Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is there training available for utilizing the Power BI dashboards and interactive reports?
A: Yes, if you need individual instruction after reviewing the materials available or if your department would like to be trained on how to use the OIR Power BI dashboards, please contact Sean Holden to schedule a training, sholden1@memphis.edu.  

Q: Is there a How-to Guide for the Power BI Dashboards that are restricted to University Employees?
A: Yes, click How-to Guide. This guide provides explanations of the Power BI features and functions (e.g., how to export data) as well as a navigational overview with snapshots depicting the format of the visualizations and data elements for each page.

Q: What should I do first to troubleshoot while using an interactive Power BI Dashboard (e.g., a department is missing, the numbers look wrong, or etc.)?
A: In the restricted dashboards, click the "Reset to default" left pointing circular arrow at the top, right of the screen. This will clear all filters.
You may want to 'Clear browsing data'. In Chrome, this is under 'More Tools'. Read additional responses below regarding Clear browsing data, Academic Year vs. Degree Year, frozen data, why OIR's data may differ from another report. Some visualizations are designed to interact dynamically with data elements on the same page. For example, clicking on the Baccalaureate section of the bar graph for 2020 will filter or subset the headcount and total hours metrics and other data elements displayed on the page to exclusively for Baccalaureate students in enrolled in 2020. To return to the default, click the image again to 'deselect' the filter or double-click elsewhere.  For more information on this, see the How-to Guide.

Q: Do you have a glossary of terms?
A: Yes, click glossary. This glossary provides a more detailed explanation of a variety of terms (e.g., FTE).

Q: How do I export the data from Power BI tables and visualizations?
A: Yes. Hover your curser at the top right of the page, table, chart, or graph. Icons will appear.  Click on the three dots 'More options'. Click 'Export data'.

Q: Why are there restricted reports and public reports?
A: Our stakeholders – future and current students, alumni, staff, and our community have a right to information about the University of Memphis. This data is public. Some restricted reports are limited to faculty and staff. Other reports are restricted to those who have a specific educational purpose. All personally identifiable information is restricted by Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

Q: Can I drill down to see individual student-level details?
A: OIR generally provides only aggregate reports although exceptions for restricted access dashboards like the Advising Current Students dashboard do exist. Alternatively, many existing operational reports in Argos can meet the needs for current, student-identifiable data. OIR does not create Argos reports. If a new report with individual student-identifiable details is needed, the user should enter a helpdesk ticket for Reporting. The request will be routed appropriately to IT. Remember to be sure to click + to view the most granular data in a dashboard.

Q: How do I submit a TigerHelp ticket (i.e., helpdesk ticket) for an ad hoc report or unique request?
A: Click 'Submit a Report Request' or go to https://memphis.topdesk.net. Sign in using your credentials. Click Reporting → Report/Data Extract → Request Report/Data. Then complete the form with your name, specify a desired due date, and click 'Submit'.

Q: What is the "headcount" vs "course enrollment"?
A: Headcount is generally an unduplicated number of students enrolled at the university. Students can be enrolled in multiple courses. If every student was enrolled in 5 courses, course enrollments would be 5 times the headcount (e.g., 20,000 headcount with 100,000 course enrollments).

Q: Where can I view general enrollment or demographic information for the current semester or prior years?
A: Enrollment Trends (Public Dashboard)-Student headcount or full-time equivalent (FTE) by student level over time.
Student Demographics (Public Dashboard)- Student headcount by gender, race, age, first generation status, and Pell status.
Student Origins (Public Dashboard)- Student headcount by residency, top states, top Tennessee counties, top high schools, and top previous institutions.
Program Enrollment (Public Dashboard)- Enrollment in undergraduate and graduate programs, by College/School and student class level.
Enrollment Table Generator (Public Dashboard)- Create your own report about student enrollments – Select your own rows, columns, and measures/outcomes.
Census Enrollment Dashboard (Restricted Dashboard)- Displays trend data on student enrollment as of the 14th day of the term. Enrollment data can be filtered by student program and demographic characteristics.

Q: What is the logic used when value for term or semester is in a numeric format?
A: Terms or semesters in Banner have the format of YYYYSS. Each semester (SS) has a numeric value: 10 for Spring that begins in the 1st month of the year, 50 for Summer beginning in the 5th month, and 80 for Fall beginning in the 8th month (e.g., Spring 2020 = 202010).

Q: Why are the public retention rates and graduation rates based on cohorts?
Please see the public dashboards for retention and graduation. Retention and graduation rates are usually based on the First-time, Full-time, Freshmen cohort. A FTFT student attending any postsecondary institution for the first time at the undergraduate level has no prior postsecondary experience. Includes students enrolled in the fall term who attended college for the first time in the prior summer term. Also includes students who entered with advanced standing (college credits earned before graduation from high school). A full-time undergraduate student is enrolled for 12 or more semester credits. Generally, the university provides this information based on cohorts, but some reports allow the data to be filtered for specific population. The term displayed by default in the restricted  graduation and retention dashboards indicates the 'cohort term' - the first term that the student attended the institution.

Q: What is official frozen census data?
A: Institutional Research extracts data from Banner on the official census date (the 14th day of each semester). These extracted files are a snapshot and 'frozen' to become the official enrollment files that are used for reporting. Trend reports and longitudinal analyses can be conducted using data that is consistently captured and reported at the same timepoint for each semester.

Q: Does OIR only use the official frozen census data.
A: No. Some reports utilize data that is extracted periodically from the Student Information System (banner) or the data warehouse. For example, the Daily Enrollment Tracker provides a year-over-year differences in headcount and enrollments using data that is updated nightly from banner RPTS. Grade Distributions and some ad hoc reports use End of Term (EOT) data. Because Beginning of Term (BOT) census data does not capture students who only enrolled for second session courses, EOT enrollment numbers may appear higher than BOT.

Q: Why would OIR's data differ from another report?
A: Some other reporting tools may use current data in banner which changes daily. OIR's numbers are often based on the official 'frozen' or static data as of the census date. On the retention reports in Power BI - Restricted, the "latest major" will reflect the latest major as of the end of term (EOT). If the major or program of the student has been updated in banner over the course of the semester, that change would be reflected in EOT data. Some reports may count students or enrollments differently: A) an unduplicated headcount, B) a duplicated count for each program the student is in (e.g., seeking to earn a degree from more than one college), C) a duplicated count for each major the student seek, or D) a variety of other reasons. Please also see the questions above.

Q: How do I know if I am viewing a duplicated and unduplicated headcount in Power BI?
A: Students are unduplicated at the level for whatever is showing. Total shows one count per student. A row that shows headcount in the College of Arts and Sciences would show one count per student, even if the student had two majors in Arts & Sciences. Also, note that a student can have only one career level. A visualization that has a career of selected as a filter will only show the program, department, or major data for the students' highest career. A visualization that has a career of undergraduate selected as a filter will not show the student if the individual is enrolled in a graduate program.

Q: What is the difference between Career and Program Level?
A career is the level of the student's primary program of study. Careers include: undergraduate/baccalaureate, masters, law/professional, and doctoral. If a student has more than one program of study, the career is the 'highest' of the programs the student is enrolled in. For example, if a law student was also seeking an MBA, the career would be law. A student can be enrolled in many programs simultaneously. Separate programs and degrees are based the college that offers the major. If a student is seeks more than one major within the same college, it is considered another major, not a separate degree. A visualization that has a career of selected as a filter will only show the program, department, or major data for the students' highest career. A visualization that has a career of undergraduate selected as a filter will not show the student if the individual is enrolled in a graduate program.

Q: How do I find the individual course's SETEs and Grade Distributions?
A: Navigate to the link: Grade Distributions Dashboard (Power BI – Restricted). The SETE score that is displayed is the response to Question 9, "In general, the instructor was an effective teacher." If a course section does not have SETE responses for this question, the SETE scores are not provided. NOTE: There is also an ARGOS report called SYHUH566 RPTS - Grade Distribution.  Contact h.a.ridge@memphis.edu regarding that report. OIR does not create ARGOS reports.

Q: Why is the SETE PDF for the course I taught not available via my MyMemphis Faculty Portal page?
A: PDFs are only produced if more than three students who are enrolled in the course section provide SETE responses. Faculty members can view the SETEs for the courses they teach via the Faculty tab. The SETE box is located on the top right. Select option "SIRS/SETE evaluation comments". Select year and term. View the individual courses and can click on the report or click a separate option to view comments.

Q: How do I find the average number of courses taught?
A: The Teaching Activity Dashboard: Overview (Power BI - Restricted)

Q: Why is the maximum enrollment capacity listed in the Daily Enrollment Tracker in the Highest Filled courses not being calculated accurately in the Power BI restricted dashboard?
A: Currently, cross-listed courses capacities are being added together when they should not be. However, you can click the + for the course to view the capacity for the course at the 4000 level and 6000 level separately or 6000 and 8000 level separately. These maximum enrollment capacities should not be summed for the cross-listed course. The Daily Enrollment Tracker underlying data is pulled directly from RPTS nightly without the editing that is done for our frozen files. An alternative would be to use the Teaching Activity Dashboard. It uses the OIR frozen files and depicts capacity information accurately. XLST Group Filter for for in the populated for all cross-listed courses. To exclude cross-listed courses, click 'Select all' to unselect all values, then select the blank box with no value directly below 'Select all'.

Q: How many majors vs non-majors are in XXXX department courses?
A: In the Census Enrollment Dashboard (Power BI – Restricted) in Course Enrollment, you can select a given department's courses by filtering to that department. To view how many of the students enrolled in those courses are majors, use the Major filter, selecting from the applicable options. To view the number of non-majors headcount or course enrollments, depending on the metric of interest, subtract either the value from the original totals with no majors selected. Because students may have more than one major, you cannot accurately find non-majors by selecting all majors except the one of interest in the filter. More specifically, because some history majors may also be English majors, psychology majors, or etc. if you want history majors and non-majors, you cannot select all majors except history to find non-majors.

Q: How do I find or exclude students who have applied to graduate?
A: The Advising Enrolled Students Dashboard is restricted to those who advise students. Use the filter for UM Degree Graduation Status.

Q: How do I 'Clear browsing data'?
A: It's important to clear the browsing data or your browser cache. A cache is the short-term memory in the browser. It stores old versions of pages in its memory. The browser will show you that old page or data. When refreshing your page or 'Reset to default' for a Power BI page process is not sufficient.
Internet Explorer: 1. Click the Tools menu (gear button) in the upper-right corner of the browser. 2. Select Internet Options from the bottom of the menu. 3. On the General tab, in the Browsing History section, click the Delete... button. 4. On the Delete Browsing History screen, uncheck the first box (Preserve Favorites website data) and check the next four boxes. 5. Click the Delete button. 6. Wait for the notice which should appear at the bottom of your screen "Internet Explorer has finished deleting the selected browser history." 7. Click OK on the Internet Options screen. 8. Close and reopen the browser. Mozilla Firefox: 1. Press the ALT key on your keyboard to see the menu in the upper-left corner of the browser. 2. Click the History menu and choose Clear Recent History... 3. On the Time range to clear, select Everything. 4. In the Details section, check the first four options. 5. Click Clear Now, and wait for a few moments for the cache to be cleared. 6. Close and reopen the browser.
Google Chrome: 1. Click the Customize (three vertical dots) button in the upper-right corner of the browser. 2. Select More tools > Clear browsing data from the menu. 3. On the Basic tab, select Time range > All time. 4. Be sure the three items in the list are selected. If you select the Advanced tab, be sure the first four items in the list are selected. 5. Click Clear Browsing Data, and wait for a few moments for the cache to be cleared. 6. Close and reopen the browser.