Skip to main content

Next Frontier Program update on campus’ data and analytics environment

Following the Fall 2022 focus group input, the Next Frontier Program subcommittee is eager to share a status update with the campus community.

What is the Next Frontier Program?

This initiative is to establish a strategy for a data-empowered culture at Boise State University to enable timely, accurate, accessible, and readily visualizable data and analytics for the campus community.

Creating and maintaining a successful data and analytics environment at Boise State is a campus wide responsibility. The campus community is encouraged to visit the Data Cookbook. This is a tool to see a glossary of different terms and definitions, what reports exist, the purpose of the reports and access details on if the report is restricted.

The program leadership also wishes to thank those that participated in the focus groups. Participant input and feedback has greatly informed the goals of the program.

Updates:

The Next Frontier Subcommittee has been focusing on the following prioritized items for Fiscal Year 2024:

  • The Sponsored Project Budget vs. Actuals Report has been updated to include salary and fringe benefits encumbrances. If interested, here is more information.
  • Reducing current security risks by moving the current on-premise data warehouse that is end of life to an Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. The Office of Information Technology (OIT) is actively working on this.
  • Meeting with other higher ed institutions, including Arizona State, UC San Diego, Harvard, George Washington University, and University of Kansas to gather insight on how these institutions are creating and governing analytics.
  • Hiring a Next Frontier Program Manager that represents all of campus’ needs and has clear lines of data analytics engagement with and accountability to all executive-level leadership. This is in process and the position is targeted to be posted by early spring semester.
  • Hiring a Data Warehouse Architect within the OIT Business Intelligence Reporting Systems (BIRS) team. This position has recently been filled by Paul Demopoulos, an internal candidate.
  • Identifying interim Next Frontier deliverables (for example, budget vs. actuals for local / appropriated accounts, preparing to support reporting and data needs for the budget modernization initiative, monthly expenditures for sponsored projects with the ability to certify accuracy online and address effort reporting/payroll verification requirements, improvements around account analysis report and salary ledger) that can be provided to and add value for campus while longer-term objectives are underway.

What is next?

There will be a website created for the Next Frontier Program so you can get the latest updates on the effort.

For more information about the Next Frontier Program subcommittee, or questions, please email jenniferjayne@boisestate.edu and moriahokelley@boisestate.edu.