Decision support for the academia at Uppsala University

Business intelligence1 (BI) mainly refers to computer-based techniques used in commercial enterprises in identifying, extracting, and analyzing business data. In general this means analysis of sales revenue by products and/or departments, or by associated costs and incomes. Here we show that the very same type of software can be of great use also when it comes to the management of a university. Uppsala University has more than 10 years of experience of GLIS, an IT-based tool for extraction and presentation of management information. GLIS stands for Generalised Management Information System, (In Swedish “Generellt Lednings Informations System”). Here it is demonstrated how Uppsala University use GLIS in the management of several processes. Typical examples are the admission process and the planning of student intake, balancing of student load among courses, follow up analysis of educational programs and the bibliometric analysis of publication data.