Office of Data & Analytics

The Office of Data and Analytics delivers data-informed decision-support to enhance the USU experience.

System-wide Issue Status: Update

The system-wide issue in IDEA that impacted the ability of faculty to see completion status for students is ongoing. Although faculty are now able to see an updated course roster, the percentage reported by IDEA may not match the number of student responses visible in your course dashboard.

If the two metrics do not match, please contact your department’s setup admin to request the full, up-to-date roster.
If the two metrics match, you can be confident that your course data is updated correctly.
If you’ve already requested an IDEA assignment to be created in Canvas by ODA, no further action is needed at this time.

University Data Highlights

28,900

Enrolled Students

Enrollment Data

11,616

Degrees and Certificates Awarded

Graduation Data

10

Peer Institutions

Benchmark Data

60+

Academic Departments

Department Data

71.4%

New Student Retention

Student Achievement Data

1,282

Faculty

Faculty Demographic Data

Types of Analytics

Depending on the project or activity, our work is directed on the following types of data analytics and BIG questions.

Descriptive (What Happened?)

This is where data is collected and presented in a summarized format (that’s the aggregation part) and is “mined” to discover patterns. The data is then presented in a way that can be easily understood by a wide audience (not just data experts).

Predictive (What is likely to happen?)

Predictive analytics estimates the likelihood of a future outcome based on historical data and probability theory, and while it can never to completely accurate, it does eliminate much of the guesswork from key decisions.

Diagnostic (Why did it happen?)

For this type of analysis, several techniques are utilized: probability theory, regression analysis, filtering, and time-series data analytics. Anomalies are identified and causal relationships are explored.

Prescriptive (What is the best course of action?)

This type analysis considers a range of possible scenarios and assesses different actions that could be applied. Thease analytics is more complex and may involve working with algorithms, machine learning, and computational modeling procedures.

Past Publications

In 2024 USU created a new Office of Data and Analytics which merged the former Center for Student Analytics with the Office of Analysis, Assessment, and Accreditation.

An archive of previous work of the Center for Student Analytics is available on USU Digital Commons.

Data Privacy

Utah State University VALUES PRIVACY and remains trustworthy by working with institutional data in an intentional and secure way. As part of these efforts, USU has a transparent privacy policy regarding the ethical use of data collected from the USU community, including procedures that prevent the unauthorized access or disclosure of private data.

The value of data is increased by its widespread and appropriate use. Institutional data officers use a transparent, collaborative approach to safeguard data against being used inappropriately. The controls and procedures utilized by the Office of Data and Analytics align with federal and state laws regarding the protection of privacy and also adhere to the highest standards of student data ethics.