
Partnering institutions included Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs), Historically Black Colleges or Universities (HBCUs), and/or Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) that were partners of Gates Intermediaries for Scale organizations.
