Platinum Analytics

Platinum Analytics is Ad Astra Information Systems SaaS solution that generates information regarding students’ course needs previously unavailable in the student information system. This business intelligence can be used to refine both the number of available seats for a course and the times courses are offered in a schedule.

Ad Astra Platinum Analytics will provide predictive data about courses enrolled students need in order to complete a degree on time.

Ad Astra works with our team to establish direct connections from the Platinum Analytics application to our Student Information System (SIS) and Degree Audit System. This connection allows for importing of necessary data in order to generate sound scheduling recommendations. These results will be prepared in time to refine the academic schedule for the next like term. For example, the current fall results will be utilized to inform the next fall’s academic schedule.

How We Get Started

Re-evaluating the sections and seats offered per course helps to free under-utilized space that can be better allocated to higher-demand courses. This reallocation of resources not only addresses space bottlenecks, but also allows current students the opportunity to graduate sooner while making room for growing enrollments.

PVAMU is doing this in response to changing student course needs in order to make the right number of courses and seats available. Ignoring this common, but serious problem, leaves students without the courses they need to graduate and the institution with too many low-enrollment classes.

Getting it Done

Just as important as having the right stakeholders involved to set goals for the project, the data used for the Platinum Analytics project are vitally important. Below are some of projects questions we get to consider before, during and after Platinum analytics.

  • What outcomes do you expect to measure?

  • What courses are known Bottlenecks to graduation?

  • What are the known time and space Bottlenecks?

  • Which programs have obvious increasing and/or declining enrollments?

  • What’s your business practice for building a term’s academic schedule. Do you start from scratch? Do you roll your schedule from term to term? If you roll the schedule, what elements do you roll forward (time, room, instructor, meeting pattern, etc.)?

  • Do you have a standard time (meeting pattern) matrix?

  • Do you have policies for canceling/adding sections?

  • Do you have a published scheduling policy and if yes, is it enforced?

  • Are you interested in analyzing all course levels (i.e. graduate and undergraduate, Non-credit, on-line, etc.)?

Platinum Analytics Pilot

PVAMU will be participating in the Ad Astra Platinum Analytics “pilot”. This pilot will help the University obtain valuable feedback, address any underlying issues, and confirm documentation for our University rollout in March 2020.

As a pilot group, we will

  • Learn the benefits of the new system soon rather than later
  • Participate in early training sessions
  • Utilize Ad Astra Platinum Analytics for our Spring 2020 schedule

Ad Astra Platinum Analytics – Pilot Process

  1. Spring 2019 schedule will be rolled to Spring 2020 (Banner)
  2. Demo and training with pilot groups
  3. Pilot departments will use Banner to update (delete, add or edit) – No classroom assignments
  4. Departments will certify their schedules
  5. Office of the Registrar will run the Optimizer
  6. Departments will review their schedules online (Astra Schedule, Report, Panther Tracks)
  7. Limited access to departments to update sections only

Guidelines, Policies/Business Process Updates/Changes – Platinum Analytics and Scheduling Optimizer

A few changes have been made to our Platinum Analytics system to better serve our students, make sure they have more resources available for their course scheduling, and we have more intelligence and information to constantly make improvements. Check this out….

  • Strategic course scheduling using PVAMU Data Projections from Fall 2019 (PVAMU Fall 2020 Analysis)
    • Data
      • We use historical data from Fall 2019/Spring 2020
      • Take student data – Degree Audits
    • Alternative instruction
      • 17 identified Core courses
        • Low risk, high return
      • Section additions and reductions
        •  1 to 2 additional sections
      •  Additional online sections
    • We will also be using Courses outside of primetime (9 am – 3:30 pm MW; 9:30 am – 5 pm TR; 9 am – 12 pm F)
      (PVAMU Prime Time Usage Ratio)

      •  Up to 50% of courses offered within assigned buildings (excluding specialized labs)
        •  Target 3000 and 4000 level courses
        •  Specialized lab courses taught in assigned buildings
        •  85% room utilization cap – Optimizer
        •  Excluded – College of Nursing downtown, Northwest Houston Campus
    • Report subscription for monitoring
    • Course room assignment no longer processed in Banner Effective Fall 2020
      • Up to 50% of courses offered within assigned buildings (excluding specialized labs)
        • 3000 and 4000 level courses taught in assigned buildings
        • Specialized lab courses taught in assigned buildings
        • Excluded – College of Nursing downtown, Northwest Houston Campus
    • 85% room utilization cap (Reserved seating)

Platinum Analytics Registration/Records

  • Priority Registration- April 20-April 24, 2020 (Summer/Fall 2020)
    • Special Populations- April 20
    • Doctoral, Graduate, Seniors- April 21
    • Juniors –April 22
    • Sophomores/Freshmen-April 23
  • Registration for All Students-April 24 thru late registration of the term/part of
    term
  • Late Registration/Add and Drop Deadline
    • Summer 2020- First three days of the term or part of term
    •  Fall 2020-August 24-26, 2020