Data Insider

Category: Student Success

  • Now Available: IRDS Magazine, Volume 2
    April 1, 2026 by

    We’re proud to share that IRDS Magazine, Volume 2 is now live. Produced by the Office of Institutional Research and Decision Support, the magazine continues our commitment to highlighting the data-informed work shaping decisions across Ball State University. At its heart, IRDS Magazine showcases the analysis and analytics that supports thoughtful planning, strengthens institutional effectiveness, […]

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    IRDS Research Reports and Briefs
    August 25, 2025 by

    The Institutional Research Office at BSU produces research reports on topics of interest to the BSU community and other stakeholders. Most of our research reports are driven by collaboration with BSU staff who have attended the Data Literacy Institute, offered by the Association for Institutional Research in partnership with IRDS (details available here). On this […]

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  • Improving Data Literacy at Ball State: Our Approach
    August 1, 2025 by

    Being asked to improve data literacy at a Professions-focused Undergraduate/Graduate-Doctorate Large institution can feel daunting. Where do you start, how do you scale, and how do you measure progress in a way that actually changes decisions on the ground? This post outlines what we did at Ball State University, why we chose this path, and […]

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  • Supporting Sophomore Success: A Closer Look at Retention Beyond the First Year
    July 22, 2025 by

    Although often overshadowed by first-year retention, sophomore retention is a meaningful indicator of student progress. This blog post presents an analysis of second-to-third-year enrollment patterns at Ball State, highlighting factors that support continued enrollment. The analysis includes 7,649 Fall 2020–2022 first-time students who returned for a second year. The project builds on a project initiated by […]

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  • Data Insights: Explore Our Dashboards
    June 16, 2025 by

    At Ball State University, data isn’t just a tool, it’s an integral part of making informed decisions and supporting student success. Our team has been hard at work perfecting the tools that enable us to know and support students through their BSU lifecycle. Today, we are excited to introduce three Tableau dashboard walkthroughs: Admissions, Housing, and High-Impact Practices (HIPs). These visualizations enable […]

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  • Featured Interview: A Conversation with Drew Miller about Ball State University’s Data Warehouse
    March 3, 2025 by

    Accessible, accurate and reliable data is at the heart of data-informed decision-making. At Ball State University, the Data Warehouse serves as the backbone for this, and facilitates one of our goals– supporting student success. We sat with Drew Miller, the Director of Institutional Research, and unpacked what the Data Warehouse does, how it functions, and why […]

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  • Data Liaisons Group: Data Wins
    October 14, 2024 by

    During our monthly Data Liaisons Group meeting on September 9, 2024, we invited each member to share recent data wins from their areas. This was an excellent discussion and we had the opportunity to hear from several colleagues about how they use data to support students, streamline operations, and provide necessary context about the institution […]

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  • Data Visualizations produced by IRDS
    September 29, 2023 by

    In previous posts we have outlined the work done developing BSU’s data warehouse. IRDS has been working with partners across the institution to ensure that this data can be accessed and utilized to support important decisions. Toward that goal we have developed a series of dashboards that surface information in new and innovative ways. As […]

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