Cal Answers - Answering Today’s and Tomorrow’s Questions

2015 Larry L. Sautter Award for Innovation in Information Technology

Cal Answers Analytical Reporting

Project NameCal Answers Business Intelligence Solution

Submitter’s NameMark Chiang, Enterprise Data Warehouse Manager, Information Services & Technology (IST)mchiang@berkeley.edu 510-666-3758

Contributing OrganizationsCFO - Office of Strategic Program ManagementCFO - Office of Planning & AnalysisCIO - Information Services & TechnologyCFO - Controller’s OfficeCFO - Procurement ServicesHR - Human ResourcesEquity & InclusionColleges and Schools

Technologies UtilizedCal Answers (OBIEE)Informatica (ETL)

Project Timeframe2012 – 2014

Key PlayersAlan Underwood – Office of Planning & AnalysisAlfred Alipio Jocson – Office of Strategic Program ManagementAndrew Eppig – Office of Equity & InclusionAnji Gannavarapu – Enterprise Data WarehouseAnudeep Yapala – Enterprise Data WarehouseAswan Movva – Enterprise Data WarehouseCheryl Kojina – Enterprise Data WarehouseChris Whitney – Human ResourcesDaniel Grieb – Student Information SystemsFrances Kendall – Enterprise Data WarehouseGreg Hamilton – Enterprise Data WarehouseIndu Tandon – Human ResourcesJean Bednarz – Office of the CFOJenna Allen – Office of Planning & AnalysisJosh Blatt – Office of Planning & AnalysisKelle Jacobs – Office of Planning & AnalysisMark Chiang – Enterprise Data WarehouseMax Michel – Enterprise Data WarehouseMehmet Sevinc – Office of Strategic Program ManagementNoam Manor – Office of the Vice ProvostPeter Cava – Enterprise Data WarehouseProvin Dhawan – Enterprise Data WarehouseQuin Bligh – Database ServicesRadha Karichedu – Enterprise Data WarehouseRuss Acker – Office of Planning & AnalysisSameer D’Souza – Enterprise Data WarehouseSereeta Alexander – Office of Planning & AnalysisShubha Narasimhan – Enterprise Data WarehouseTeal Sexton – Office of Strategic Program ManagementTim Fuson – Human ResourcesTracy Okamura – Controller’s OfficeWalter Stokes – Database Services

Cal Answers (Oracle Business Intelligence)Cal Answers is an analytical tool allowing UC Berkeley to view centralized, integrated information from various campus systems. The tool makes data accessible to all, enabling staff, faculty, and students to locate reliable, consistent answers to critical campus questions. From large tasks like developing annual budgets for campus units and managing aid offerings, to day-to-day inquiries such as reviewing the previous month's on-contract spending or researching student graduation rates - Cal Answers helps UC Berkeley’s staff and faculty to quickly and easily find the data to inform and expedite their work.

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2015 Larry L. Sautter Award for Innovation in Information Technology

What was accomplished

Student Curriculum Reporting

Course enrollment, offering, and instruction data have been integrated into the campus Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) to enable powerful Student Curriculum reporting capabilities in Cal Answers. Student Curriculum Reporting helps the campus improve the educational experience for students, use resources more wisely, and improve the decision making process for faculty and staff.

Student Financials Reporting

Improved decision-making based on Student Financials Reporting helped the campus reduce student debt, improved recruitment of the best and most diverse candidates, and enabled us to better define our role as a public institution. Funding for students is the second biggest revenue source on campus; reporting built on the proper data has allowed us to utilize this resource more effectively, seize new opportunities, reduce risks, and further the university’s mission of teaching, research and public service.

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2015 Larry L. Sautter Award for Innovation in Information Technology

Student Applicants Reporting

Student Applicant Reporting offers data and analytic capabilities for undergraduate applicants, allowing University decision makers to better understand the applicant pool and how it is changing over time. They can also combine Applicant data with data on current students to gain insight into varying outcomes for our students. These new capabilities have helped improve UC Berkeley’s strategy for successfully recruiting a strong and diverse student body.

Student Demographics & Outcomes

Student Demographics & Outcomes Reporting includes data on registered students and awarded degrees. This has enabled staff to better understand the composition and academic behaviors of our student body, as well as examine outcomes such as retention and graduation rates for different groups. Cal Answers has allowed student demographics and outcomes data to be integrated with other data sources including applicants, student financials, and curriculum. The technical architecture underlying this integration has helped to drive the success of Cal Answers and the Enterprise Data Warehouse, and enable faster, more data-driven decision making at all levels of the University.

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2015 Larry L. Sautter Award for Innovation in Information Technology

Principal Investigator Portfolio (PI Portfolio) Reporting

PI Portfolio reporting provides Faculty members and Principal Investigators with a quick yet comprehensive overview of financial data for all the funds they manage. After this project’s go-live, Faculty and research administrators were able to view fund balances and expenses, then drill into transactions and personnel details for more in-depth analysis.

Procure to Pay Reporting

Procurement and Spend reporting provides the insights to enable decision makers to reach critical financial goals including cost savings, smoother processing, greater compliance, stronger relations with key vendors, and improved vendor diversity. Money saved through more strategic purchasing can be redirected to the University's core mission of teaching, research, and public service.

Human Resources Reporting

HR reporting provides official headcounts for the campus as a whole, as well as department-level counts of faculty, staff, research, and student positions. This is a valuable new resource for those who use HR information in their jobs, as well as for anyone who is curious about who makes up our campus and how our demographics are changing over time. The metrics enable the campus to accurately manage staffing changes, succession planning, and diversity assessments, as well as identify trends and analyze budget decision impacts. May 15, 2015 4

2015 Larry L. Sautter Award for Innovation in Information Technology

Customer Satisfaction Responses“Berkeley has undertaken significant steps to strengthen integration of activities across the campus...Principal among them has been Berkeley’s implementation of an Enterprise Data Warehouse and related institutional reporting portal with dashboard tools, Cal Answers. (CFR 4.5)”

— SOURCE: Excerpt from the WSCUC Visiting Team Accreditation Report, October 2014

“Thanks for the terrific work on the Curriculum dashboard. The presentation went over well.

The best part was this: my presentation was followed a little while later by a presentation of the Data Science initiative. One of the speakers had, in the intervening few minutes, used the Curriculum Dashboard to get a piece of data on enrollments that he used in his presentation! He referred to your work as 'that excellent dashboard that was just shown to us'.

How do you like that for immediate impact! Well done all.”— Vice Provost, Strategic Academic and Facilities Planning

“Congrats everybody! I'm so amazed by the way this project came together in such a quick and impactful manner. The murky haze of mystery that was our past stands no chance against the illuminating power of CalAnswers!”

— Assistant Vice Chancellor, Financial Planning & Analysis

“Great report! Keep up the fantastic work, All! It's an incredibly exciting time.”— Executive Director, Office of Strategic Program Management

“The new dashboard helps academic units highlight the value of their programs, identify areas of growth and high demand, and portions of the curriculum that are undersubscribed. The methodologies have been vetted, and the data is official, so academic planners, department chairs, and deans can not only gain insight into how their curricula have been mounted but also have a common set of metrics on which to base decisions and make comparisons.”

— Institutional Research Analyst, Strategic Academic and Facilities Planning

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