Case Study - HKUST

URAO Data Visualisation

Background

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) is a prominent public research university in Hong Kong. Through unwavering commitment to excellence, HKUST has established itself as a global leader in higher education, making significant contributions across various fields, including life sciences, engineering, business, humanities, and social sciences.

Challenges

As HKUST gains global prominence, the University Recruitment and Admission Office (URAO) processes over 80,000 applications each year. This substantial volume creates a large submission database, but the quality of the data is compromised by typos, manual errors, and duplicates, resulting in low accuracy. Additionally, students often lack incentives to provide accurate and complete contact information. These challenges complicate data integration and standardization, making it difficult to deliver consistent reports and derive meaningful insights from years of recruitment and admission data sourced from various channels.

Objectives

1

Redesign Workflows

Streamline data collection, consolidation, and reporting processes to improve efficiency.

2

Enhance Data Quality

Implement guidelines to enhance the accuracy and consistency of collected data.

3

Holistic Data Analysis

Analyze four years (and forthcoming) of recruitment and admission data, encompassing over 80,000 applicants annually.

4

Diverse Reporting

Deliver over 30 insightful reports, analyzing data from multiple perspectives.

5

Incentivize Accuracy

Develop strategies to motivate target audiences to provide accurate and complete contact information.

Our Solution

We provided a comprehensive 4-step solution focused on developing a new data collection, consolidation, and reporting workflow, along with clear guidelines.

Step 1: Data Collection

Admission Data

Gather detailed information on applicants, including demographics, academic qualifications, and personal statements.

Outreach Data

Collect data from various outreach initiatives, tracking engagement metrics and response rates to identify effective strategies.

Student Score

Compile standardized test scores and other academic performance indicators to assess applicant qualifications.

Step 2: Data Integration and Consolidation

Data Onboarding

Establish protocols for systematically importing data from multiple sources into a centralized database.

Data Uniforming

Normalize data formats and definitions to ensure consistency across all datasets, facilitating easier analysis.

Data Profiling

Conduct assessments to understand the structure, quality, and content of the data, identifying any anomalies or gaps.

Data Auditing

Implement regular audits to verify data accuracy and integrity, ensuring compliance with established standards.

Data Cleansing

Execute processes to correct typos, remove duplicates, and address any inconsistencies, enhancing overall data quality.

Step 3: Reporting

Report in Tableau

Create visually appealing and informative reports using Tableau Desktop, tailored to meet the needs of various stakeholders.

Data Visualize

Utilize a range of chart types (e.g., tables, stacked bar charts, line charts) to present data in multiple dimensions, enhancing interpretability.

Export Reports

Facilitate easy sharing of reports by exporting them in widely used formats such as PDF and PNG.

Report Circulate

Distribute reports to stakeholders who have Tableau Reader installed, ensuring accessibility and fostering data-driven decision-making.

Step 4: Guidelines

Guidelines

Develop comprehensive guidelines outlining best practices for data collection, integration, and reporting.

Training Support

Provide training sessions and resources to ensure all users understand and adhere to the new workflows and guidelines.

Improvement

Establish feedback mechanisms to regularly update guidelines based on user experience and evolving data needs.

Benefits of Our Solution

Simplified Workflow

Streamlines the data collection, integration, and reporting processes, reducing complexity and enhancing overall efficiency.

Reduced Build Time

Decreases the time required to generate reports from hours to mere minutes, allowing for quicker insights and decision-making.

Enhanced Flexibility

Provides the capability to easily create and customize various analyses and reports, adapting to the evolving needs of stakeholders.

Improved Accuracy

By implementing robust data cleansing and standardization procedures, the solution enhances the reliability and consistency of the data collected.

Comprehensive Report

Enables the delivery of over 30 detailed reports, facilitating in-depth analysis from multiple perspectives to inform strategic decisions.

User-Friendly

Utilizes Tableau for dynamic data visualization, allowing users to interpret complex datasets through intuitive charts and graphs.

Motivation for Accuracy

Encourages students to provide complete and correct contact information through targeted incentives, improving data quality.

Future-Ready

Establishes a scalable framework that can accommodate future growth in application volume and data complexity, ensuring long-term sustainability.

Results of Our Solution

Optimized Workflow

Successfully re-designed the data collection process, resulting in a more efficient and user-friendly system that enhances overall data management.

Informed Strategies

Enabled predictions of rising secondary schools to target recruitment efforts and attract high-quality students by identifying key characteristics linked to school performance.

Accelerated Process

Streamlined workflows have reduced report generation time from hours to minutes, significantly enhancing responsiveness and agility in decision-making.

Increased Flexibility

Improved capability to create diverse analyses and reports, empowering stakeholders to tailor insights to meet specific needs and objectives.

Enhanced Data Quality

The implementation of rigorous data integration and cleansing processes resulted in higher accuracy and consistency of collected information, fostering greater trust in the data.

Comprehensive Insights

Delivered over 30 detailed reports that provide multi-faceted insights into recruitment and admission trends, aiding strategic planning and resource allocation.

Improved Decision-Making

Access to timely and accurate data supports informed decision-making, driving initiatives that align with institutional goals for student recruitment and success.

Sustainable for Growth

Established a scalable and adaptable framework that can accommodate future increases in application volume and evolving data needs, ensuring long-term effectiveness.

Key Snapshots

Below are two visualization screenshots: The first screenshot displays the results of the data cluster for "Institution Program Name," along with the corresponding visual graphics.