NCCCS Streamlines Crucial Financial Aid Data Reporting
About
The North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS) is the third largest and most comprehensive community college network in the US, with 58 institutions serving over 600,000 students annually. Established to provide accessible, high-quality education and training, the System's mission is to reduce barriers to post-secondary education, ensure student success, and contribute to creating a globally competitive workforce.
The Challenge
NCCCS lacked a standardized reporting platform for its learning management systems (LMS) data collection. With System institutions using four different LMS solutions, this environment made it difficult to produce System-wide trend data and common reporting processes at the individual colleges. To meet funding mandates, each college must collect what is known as “census” or Full Time Equivalent (FTE) data. “We don't have just one system for creating census reports,” explains Kathy Davis, Associate VP of Distance Learning Technologies at NCCCS. “Each college has its own census process.”
This lack of a common system can lead to inefficiencies and a significant administrative burden. The time-consuming, manual processes of data handling across the System means there is a risk of inaccuracies in FTE reporting, which directly impacts the funding each college receives. As Davis notes, “The census reports are critical for every college because that's what FTE funding is based on. So, of course, we want these reports just as clear, concise, and accurate as they can be.”
The need to resolve this issue was underscored by the sudden, pandemic-driven shift to online learning, which exacerbated the need for accurate data to secure proper funding and streamline operations across all colleges within the system.
The Solution
IntelliBoard's comprehensive Learning Analytics platform is well-suited to NCCCS with its ability to seamlessly integrate the multiple LMS platforms (Blackboard, Moodle, Canvas, and D2L) used by the System colleges.
“IntelliBoard is one of the few data analytics platforms that can sit on all of our learning management systems and give us common reports and also meet the needs across the 58 colleges in this System,” says Davis.
IntelliBoard worked with NCCCS to develop and implement a common set of reports to support each college:
- First Submission Report: Documents the date of first attendance or first submission from each student, confirming their FTE eligibility for registrars.
- Missing Submission Report: Lists students who haven't made a qualifying submission during the census window, allowing for instructor outreach.
- Never/Last Report: Indicates which students have never made a submission and/or shows the date of the last submission for financial aid calculations.
- Working closely with both the System office and individual colleges, IntelliBoard provided extensive training and support tailored to the needs of each school.
The Outcome
NCCCS can now standardize census data reporting across its colleges and gain crucial accuracy and remove efficiencies in FTE reporting. Eliminating many of the error-prone manual processes leads to significant time savings during the all-important census window and reduces the workload on staff across the colleges. The common reporting framework ensures that schools are capturing the same information. The data gathered and reported through IntelliBoard will facilitate more straightforward and accurate audits. LMS administrators, registrars, and both System and college auditors can use the reports required to ensure compliance and receive 24/7 access to data.
“IntelliBoard is one of the first full System resources that we've been able to introduce to the colleges,” confirms Davis. “It's given us a common analytics platform with common reporting that's built for us. IntelliBoard is also supporting our strategic plan of building data efficiency and modernization into our digital technology environment.”
NCCCS is currently expanding its use of the IntelliBoard platform with initiatives at multiple colleges within the System, including integration with the student information system (SIS) and required program attendance documentation. Accurate student data assists college administrators with student retention efforts and alerts instructors that individual students need assistance.
“IntelliBoard is in lockstep with where we're going,” says Davis. “Ultimately, the end goal is to get all the colleges using common reports. We'll be able to see trends across the System. As learning management systems integrate more tools and resources into the digital environment, it is critical for return on investment to look across all colleges, all tools, all resources, and see where we have gaps and under-utilized purchases. IntelliBoard will provide data to better target our financial and academic resources to benefit our students.”
