University Seeks to Expand Learning Insights and Analytics Initiatives to Bolster Student Success
The Unizin Consortium has expanded once more with the recent addition of New York University (NYU) to its membership roster. One of the world’s most respected institutes of higher education and the largest research university in the United States, NYU becomes the 16th Unizin member institution and the first member using the D2L Brightspace Learning Management System (LMS).
The decision to join Unizin comes at a time when NYU continues to leverage the application of learning insights and analytics to support student success and teaching and learning initiatives for the more than 60,000 students and nearly 5,000 faculty members within its more than 20 schools.
“We have reached a pivotal moment in which data is gleaned from and applied to nearly every aspect of our personal, professional, and academic lives,” explains Don Welch, Global CIO, NYU. “Joining the Unizin consortium will help accelerate our efforts to utilize learning data from across our global campuses to better inform teaching and learning strategies and ultimately provide students with a more personalized experience throughout their NYU academic journey.”
As part of the member onboarding process, Unizin data engineers and NYU information technologists have nearly completed the integration of NYU Brightspace data into the Unizin Data Platform (UDP). A secure, cloud-based, enterprise-wide data resource within each Unizin member institution, the UDP integrates and normalizes data generated by Student Information Systems (SIS), LMS and individual learning tools used by instructors and students.
The UDP enables Unizin members to implement data-informed practices at scale, utilizing a host of Unizin-developed services and tools to streamline data analytics while also incorporating member-developed and third-party analysis, reporting, data science, and data virtualization solutions.
“For more than a decade, Unizin has pursued standardization as the key to unlock the insights and value from millions of data points generated every day on campuses in our network,” explains Bart Pursel, CEO of Unizin. “NYU shares this vision and together we are working to integrate Brightspace data into the UDP alongside Canvas data, making the consortium a more welcoming and collaborative community for all.”
“Implementing the UDP within the NYU technology environment enhances our ability to access and analyze our own data and opens up a new world of inspiration and collaboration for our teams,” said Jennifer Sparrow, Chief Academic Technology Officer and Associate Vice President Research and Instructional Technology, NYU. “We are eager to explore the groundbreaking work that other Unizin members have done to build tools and apply data to myriad aspects of teaching, learning and campus life.”
Unizin membership extends beyond data integration and information technology. Consortium members constitute a vibrant and cooperative community focused on growing and advancing digital pedagogy while sharing knowledge, building new solutions and collaborating on research, innovation and digital transformation. Unizin hosts seven volunteer-led committees focused on key areas and issues facing higher education, including affordable digital content, developer-focused learning analytics, research-focused learning analytics, learning tools, teaching & learning, faculty development, application development and accessibility.
“Resources are a premium at every institution, and our NYU Information Technology Department is no different,” said Taylor Jantz, Senior Vice President for Budget and CFO. “Our team has done a remarkable job providing support to a massive global learning enterprise. Joining Unizin gives us more bench strength. From evaluating tools and solutions already built, tested, and deployed on other member campuses to gleaning knowledge from others’ experiences, as a Unizin member we are bringing the art of the possible to NYU students, faculty and staff.”