Advancing Analytic Models at El Camino College
Impact at a Glance
Connected financial and student data in unified visualizations
Developed customized Power BI dashboards
Expanded access to data for better-informed resource decisions
Strengthened collaboration across research, technology, and finance
Built a foundation for data storytelling and continuous improvement
The Challenge
El Camino College, a community college in Torrance, California, wanted to expand how institutional data was used to support student outcomes and resource allocation. Amid leadership changes and shifting enrollment patterns, leaders saw an opportunity to give employees better access to data and tools they could use efficiently.
The college wanted to:
- Make institutional data more accessible to decision-makers
- Build data-use capacity across academic and student support areas
- Combine financial, demographic, enrollment, and student outcome data
- Improve how data informed resource allocation
- Create dashboards that employees could use to answer institutional questions
Previously, financial and student data had largely been analyzed separately. Bringing those datasets together offered a new opportunity to understand the relationship between resources and student outcomes.
The Action
El Camino used NACUBO's Financial Impact Analysis toolkit alongside the implementation of its institutional data warehouse.
A cross-functional team of research, technology, and finance professionals:
- Used the toolkit to guide conversations about data governance and data use
- Examined how academic, student, and financial data could work together
- Used the toolkit's Power BI templates and examples as a starting point
- Developed customized dashboards aligned with El Camino's data structure and institutional goals
- Tested initial dashboards by analyzing specific funds as a proof of concept
The initial dashboards gave stakeholders something tangible to review, helping leaders clarify their needs and refine how the tools could support decision-making.
The Results
Immediate Impact
- Developed customized Power BI dashboards combining financial and student data
- Created initial dashboards using specific funds as a proof of concept
- Gave stakeholders a baseline for reviewing and refining data needs
- Strengthened financial analysis using the college's existing data infrastructure
Process Improvements
- Strengthened collaboration across research, technology, and finance
- Advanced conversations about data governance and institutional data use
- Improved the ability to examine financial and academic data together
- Expanded the use of data to answer questions and inform resource decisions
Ongoing Momentum
- Continue refining and expanding the Power BI dashboards
- Use dashboards to strengthen data storytelling
- Apply insights to decisions about resources, institutional capacity, and student outcomes
- Support shared governance and collaborative decision-making through better use of data
“We are privileged to work at an institution where people are interested in learning and discovering what we are doing, having conversations, and considering how we can be even better at what we are doing on behalf of students. The NACUBO tools have supported our conversations and our work in many ways.”
Loic AudusseauChief Technology Officer
