Michelle Young, DAPIR’s Interim Associate Vice Provost for Academic Planning, spoke during the August Badger Data Network, providing an overview of UW–Madison’s academic structure.
What do we mean by academic structure?
The academic structure is a representation of academic actions approved through governance and includes:
- Academic divisions (schools and colleges).
- Academic units (departments).
- Awards (degrees, plans, subplans, etc.).
- Subject listings (groups of courses).
Each component has a foundation in policies from the UW System Board of Regents, UW-Madison Faculty Policy and Procedures, and accreditation bodies.
Since 2017, there has been a concerted effort to ensure UW–Madison’s data reflects this structure. The official academic structure is maintained in the Student Information System (SIS), considered to be the source of truth. The InfoAccess data warehouse houses data extracts of the SIS academic structure data. This is what is used for data and reporting. UW—Madison’s Academic Structure (on-campus network or VPN required), a Tableau workbook, shows information about the current academic structure.
Why have an academic structure?
There are several reasons why UW–Madison has an academic structure.
- Makes it clear how schools and colleges are related to departments, how departments are related to academic plans and subplans, and how departments are related to curricular subjects.
- Defines how elements of the academic structure are related to budgetary units.
- Enables the electronic connection between data systems that consume the academic structure, saving the time and resources required to maintain separate systems.
- Ensures consistency in reporting about the academic structure by maintaining a single source of attributes of departments, plans, subplans, and course subject listings.
Can the academic structure change?
Yes. DAPIR is responsible for overseeing the academic structure, which is not stagnant; it changes as new programs and courses are created and as needs for new data elements are identified. The planning and approval of the pieces within the academic structure are the responsibility of the University Academic Planning Council (UAPC), the University Curriculum Committee (UCC), and the Board of Regents.
How is the academic structure’s data used?
To help us understand how the academic structure impacts data and analysis, Noah Natzke, an institutional policy analyst for DAPIR, shared two visualizations: Trends in Degrees and Trends in Student Enrollment (on-campus network or VPN required).
The implementation of Workday involved the sunsetting of UDDS in favor of Workday hierarchies that identify various levels and elements of the university’s organizational structure. The SIS tables that house academic structure data were retrofitted to include Workday Cost Center Hierarchy codes that will allow analysts to continue to connect academic, human resource, and finance data.