Business intelligence is not just technology. It is a powerful management approach that can deliver knowledge, improve the quality of decisions and drive a more effective use of resources. BI provides the means to work smarter and will ultimately shape the future of this University.

Tim Slottow
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

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The real power of BI is that we are able to leverage our investment in enterprise resource planning systems for people throughout the University to make data-driven decisions. The collaboration and structure of support for BI enables users to learn from each other and leverage the analytical, business process and methodology expertise that exists at the University.

Laura Patterson
Associate Vice President for Michigan Administrative
Information Services

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The University has made substantial investments in enterprise-wide administrative systems in recent years. If these new systems merely replace earlier systems, the investments don’t provide much payoff. The real power of the investments comes from people throughout the University being able to make decisions based on data rather than hunches. That’s what business intelligence provides — the means to work smarter. We have great opportunities, but insufficient resources to pursue all of them. We have to make the smartest choices, and that requires detailed information and the skills and discipline to make sense out of that information. I encourage the leadership of all of the University’s units to participate in the business intelligence efforts underway.

John King
Vice Provost for Academic Information

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The College of LSA uses the data analysis and graphical display capabilities of BI systems to analyze course enrollment patterns and trends, study classroom utilization efficiency, develop metrics for the college’s performance budget model, and much more. The ready availability of this information in graphical formats has enabled better resource allocation in many areas of the college’s operations. For example, near real-time display of course registration empowers staff and faculty to better serve students by tracking course waitlists and opening sections to meet enrollment demand. BI makes much of the work we do easier, and in many instances enables initiatives that we could not otherwise undertake.

Rick Francis
Associate Dean for Budget,
College of LSA

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Although the business side of academia is essential, many faculty and staff tend to think of themselves as members of the academy first, then as employees of the University of Michigan. These people may prefer to think in terms of academic analytics (AA) rather business intelligence (BI). Regardless of label, the notion of AA/BI to me means fostering an atmosphere of greater transparency regarding functional aspects of the University’s academic mission. Those empowered with appropriate knowledge will be more capable of orienting their local (classroom or unit-level) directions with broader institutional priorities.

With extensive enterprise information systems already in place at Michigan, expressing the above notion means working harder to develop services that help us all do our jobs more effectively.

Gus Evrard
Professor of Physics and Professor of Astronomy
College of LSA

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