Predictive Modeling in Support of Pay Equity

Throughout the 2019-2020 academic year, University Analytics and Institutional Research (UAIR), provided major data support for a new faculty pay equity analysis. This analysis was designed to help deliver on the university’s commitment to pay comparable salaries for comparable work, regardless of gender, race and ethnicity. Facilitated by the Office of the Provost, the work resulted in total adjustments of $885,659, an approximate 0.5% increase in total salary, for tenure and tenure-eligible faculty.

UAIR provided the data, consultation, and predictive modeling to advance this project. Team members were also integral in performing the near-peer comparisons that evaluate similar qualifications and subsequent pay among faculty to determine discrepancies. To expand on the inclusivity of the analysis overall, UAIR explored best practices from intersectional methodologies in predictive modeling.

In keeping with the department’s increased efforts to expand data accessibility, UAIR used the interactive data visualization software, known as Tableau, to produce documentation of this information. The final deliverable was designed to help leadership see and interact with faculty data in new ways to make data-informed decisions easier.

“Now that the UAIR team has done this all- important foundational work, we will be able to apply the model to this and other employee groups periodically in order to ensure that problems with equity are surfaced quickly and addressed appropriately.”

Promoting Data-Informed Decision Making on Campus

As part of UAIR’s efforts to promote data-informed decision making on campus, a new Data Exploration Series was developed. The series introduces users to the resources available to them to explore institutional data at the University. In FY20 UAIR provided in-depth data literacy presentations and guides focusing on various data sources and tools.

The first in-person workshop presented insights on student data to administrators, faculty, and staff. In response to
the COVID-19 pandemic, UAIR pivoted to an online format for presentations. Over 100 campus employees joined
in on the June 2020 webinar that focused on retention, graduation, and curricular flow of data. Webinars are recorded and made available on the UAIR website. UAIR will to continue expanding data literacy opportunities to include additional presentations and interactive resources. 

New Planning Tools Help Protect Net Tuition Revenue

As the COVID-19 pandemic made fundamental changes to higher education in March, campus leadership needed guidance on predicting future net tuition revenue (NTR) and its potential impact on the University’s ability to continue its mission.

UAIR developed an NTR data dashboard to provide leadership with current projections as well as a “What-if Tool” to plan for various NTR scenarios. The project required the development of a complex predictive modeling system rooted in data science. The approach evaluated various student attributes and behaviors to predict whether current and prospective students would return to the University in the fall. UAIR’s Executive Director Ravneet Chadha provided additional guidance by serving as the chair of the NTR Steering Committee, which consisted of department heads, vice presidents and professors from across campus.

New Dashboards Help Track Furlough Program

When the University of Arizona developed a furlough based salary program in response to the COVID-19 budget constraints, UAIR was called upon for data analysis and reporting support. Dedicating two full-time team members for the fourth quarter of the fiscal year, UAIR developed multiple dashboards to help supervisors and campus leaders plan and track the new furlough program.