Data Science Is Not A Side Job

Our industry is making strides in this area, but we have a way to go.  Too often, I still see the data analysis work needed to improve our operations being left to an admissions counselor who is data-curious, data-minded, or even better at Excel than most people.

Indeed, we can drastically improve the outcomes of our admissions office with strong data science.  At enroll ml, our customers self-report that up to 1 hour per day is being recovered for each admissions counselor thanks to the machine learning engine we have built them. 

The ability to increase the recruiting power of your team at that level exists deep within your CRM dataset.

Doing the work of data analysis is now a core function of our jobs (as we discussed in our Staff Morale webinar last month.)  It must be done.  Whatever resources are available to keep improving that work, do it.

However, you won’t be able to find it and unlock it by assigning it as an admissions counselor’s side project. 

Certainly, you can create benefits from this approach, and it’s better to have someone looking at your data than no one.  But as we discussed in Your Yield Analysis Is Misleading You post last week – it’s essential to understand the limitations of this approach.

Strong data science work can change the game for your office, for your institution because it is its own profession.  Data scientists have their own tools, approaches, mindsets, and ethics that you can’t replicate during downtime in between college fairs.