We’ve all inherited a folder of those scripts. You know the ones. The ones that a user asks to be ran once or twice a year. They may have a variable, perhaps a term code which the user provides, but otherwise it never changes. If you are lucky enough to have some documentation, you may know what the purpose of the script, but otherwise it becomes an accepted cog in the wheel of higher education. For overachievers, we may ask the user to review the output from a test instance, but the clone is rarely as recent as they would like. Wouldn’t it be better if the user who knew the data was able to run and verify the script themselves? Using Argos UNC Asheville has transformed many of these scripts into dashboards that can be ran by the user. After initial testing and training, ITS can provide users access run these dashboards as appropriate. This has provided departments with more governance of their data, decreased the amount number of FTE hours required to complete these tasks, and reduced other departments’ reliance on ITS. It might not be prudent to take vacation on census day, but you don’t have to be on standby to push a button at 5:01 either. There are added benefits to streamlining these processes. As we grew in our confidence using Argos, we realized the standardization of the scripts and interface of the dashboard reduced data entry errors. The dashboards can also be built in a way to force staff in other departments to review the changes before they can be committed.
