Continuing the Story of the Change with Analytics Playbook
Across higher education, institutions are wrestling with a familiar challenge: how to translate the promise of data into the practice of meaningful change. Turning analytics into action requires more than dashboards or reports; it demands collaboration across functions, shared language, and a culture where information is trusted and used. The Change with Analytics Playbook was born out of that collective pursuit.
In 2024, the Playbook was released as a practical companion to the Joint Statement on Analytics published by AIR, EDUCAUSE, and NACUBO in 2019. Together, these two resources marked an important milestone: a unified effort by leaders in institutional research, information technology, and finance to help institutions.
The Statement provided the vision—a declaration that analytics should be a shared institutional responsibility central to improving student success and operational effectiveness. The Playbook that followed turned that vision into practice, showcasing how institutions have taken concrete steps to build the conditions in which analytics can thrive.
From Statement to Action
The Playbook was built on a simple insight: while the need for data-informed decision making is universal, the path to achieving it is different for every institution. The word “analytics” can seem technical or abstract, yet in this context it encompasses the essential conditions that allow an institution to turn information into insight, insight into action, and action into practice. To help guide that work, the Playbook’s examples are organized around four elements of an institutional data function:
- Assess your data function—examining your current data landscape to understand what’s working, what’s not, and where opportunities exist to strengthen capacity and guide next steps.
- Create a data function strategy—aligning goals, priorities, and resources to the institutional mission and charting a clear course on how data supports decision making.
- Establish governance structures and processes—defining ownership, accountability, and standards that ensure that data are accurate, secure, ethically used, and consistently managed across the institution.
- Build data literacy—developing the knowledge, skills, mindsets, and habits that enable faculty, staff, and leaders to interpret information, translate insight into action, and embed evidence-based practice across the institution.
The Power of the Playbook
The Playbook is not a report; it’s a community resource. It documents “plays”—examples from institutions across the country that demonstrate how they tackle real challenges. Each play provides a starting point and a model that others can adapt, improve, or expand. The Playbook offers a mechanism for shared learning across institutional types, sizes, and capacities. It reminds us that change doesn’t happen through mandates; rather, it is realized through participation and practice. Furthermore, it highlights the role of people in this work and is a reminder that technological solutions alone cannot build or sustain a strong data culture.
Bringing the Playbook to Life
In the year since its release, the Playbook has served as both inspiration and a guide. Building on this foundation, AIR is focused on helping institutions operationalize these ideas through professional learning, training, and consulting support.
AIR’s Change with Analytics Workshop Series translates the Playbook’s core ideas into interactive, hands-on learning experiences. These six workshops, developed through AIR’s Data & Decisions Academy, help institutions move from awareness to action, assessing readiness, developing strategies, designing governance structures, and cultivating literacy across teams.
Each workshop is grounded in the same four elements areas as the Playbook. Participants engage in reflection, structured planning, and facilitated exercises that result in concrete next steps for their institutions. The series helps higher education professionals move beyond talk of analytics to build the capacity needed to lead with analytics.
AIR’s Data & Decisions Consulting services extend this same philosophy through customized engagements. Drawing from the Playbook’s structure, AIR consultants work with institutions to build capacity, design sustainable processes, and turn ideas into tangible progress. Through thoughtful guidance and collaboration, AIR helps teams navigate the complexities of data-informed change, working with institutions to build capacity, whether by guiding the process or directly supporting its execution.
Together, these professional development and consulting efforts signal larger shifts from developing resources to developing capacity, and from introducing ideas to enabling their execution. The Playbook is a foundation for applied guidance that institutions can draw upon as they plan and execute future efforts to strengthen their data functions and cultures of evidence.
A Call to Action: Re-Engage and Lead with Analytics
As we mark the Playbook’s one-year anniversary, we invite you to take this opportunity to re-engage with its insights. Revisit the plays that most resonate with your institution’s goals. Explore the Change with Analytics Workshop Series to see how these concepts come to life through interactive, hands-on learning. Or consider how AIR’s Data & Decisions Consulting can serve as a trusted guide to help your team navigate its unique journey toward building a sustainable, data-informed culture.
The path to change is rarely linear, and no institution navigates it the same way. But with shared purpose, practical guidance, and thoughtful collaboration, progress is always within reach.
Start the Conversation
Whether you need extra capacity, hands-on support, or group training, we’re here to help. Reach out today to start a conversation about the solutions that fit your needs.
