EDUCAUSE Review Articles and Data Mining

"Insight initiatives are known by other names in other sectors: business intelligence, in the corporate world; evidence-based medicine, in healthcare. These efforts, which combine explorations of information from the past (hindsight) with looks to the future (foresight), come together in a moment of insight to power decisions that make a positive difference. These initiatives leverage technology, planning, research, strategy, and a host of other key elements to truly realize the treasure of student and institutional data at our fingertips."

In the wake of the Spellings Commission report, college and university IT leaders need to bring their IT resources and expertise—bring data—to the critical planning and policy discussions about institutional assessment and outcomes that affect all sectors of U.S. higher education.