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1. How many students are there with each of the potential definitions?
2. How many classes are there with each definition?
3. How many faculty members are there with each definition?
4. How many faculty-to-student ratios are there? What are they? Which is the most meaningful?
5. How many class size measures are there? What are they? Which is the most meaningful?
6. In questions 4 and 5 above how would the question of which answer is the most meaningful vary
for 1) the university admissions department; 2) the class scheduling office; or 3) the Dean's office
that tracks faculty productivity?
Consider how differently this database would be designed given the following potential statements
of purpose:
1. The purpose of this database is to track program revenues and compare them again program
costs.
2. The purpose of this database is to track program viability in terms of demand for the program and
demand for the courses.
3. The purpose of this database is to schedule class meetings and ensure that the appropriate space
will be available in the classroom.
Consider how differently this database would be designed given the following problems:
1. An increase in the number of part time students has caused course offerings to be under utilized.
Admitting 25 full time students produces 75 enrollments and $37,500 in tuition revenue, whereas
25 part time students taking one class produces 25 enrollments and $12,500 in tuition revenue.
Admissions targets must be carefully regulated in order to maintain program quality and program
profitability.
2. An important metric of program quality is the faculty to student ratio. As the program expands,
it must maintain an adequate ratio in order to maintain accreditation and attractiveness. However,
full time faculty are a major long term commitment so increases in full time faculty must be made
on strong predictions of program growth.
3. The university financial aid policy allows an average discount of 20%. This includes scholarships
and alumni audits. Further, non-enrolled students are encouraged to sit in because it increases
the good will of the program and provides some marketing benefit. Unfortunately, the number
of chairs in a classroom restricts class sizes and these seats must be allocated in such a way that
tuition targets are achieved along with the quality and goodwill of the program.
The purpose of this example was to show that even though we may think that the definitions of cat-
egories such as student, faculty and course are beyond question, they actually do raise a large number
of questions. Further, when they categories are in question then any data derived from these categories
such as student to faculty ratio or faculty course load also become questionable. Finally, the only way
category definitions can be constructed correctly is to know what you are trying to achieve with the
database and this requires an explicit statement of database objectives.
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