By Trish Svoboda

At the June 2024 Data Quality and Planning Conference hosted by the Kansas Board of Regents (KBOR), KBOR President and CEO Dr. Blake Flanders presented Data Quality Awards to Highland Community College and Wichita State University Technical College (Wichita Tech). Jeff Hurn, Director of Institutional Research at Highland Community College, attended to receive the award.

“Winning the 2024 Data Quality Award from KBOR is a remarkable achievement for Highland Community College and it is a team award earned by all of our hard-working employees who strive every day to collect, coordinate, communicate and submit good local, state and federal data on behalf of the many stakeholders we serve,” remarked Hurn.

Now in its 12th year, the annual KBOR Data Quality Award honors institutions for excellence in data quality and timely submissions. Each June, awards are presented to the two Kansas institutions with the highest ratings, acknowledging the exceptional teams responsible for providing institutional data to the Board. This year, the awardees achieved the highest scores within their respective sectors, community colleges and technical-only colleges.

KBOR stated, “Data is key for understanding the performance of today’s higher education system, as well as the state’s economy. Providing quality and meaningful data requires dedicated data teams. This year’s awardees have distinguished themselves through exemplary effort and commitment to the highest data standards.” KBOR went on to say, “Strong data reporting is critical to our success in serving students, their parents, the Board of Regents, the Legislature and the Governor. The superior quality and accessibility of higher education data in Kansas is invaluable for data-driven decision-making, and only possible through a well-orchestrated effort by so many dedicated individuals.”