Nottingham Trent University’s challenge was to identify which students were either struggling or—better yet—at risk of encountering academic challenges. If it could identify those students quickly enough, it could intervene by proactively reaching out to them to offer guidance and support.

NTU relies on more than manifestos and relationships to serve its students. It also leverages technology—including a cutting-edge analytics application powered by OpenText IDOL.

While some of the university’s 600TB of student data is structured, much of it is not. The university discovered that it was virtually impossible to integrate its disparate datasets using traditional business intelligence tools. So instead, NTU engaged with OpenText partner DTP Solutionpath to implement an IDOL business analytics application. To build the solution, NTU provided DTP Solutionpath with five years’ worth of back data. Then, working closely with the university’s IT team, the vendor used IDOL analytics to create what Day calls “a model of engagement”: data combinations that indicate levels of student engagement— or disengagement. DTP Solutionpath also built a dashboard that lets students visualize their engagement. It is a very simple visualization, Day explains.

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