Good decisions start with good information, and good information starts, among other things, with Carleton College’s data warehouse.

Carleton College’s data warehouse is a central collection of data drawn from all major campus information systems, designed for easy exploration, visualization, and analytical reporting.

Analytical Reporting

Analytical reporting is different from traditional reporting. Traditional (often called paginated) reports typically have rows and columns and lots of specific information on people, places, and things. Analytical reports out of the data warehouse, however, typically contain only summary information that is designed to show us patterns and trends.  If you need a traditional paginated report, get further information from the Administrative Data Reports website.

Tying Things Together

The data warehouse isn’t itself a single tool or piece of software. It is a repository designed to tie in with tools designed for data exploration, visualization, and reporting, such as Excel (Pivot Tables, Power Pivot, Power Query), Tableau, and Power BI.

Systems from which the data warehouse proper draws data include, Colleague (HR, Financial Aid, Academic Records, etc.), Advance, OneCard (CS Gold), EMS, Web Help Desk, and both wind turbines.  Note that not all data that lives in these systems gets sent to the data warehouse.  Only the data most widely used for analysis goes over to it.

If you are accessing the data warehouse using Excel from off campus, you will need to use a VPN (GlobalProtect). A personal machine will work. But for security reasons, a Carleton machine is preferable. You will also need to access it from a Microsoft Windows machine. If you need to access data warehouse data from an Apple or other computer, send a note to the contact below. We have some possible workarounds.

Data in the data warehouse is refreshed nightly. 

Mini Warehouses

In addition to the data warehouse proper, ITS also deploys various mini data warehouses. These typically serve one specific purpose and live on a single desktop or in a single department’s Dropbox folder. They reflect, in general, our interest in serving the analytical and data needs of our clients, our colleagues, here at Carleton. If you have a study or question you’ve been asked to research, and you need to assemble data in order to performs that task effectively, we can help. Maybe the data warehouse proper will have what you need. Maybe it will be is a particular system of record. Or maybe it resides in several places and you need it assembled ad hoc. Maybe we will determine that you want a traditional paginated report. In either event, please contact Richard Goerwitz.

Getting Started:

  • If your department is interested in exploring how the data warehouse could be useful, please contact Richard Goerwitz.
  • If you would like a personalized introduction to the data warehouse and/or some additional training or advice (for example, about how to use it with a particular analytical or statistical tool), please contact Richard Goerwitz.
  • If you are having issues with the data warehouse, please contact the Helpdesk (x5999.) You will be asked from where you are accessing the data warehouse (on or off-campus, on what sort of machine) and what area of the data warehouse you are using.
  • If you are interested in learning about how Excel can be used to report on data found in the Data Warehouse or another campus information system, please contact Richard Goerwitz (x5526.)
  • If your department uses the data warehouse and you need to request access or changes to existing access, contact the Helpdesk (x5999.)

For more information:

Please contact Richard Goerwitz (x5526.)