Chris Thuringer

ITS Division: Enterprise Applications

Service Area: Advanced Analytics

What services do you and your teammates provide to campus?

Our team (composed of analysts and developers) organizes data and provides reporting to internal and external customers for strategic decision making and regulatory compliance. The Advanced Analytics area is organized into three areas: Student Success, Human Resources, and Finance & Administration.  

 

The work I do largely centers on tracking mechanisms for measuring and improving student success (retention and graduation). This could include academic alerts, tutoring, financial wellness, advisor analytics, and progress towards graduation indicators. Our team is primarily responsible for state and federal reporting (CPE and IPEDS) as well as open-records requests that deal with student data. Ultimately, our developers translate data that is stored in a system such as SAP so that analysts can deliver it in a format that helps the customer make sense of the data (primarily using Tableau). We organize and present data in a way that it informs decision making across campus.  

What campus units do you collaborate with?

The Student Success team works in conjunction with the Office of Institutional Research to primarily support the work of the colleges as well as the units under Academic Excellence (Student & Academic Life, International Center, Enrollment Management, and the Center for Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (CELT)). We also work with the Office of Institutional Diversity and all student success operations across campus. 

What are your workplace values?

Be courteous. Provide honest feedback. Show up and do what you say you are going to do. Foster creativity. 

What is your favorite part of working in ITS and UK?

I've worked at UK for 15 years, and I've been with ITS for 1 year. The students, faculty, and staff that I get to interact with on a daily basis are the best part of the University and I really enjoy the family atmosphere that is cultivated. Relationships matter most and it’s great to be surrounded by people who are genuine and actively making a difference at UK and in the community.