Leveraging the Power of Information:

Information Concepts, Strategies, and Tools for Problem-Solving, Decision-Making, Innovation, and Change in Higher Education
A Nuventive-NCCI Online Professional Development Certificate Program

Leveraging the Power of Information is an activity-based program that focuses on the challenges and opportunities at your institution. It emphasizes how to make use of information, recognizing, that while people know what to do in theory, effectively using information to plan, pursue, and achieve desired outcomes can be a heavy lift in practice. Clarifying the problem or opportunity to be addressed, determining the “right” information that is needed and by whom, and overcoming organizational and human resistance, are so often where the major difficulties arise. Information is central to how colleges and universities achieve their missions. As higher education’s network for change leadership, the Network for Change and Continuous Innovation (NCCI) has an important role in guiding practitioners on how to effectively apply information to every aspect of their work—whether that involves incremental or transformational improvement. Information plays a role in strategic planning, enhancing institutional performance and effectiveness, supporting day-to-day decision-making, promoting innovation, assessing outcomes, and guiding continuous improvement efforts.

In a time of many challenges and need for reflection in higher education, this interactive session will introduce the faculty and participants; provide an overview of the program expectations and structure; and include a robust discussion of the challenges facing individuals engaged in continuous improvement and transformational change. The session will address issues including what are the key elements of organizational effectiveness and how information provides a key to progress.

The second session will focus on a case study that participants will review in advance. First in small breakout groups and then with the full class, participants will define the problem and discuss what information is needed to understand it fully. They will then discuss ideas for seeking the necessary information and how it might be used. This session will also discuss the relationship between information platforms and human decision-making.

Leaders and their colleagues at all levels benefit from reliable information to assess needs, monitor programs on departmental and institutional initiatives, and guide key decisions. Key information consumers include not only the final decision maker, but also individual users, task force members, external advisory or regulatory groups, other institutions, and partners. This session will help participants build practical skills for identifying and assessing target audiences and their readiness for information-based decision making.

Information must be organized, easily discoverable, accessible, curated and effectively communicated to a wide variety of stakeholders. Successful practices tie information to the purposes and goals of end users and provide a continuous feedback loop. During this session, participants will be introduced to best-practice examples of data presentation and will be asked to share their related experiences.

This session will continue the focus on promoting the use of information through engagement and relationship building — exploring what approaches are useful for diagnosing critical needs and uses and overcoming resistance. Each participant will present an actual case example from their campus utilizing the template for building a culture of data-informed decision making that has been developed throughout this program.

Creating tools and platforms to support these activites is what Nuventive does, and NCCI and Nuventive are once again collaborating on an innovative program to address these issues. Through Leveraging the Power of Information Certificate Program, which has been refined based on our experience with two previous NCCI participant groups, our aim is to equip future participants with the knowledge and skills necessary to facilitate more effective use of information, information tools, and information strategy as change agents themselves, and in support of leaders throughout their institutions.

A great deal of potentially useful information is available within our institutions and from external organizations and resources. However, most institutions have too few leaders and facilitators with the competencies, skills, and tools necessary for identifying the right information and for effectively curating, analyzing, and disseminating it to guide effective decision-making.

Pricing: $750 NCCI Members, $975 Nonmembers

register

Previous Certificate Recipients:

  • Andrea Allio, Senior Data Analyst and Assessment Consultant, Pennsylvania State University
  • Sherry Buss, Director of Administration, Lehigh University
  • Sarah Button, Project Manager, University of Michigan
  • Michael Dean, Manager, Student Affairs Technology Projects, Austin Community College
  • Davina Desnoes, AVP, Budget & Planning, University Budget Director, Cornell University
  • Melanie Dow, Senior Quality Advisor, Carleton University
  • Kristina Givens, Senior Process Improvement Consultant, Virginia Tech University
  • Tanya Grove, Assistant Director and Sr. Management Consultant, Cornell University
  • Ashley Kaplan, Director of Continuous Improvement, California State University, Chico
  • Ravneet Kaur, Senior Manager, Business Transformation & Program Management, University of Toronto
  • Jolie Lam, Program Manager, University of California Berkeley
  • Ari Mack, Organizational Development Consultant, Cornell University
  • Kristine Mahoney, Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives & Academic Integration, Cornell University
  • Kristine Maphis, Associate Director, Service Transformation, University of Maryland
  • Logan McKinley, Senior Developer, University of Virginia
  • Jeff Minelli, Service Architect, Pennsylvania State University
  • Kristi Moore, Sr. Process Improvement Coordinator, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
  • Julie Page, Executive Director, Strategic Initiatives, Kennesaw State University
  • Ali Piovesan, Accounts Payable, Indiana University Bloomington
  • Alyson Pohlman, Project and Fiscal Coordinator, University of Wisconsin-Madison
  • Donna Robertson, Senior Director, Clemson University
  • Sharon Rogers, Process Improvement Analyst, University of Maryland
  • Jennifer Roth-Burnette, Director, Learning Commons, University of Alabama
  • Kelly Schaefer, Assistant Vice President for Student Engagement, Northwestern University
  • BeYonne Tinsley, Business Process Consultant, University of Maryland
  • Adam Seid, Associate, Organizational Excellence, University of Virginia
  • Melinda Wallace, FOSAS Financial Compliance Program Director, University of Alabama
  • Amy Williams, Assistant Production Manager, University of Notre Dame

About Nuventive

Nuventive enables higher education institutions to turn their plans into progress through the better use of information. Its cloud-based data-informed improvement platform brings business process and information together to support any improvement initiative, including overall strategy; accreditation; student success; diversity, equity, and inclusion; learning outcomes; general education; administrative outcomes; program review; and sustainability. Nuventive is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with distribution in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific regions. For more information, please visit https://nuventive.com/.