Preparing the future workforce for success with data and AI
Dashboards help ensure student success
Creating a sustainable plan for students
Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education achieved this using • SAS® Viya® • SAS® Data Governance • SAS® Visual Text Analytics
Established in 1941, the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education (OSRHE) are responsible for allocating funds for public colleges and universities. Additionally, it sets tuition and fees within the limits established by the Oklahoma Legislature and manages various scholarships and special programs throughout the state of Oklahoma.
The State Regents are dedicated to boosting college degree completion in high-demand fields to address Oklahoma’s growing need for engineers, computer scientists, teachers, nurses, and other essential professionals.
What you need to know
- OSRHE coordinates funding for 25 institutions in Oklahoma, including two research universities, ten regional universities, twelve community colleges, and one public liberal arts university.
- Before working with SAS, OSRHE had an outdated data warehouse with disjointed data. This caused inconsistent reporting across team members, causing inefficiencies.
- OSRHE is working toward a "Blueprint 2030" strategic plan, which emphasizes the key role Oklahoma’s public colleges and universities play in producing the state’s workforce. The plan includes goals like producing 100,000 degrees and other credentials in STEM and occupations identified as “critical,” increasing FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) completion among high school seniors, and connecting students with more learning opportunities. A coordinated data ecosystem that produces trustworthy decisions is essential to achieving these goals.
Data is really powerful because you can take it to a stakeholder, a State Regent or a President of an institution and show them what the needs are, how to address them and then make a plan.Dr. Stephanie Baird Associate Vice Chancellor for System Analysis & Reporting Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education
How SAS helped
- SAS helped OSRHE reimagine its data warehouse and create a modern infrastructure for streamlined reporting.
- In addition to updating its data infrastructure, OSRHE also added additional data sources to make its analysis more robust. Information like financial aid awards, scholarships, and workforce and economic development data are now accessible to the OSRHE team in one central location.
- OSRHE used SAS to create a system of externally available reports and displays for the institutions it serves. These allow the state’s university leaders to access key metrics, such as enrollment, student success, and degrees conferred.
- SAS’ industry expertise and experience working with higher education and state industries allowed for a unique understanding of OSRHE’s needs. Together, SAS and OSRHE created data governance practices to allow transparent and reliable data practices to thrive across the organization.
OSRHE – Facts & Figures
25
colleges and universities
$14.61 billion
total impact on the state’s economy
91%
of Oklahoma students will work in Oklahoma for at least a year
What happened next
- With trustworthy, reliable, and consistent data throughout the agency, OSRHE has enhanced its ability to quickly provide reliable reporting.
- OSRHE’s modernized data infrastructure and updated data governance have not only benefitted its own data practices but has also begun to positively impact the data practices of the board’s member universities and schools throughout Oklahoma.
- With data and analytics, OSRHE has established a sustainable, long-term strategy for helping Oklahoma students get degrees and credentials that will help create a flourishing workforce.
The results illustrated in this article are specific to the particular situations, business models, data input, and computing environments described herein. Each SAS customer’s experience is unique based on business and technical variables and all statements must be considered non-typical. Actual savings, results, and performance characteristics will vary depending on individual customer configurations and conditions. SAS does not guarantee or represent that every customer will achieve similar results. The only warranties for SAS products and services are those that are set forth in the express warranty statements in the written agreement for such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. Customers have shared their successes with SAS as part of an agreed-upon contractual exchange or project success summarization following a successful implementation of SAS software. Brand and product names are trademarks of their respective companies.