Central Washington University Board of Trustees May 17, 2018 Executive Summary – Data Warehouse Project Update
On February 9, 2018 the CWU Board of Trustees approved the investment of $838,400 into the expansion and evolution of the data warehouse environment. This goal of the Data Warehouse Expansion (DWE) project is to build an integrated, subject oriented, time-variant, and stable data warehouse environment. The overarching outcomes of this project are to make CWU more data-aware; driving data-informed decision-making across our campus and satellite locations; and supporting data- centric requirements and initiatives, such as NWCCU re-accreditation. More specifically, the goals identified for the project included the development of a new methodology for extracting transactional data, the introduction of a robust self-service analytics capability, and an overall data warehouse strategy that provides consistent and accurate data for internal and external consumption. The funding requested was intended to provide the necessary external expertise, supplementing the capacity of and aligning with the work of internal staff. Three consultants are now providing services on data warehouse development and analysis. CWU partnered with Sierra-Cedar through an already-established contracting vehicle, greatly reducing the time needed to secure get these resources. The Department of Institutional Effectiveness has filled vacant positions and augmented staff with students and analysts from the Department of Information Services (IS). The team is enabled and has the tools and technology necessary to be successful. Data Warehouse Phase One. During the first phase of the project, the project team developed a systems approach for data transformation and analysis to ensure the accuracy and consistency of data. Timely, relevant, and accurate data sets are now in place. The project team is finalizing the goal of providing accurate and reproducible reports for state and federal agencies and for the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. The project also established a methodology to produce edit checks for the host system data, resulting in accurate and reliable data. Data Warehouse Phase Two. While some of the original risks associated with dimensional modeling and the complexity of the data warehouse environment remain, the second phase will evolve the data warehouse past the initial goals of the previous plan and increase the capacity of the warehouse to support self-serve analytics. To date, the project has spent approximately $250,000 of the allocated funds; consultants are expected to be engaged for an additional four months.
Submitted:
Approved for submittal:
Richard Duffett Interim Vice President of Operations
James. L. Gaudino President
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