Persona: Systems Administrator

Overview:

IntelliBoard uses a persona-based approach to deliver customized data analytics solutions tailored to the unique needs of systems administrators. By focusing on the specific responsibilities and challenges that systems administrators face, IntelliBoard ensures that the most relevant data is available, helping systems administrators make informed decisions to enhance user experience and preserve data integrity to support institutional and academic goals.

Role Summary:

Systems Administrators, such as LMS or SIS admins, are responsible for managing and maintaining the technical infrastructure that supports institutional learning and administrative systems. They ensure the smooth operation, security, and integrity of data across platforms like learning management systems (LMS) and student information systems (SIS). By overseeing system integrations, updates, and user access, they support the seamless flow of information between departments and ensure compliance with institutional and legal regulations. Their role is crucial in enabling real-time reporting, enhancing user experience, and optimizing system performance to support the broader academic and operational goals of the institution.

Key Responsibilities:

• Ensure System Integrity and Security:

  • Oversee the security, stability, and performance of LMS and SIS platforms.

  • Implement data protection measures to ensure compliance with privacy laws and institutional policies.

  • Manage system backups, recovery protocols, and disaster recovery plans.

• Monitor and Troubleshoot System Performance:

  • Regularly assess system performance, identifying issues and bottlenecks that could impact institutional operations.

  • Troubleshoot technical issues related to user access, data syncing, and overall system functionality.

• Support Institutional Reporting and Analytics:

  • Provide technical support for generating data-driven reports and dashboards for academic and administrative decision-making.

  • Ensure data accuracy and availability for institutional planning, accreditation, and compliance reporting.

• Optimize System Configuration for Institutional Needs:

  • Customize system settings to align with institutional goals, academic calendars, and reporting requirements.

  • Support the deployment of new tools and features to improve user experience and operational efficiency.

• Ensure Compliance with Regulations and Policies:

  • Maintain system settings that comply with state, federal, and institutional policies regarding data privacy and security.

  • Prepare technical reports and documentation to support accreditation and audits.

Challenges

• Ensuring Data Accuracy and Integrity Across Systems:

  • Managing consistent and accurate data across multiple platforms, such as the LMS, SIS, and third-party tools, can be difficult due to discrepancies between systems.

  • Errors in data synchronization can lead to incorrect user records, affecting enrollment, grading, and financial aid processing.

• Data Fragmentation:

  • Data spread across multiple systems (LMS, SIS, financial aid, etc.) can complicate record-keeping and hinder comprehensive analysis. Monitoring learner engagement and identifying at-risk learners requires analysis of multiple datasets, often manually, across different platforms.

  • Integrating these systems to provide a clear and unified view of learner progress can be technically challenging and resource-intensive.

• Supporting Institutional Reporting Needs:

  • Generating accurate, comprehensive reports for academic leadership, accreditation, and compliance audits requires pulling data from multiple systems, which can be time-consuming and prone to errors.

  • Staying compliant with evolving regulations regarding data privacy, accessibility, and institutional accreditation can be daunting.

  • Systems administrators must monitor learner activity, data retention, and submission rates to avoid legal and regulatory pitfalls.

• Identifying System Performance and Usage Issues:

  • Ensuring system performance and addressing technical issues such as lag times or access problems can impact the user experience across the institution.

Common Questions

• How do I identify active users who have no course enrollments?

• Do I have a consistent notification strategy to encourage engagement?

• What are the overall trends of use in my LMS?

• How engaged are my instructors and learners with the LMS?

• How well are instructors using the tools that are provided to them?

Datasets:

These datasets are identified by IntelliBoard as providing critical information to Systems Administrators. The System Administrator Org Role Template includes these datasets. Organizational administrators may provide additional datasets or may not include all the datasets below. Contact your administrator for questions regarding dataset availability.

Page Views by Tools Dashboard:

The Page Views by Tools Dashboard combines the Page Views By Tools vertical bar chart with the Course Content Utilization report. Clicking a bar in the chart to select an activity (tool) type filters the report to only activities of that type.

Page Views By Tools: The chart displays the number of views of pages in the selected course by Activity Type. It can be filtered by Course and Category and by Activity Type.

• Purpose: To visually display the number of page views for various tools within the selected course. This bar chart categorizes views by Activity Type, making it easy to see which tools are most and least utilized.

• Use: To track tool usage trends across courses, optimize system performance, and support instructors in maximizing the use of LMS tools.

Course Content Utilization: The Course Content Utilization report provides a detailed log of users' overall access to content/events/activities. Critical data includes users' activity-level time spent, first access and last access.

• Purpose: To provide a detailed report on how learners access and use course content. This includes critical metrics such as time spent on activities, first access, and last access for each piece of content.

• Use: To monitor learner engagement, identify potential access issues, and provide instructors with data to improve course content and delivery.

LMS Usage Dashboard:

This dashboard provides an overview of LMS usage per course category. It can be filtered by course, by category, and by course start date.

Enrolled Participants per Category Over Time: This line chart shows the number of Participants per Course Category, including Learners, Instructors, and other roles. It can be filtered by Course and Category, by Course Start Date, and by Participant Role.

• Purpose: To visualize the number of users per course category over time.

• Use: Systems Administrators use this data to track participant trends across categories, ensuring appropriate resource allocation and identifying enrollment patterns.

Visits per Category: This pie chart summarizes the visits by all users per category on the LMS. It can be filtered by Course and by Category and by Course Start Date.

• Purpose: To provide a breakdown of LMS visits by category, showing user activity distribution across courses.

• Use: Admins utilize this data to identify which course categories are generating the most traffic, helping optimize system performance and support where needed.

Time Spent per Category: This pie chart shows the amount of time spent per category by all users in all roles. It can be filtered by Course and by Category and by Course Start Date.

• Purpose: To display the total time users spend in each course category, helping measure engagement levels.

• Use: Admins use this to assess how much time participants are spending in different categories, helping identify which areas may need more support or attention.

LMS Usage per Category: This tabular report summarizes the number of courses, enrolled learners, instructors, and total visits per category in the LMS. It can be filtered by category and by course and by course start date.

• Purpose: To summarize key metrics, such as the number of courses, learners, instructors, and visits, across different LMS categories.

• Use: Admins use this report to monitor overall LMS usage, compare activity levels between categories, and ensure balanced system utilization across all courses.

First Submission Monitoring Dashboard:

The First Submission Monitoring Dashboard combines two datasets, both narrowed to users with a learner role in the course. Activities included in the datasets are assignments, forum/discussions, and quizzes.

First Learner Submission (Assignment, Forum/Discussion, Quiz): The Learner First Submission identifies users with learner role with an active enrollment in a course who have submitted an assignment, forum/discussion or quiz in a selected time period. Users who have not submitted to one of these activity types is not included in the dataset. This datasets is often used as a base for Census reporting.

• Purpose: To track the initial engagement of learners by monitoring their first submission to key activities (assignments, discussions, quizzes) as a marker of academic participation.

• Use: Systems Administrators use this dataset to generate reports on early academic engagement, ensure that learners are participating in coursework promptly, and support census reporting for enrollment verification.

Missing Learner Submission (Assignment, Forum/Discussion, Quiz): The Missing Learner Submission identifies users with learner role with an active enrollment in a course who have not submitted an assignment, forum/discussion or quiz to a course. Users who have submitted an assignment, forum/discussion or quiz to the relevant course are not in this dataset. This datasets is often used to encourage learners to complete an item to confirm financial aid.

• Purpose: To identify learners who have not yet submitted required assignments, discussions, or quizzes, which can be used to track academic engagement and ensure compliance with financial aid requirements.

• Use: Systems Administrators use this dataset to identify learners who may need reminders or interventions to submit required coursework or may have access issues, ensuring compliance with institutional policies and financial aid regulations.

At-Risk Learner Dashboard:

This Dashboard seeks to quickly identify at-risk learners across their various courses. Identify which learners are at-risk, their last dates of system login, course access, course average, missing submissions and late submissions. At-Risk is defined by having a course grade 60 or lower.

At-Risk Learners: This pie chart displays a count of unique learners who are at-risk in at least one course. The default At-Risk Calculation (Learner has below a course grade at 60) is leveraged.

• Purpose: To provide an immediate visual summary of the number of learners who are at risk across all courses.

• Use: Systems Administrators use this data to monitor the overall risk level of the learner population and to prioritize interventions for learners with the highest need for academic support.

Learners At-Risk Courses: This bar chart displays the summary of a learner's enrollments, breaking their course load into at risk or okay courses groupings. The default At-Risk Calculation (Learner has below a course grade at 60) is leveraged.

• Purpose: To break down a learner’s course load and identify which specific courses they are struggling in.

• Use: Admins use this chart to quickly assess which courses are contributing to a learner’s at-risk status, allowing targeted support and communication with instructors to address these issues.

Learner Course Summary: The Learner Course Progress report displays cumulative learner performance across all of their active courses. This report shows only learners and displays the average grade across all courses, as well as days since last course access (to any course) and days since last login (to the LMS system).

• Purpose: To provide a comprehensive view of each learner’s overall performance, including grades, course access, and system logins.

• Use: Systems Administrators utilize this report to track learner engagement and performance trends across all courses, supporting decisions about academic interventions and retention efforts.

At-Risk Learners with Course Grade Below 60: At-Risk Learners is a list of all learners, their course grade, their course grade compared to peers in the course, as well as the percent of activities complete, and missing and unsubmitted assignments. At-Risk is defined by having a course grade 60 or less.

• Purpose: To offer detailed information on learners whose course grades are below 60, including comparisons to peers and completion of assignments.

• Use: Admins use this detailed list to identify learners who are struggling the most, enabling them to coordinate academic support, address missing work, and engage instructors in intervention strategies or course updates.

User Level Course Access Details:

The User Level Course Access Details report summarizes an individual user's access to a course. Critical data includes time spent, participations, first and last access. This dataset can be paired with Course Level Access Trends to identify individual users within a course or to understand positive access trends.

• Purpose: Provides a detailed summary of an individual learner's access and participation within a specific course.

• Use: Systems Administrators use this report to monitor an individual learner’s engagement and identify patterns in participation or lack of access, helping to detect potential issues early on.

User Status Summary:

The User Status Summary report displays cumulative user performance across all site. This report shows all users even if they're not enrolled into any course and never accessed the platform.

• Purpose: To display cumulative user performance across the entire platform, even for users who aren’t enrolled in or accessing any courses.

• Use: Admins use this to track overall user activity, including inactive users, to assess platform adoption, user retention, or to identify users who may need support.

User Site Summary Detail:

The report displays cumulative user's activity in the LMS system by all courses.

• Purpose: To show cumulative activity of a user across all courses in the LMS system.

• Use: Systems Administrators use this data to analyze user behavior across the platform, helping to identify active and inactive users or trends in multi-course engagement.

Course Summary Overview:

This report provides an overview of data about courses and course design, including course creation, start and end date (as available per platform), assigned instructors, the number of activities, counts of common types of activities, and total access to courses.

• Purpose: To provide an overview of key data on courses, including course creation, instructor assignment, and activity types, offering a high-level look at course design.

• Use: Systems Administrators use this report to review course setup, identify gaps in course design, and ensure courses are properly structured for learning effectiveness.

Course Stats:

The Course Status report displays cumulative course statistics filterable by category and course, course creation date, activity period, and average course grade.

• Purpose: To display cumulative statistics for courses, including activity periods and average course grades, filterable by category and course.

• Use: Admins use this data to track course performance, evaluate engagement trends, and assess how course grades align with expectations across categories.

Courses by Category:

This multilevel report summarizes information about courses by category. It includes the course name, teachers, number of learners, course start date, and average course grade.

• Purpose: To summarize course information by category, including teacher assignments, learner counts, and course start dates.

• Use: Systems Administrators use this report to organize and compare courses across categories, helping manage course loads, teacher assignments, and monitor average learner performance by category.

Last/Never Learner Submission (Assignment, Forum/Discussion, Quiz):

The Last or Never Learner Submission identifies users with learner role with an active enrollment in a course and their last submission to an assignment, forum/discussion or quiz. Users who have not submitted to one of these activity types is also included and flagged as "Never". This datasets is often used as a base for Attendance reporting.

• Purpose: To track learners' most recent or absent submissions to core activities, enabling registrars to identify learners at risk of disengagement or academic failure.

• Use: Systems Administrators use this dataset to monitor learner engagement by tracking the timing of their last submissions or identifying those who have never submitted, helping registrars and instructors intervene early with learners at risk of falling behind or dropping out and identify potential access issues.

Learner Activity Submission Progress:

This tabular report displays the learners' submitted activities to courses, including the activity type, activity score, completion (or submission) date and when the activity was graded (if applicable).

• Purpose: To provide a detailed overview of learners' activity submissions, including submission dates, scores, and grading status, helping track academic progress.

• Use: Systems Administrators use this report to track system-wide submission activity, ensuring that the LMS is functioning correctly for submissions and grading processes, and to identify any technical issues with assignment workflows or delayed grading within the system.

Instructor Course Engagement Summary:

Displays detailed information about instructor behavior within courses and learners, including instructor email and a link to the course, and count of submissions broken out by grade status. Can be filtered by category/course, course start date, and course end date.

• Purpose: To provide detailed information about instructor behavior within courses, including their engagement level and submission counts by grade status.

• Use: Systems Administrators use this report to monitor instructor activity within courses, ensuring that instructors are engaging with learners, managing submissions, and grading assignments in a timely manner, as well as identifying any potential gaps in instructor participation.

User Course Enrollment Verification:

Leverage the User Course Enrollment Verification dataset to confirm users system-level details and their corresponding course enrollments. This dataset can be used as the Distribution List within the Notification Creator. Grey columns represent system level information; blue columns represent course level information.

• Purpose: To confirm the accuracy of user enrollment details and ensure alignment between system-level data and course enrollment information for compliance and reporting purposes.

• Use: Systems Administrators use this dataset to verify the accuracy of user enrollments across courses, ensuring proper enrollment records for compliance, reporting, and facilitating the creation of distribution lists for targeted notifications within the LMS.

Course Level Access Trends:

This dataset displays a course-level aggregate to illuminate course trends related time spent and participation. Used by course administrators (managers, deans, etc.) to determine low or high activity/access courses.

• Purpose: Provides an aggregate view of time spent and participation trends across a course.

• Use: Systems Administrators use this dataset to identify courses with low or high levels of activity and participation, allowing them to flag courses that may need additional support or intervention based on access trends.

User Status:

The User Status report displays the users' course status (score, time, and completion) by course.

• Purpose: To provide a snapshot of users' progress within each course, including their score, time spent, and completion status.

• Use: Systems Administrators use this report to monitor user progress across courses, ensuring that learners are on track, identifying users who may be falling behind, and verifying course completion data for reporting and compliance purposes.

Inactive Users in Courses:

The Inactive Users in Courses dataset identifies users who have not accessed a course in a particular time period. Last Access, Last Participation and Last Login Dates also are included to provide additional context. Used by a wide auditory to evaluate users with at-risk access behavior.

• Purpose: Identify learners who are disengaged from courses or have issues with course access.

• Use: Systems Administrators use this dataset to track and flag inactive users within courses, enabling them to address access issues, support re-engagement efforts, and ensure timely interventions for users showing signs of disengagement.

Learner Weekly Update:

This report is intended for use in weekly updates to learners, parents, and academic advisors. Contents are restricted to active enrollments and users with learner role in courses. Highlights learners who have not had an activity in Last 7 days.

• Purpose: To provide a weekly summary of learner activity, highlighting learners who have been inactive for the past 7 days.

• Use: Systems Administrators use this report to generate weekly updates for learners, parents, and academic advisors, helping to monitor learner engagement and notify relevant stakeholders about learners who may need additional support.

Course Verification:

Leverage the Course List dataset to review course level information, including course location, course codes, and a summary of course activity. Grey columns represent system level information; blue columns represent course level information.

• Purpose: To ensure accurate course records, including course codes, location, and activity summaries, supporting compliance and efficient course management.

• Use: Systems Administrators use this dataset to verify and audit course information, ensuring that course codes, locations, and activity summaries are accurate for proper system tracking, reporting, and compliance with institutional guidelines.