CUNYfirst Reports and Telling Your Story with Data

Your work in CUNYfirst generates data. Every record you update, every form you process, every enrollment figure you verify—it all leaves a digital trail. And that trail, if you know how to read it, tells a story. It tells the story of your office’s workload, of student needs, of institutional trends. Learning to pull that data out of the system and present it in a way that humans can understand is a superpower. Most people are intimidated by data. They see spreadsheets and their eyes glaze over. But data is just information. And when you are trying to advocate for more resources for your department, or prove the value of your work, data is the most persuasive tool you have. "We processed 20% more transfer applications this year" is a much stronger argument than "We've been really busy." Start by figuring out what story you want to tell. Are you trying to show that your office is understaffed? Pull data on processing times and volume. Are you trying to show that a new policy is working? Compare numbers from before and after. CUNYfirst holds the raw numbers. Your job is to turn those numbers into a narrative. Then, think about your audience. A dean doesn't have time to read a 20-page report full of tables. They need the headline. They need a simple chart, a clear summary. Use presentation tools to visualize the data. A bar chart showing the increase in workload is instantly understandable. A table of numbers is not. You are the expert in your domain. You know the work better than anyone. The data in CUNYfirst is the evidence of that work. Don't let it sit there, unused. Learn to pull it, shape it, and use it to tell the story of what you and your colleagues do every day. It’s not just about reporting; it’s about advocating for the value of the work that keeps the university running. Disclaimer: This post is for educational and informational purposes only and does not provide financial advice or investment guidance.