What is Academic Analytics

Higher education is increasingly interested in utilizing data analytics to support all aspects of university operations, including enrollment management and learning outcomes. Despite potential benefits to improve results and resource efficiency, the use of student information and the creation of predictive models is a potential minefield which could undermine larger higher educational missions tied to civic responsibility and social mobility. Questions remain as to the impacts of predictive modeling on underrepresented communities like students of color and differently abled students. Emerging research on similar fields of analytics, including predictive policing, provides a window into the ethical considerations that must be made to use data analytics responsibly. This chapter uses the construct of social responsibility to propose a process model for the responsible use of data analytics in colleges and universities derived from Carroll's Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility.