Willett also uses AM360 to find the likely culprits when the School of Public Health takes a downturn in credit hour production. Instead of just wondering why it happened, he can determine exactly why, and advise leadership as to how to address it. In one such case, a change in requirements brought about the downturn in credit hour production, and the School of Public Health was able to take the necessary steps to correct the issue and alter the credit hour production trend in a positive way.
It’s all about the students getting a quality education, ultimately. If a school is well-funded, it can provide a better education for its students.
“The most important thing is the rigor and the quality of the classes,” Willett said. “That’s the last thing you want to sacrifice when it comes to credit hour production. That’s where we won’t, and where we work with the Dean’s office to maintain appropriate funding levels.”
AM360 can look intimidating because it can tell you so much—much more than you ever thought to ask, in some cases. But Willett advises new users to spend some time just nosing around the different dashboards and getting a feel for the information.
“There’s a learning curve, definitely, and still every time I look at it I find something new I can use,” Willett said. “It is pretty self-explanatory once you get into it. The construct is the same for all of the reports, and the logic is the same. It is user friendly.”