In 2021, Emerson College decided to improve consistency in data analysis across all areas of the college through the establishment of shared practices including: Reporting standards and governance, data management, and common tools. As part of this initiative - the Data Analytics Program was founded. The first major project was the implementation of the enterprise reporting solution Argos from Evisions with the goal to become the college's new institutional reporting tool deployed campus-wide. The Argos Reporting System is a user-friendly web based reporting tool designed for novice and experienced data reporters allowing users to pull Banner data using pre-made reports with multiple filters.
The following clear objectives will be met with the adoption of Argos:
- Enhance reporting data accessibility and consistency by building a centralized data repository
- Enable Emerson departments to consistently and collaboratively analyze common data to inform institutional decision making
- Establish reporting standards and guidelines for users
- Increase self-service and access to accurate and well-formatted information in a timely manner
The Argos Reporting Environment was implemented and launched in February 2022. We continued with migration of mission critical reporting for Student Foundational Data, Key metrics and Institutional Dashboard (Enrollment, Financial aid, IR, Registrar’s office) in close collaboration with end users in the June 2022 through February 2023 period. All Cognos reports have been migrated and converted to Argos.
The migration/conversion required careful coordination and used considerable amount of functional stakeholders' time to become familiar with the new reporting tool. The Cognos reporting environment remained available during this transition.
Starting with Friday, June 30, 2023, Cognos Reports will no longer be available to the end users. While user access to Cognos will be disabled, data will continue to be available on request basis for reporting purposes from specified functional units for the foreseeable future until further notice. Users can request access to Cognos with supervisor approval via a Helpdesk ticket for ad-hoc report runs.
The IT BI team will remain available to work with you in converting any remaining reports and building new, customized reports (on request basis).
Existing Users
To log into Emerson’s Argos environment, simply visit argos.emerson.edu in a web browser. Select the "Use Single Sign-On" option and login using your Emerson credentials.
New Users
Argos is made available to any Banner user as needed. If you are new to Argos, please review our Getting Started with Argos Reporting guide with information on how to request access to Argos. Two important steps are required in order to gain access:
- You will need to request access from the data owner. Please see the security article for more information.
- Once access is granted, the user is able to access Argos by visiting argos.emerson.edu.
Argos contains data for reporting from many Subject Areas at the college, including the following:
- Academic Affairs including Academic Programs, Registrar and Administration
- Admissions
- Advancement
- Campus Life
- Enrollment Management
- Financial Aid
- Housing
- Institutional Research
- Library
- Residential Education
- Student Accounts
The Emerson College IT Business Intelligence team migrated/converted reports for end users as part of this implementation. We had identified Argos reports which are similar and consolidated them in order to reduce redundancy in data blocks. In addition, other clean up issues included removing duplicate rows in output, verifying accuracy of data and adherence to standards developed by the data standards committee. If you cannot find what you need and for specific report requirements that are not available in an existing report, submit a request to the IT Helpdesk and specify the fields and filters needed in your new report.
Banner student data is used in the training exercises. Participants will need to have access to Argos and be able to see the data. If you are new to get started, see the “Accessing and Using Argos” section with information on how to request access.
General training sessions via Zoom were provided by Evisions in the November 2022 through February 2023 period during the following times.
- Session November 18, 2022, 12 - 1pm ET - Click here to Register via Zoom
- Session November 30, 2022, 12 - 1pm ET - Click here to Register via Zoom
- Session December 5, 2022, 12 - 1pm ET - Click here to Register via Zoom
- Session January 11, 2023, 12 - 1pm ET - Click here to Register via Zoom
- Session February 17, 2023, 11am - 12pm ET - Click here to Register via Zoom
Additional training sessions can be provided one-on-one or with functional user groups on a per request basis. Please submit a ticket via Helpdesk if you are interested.
Recordings from past training sessions by individual departments can be requested via the Helpdesk. Past training sessions:
- September 12, 2022 - Speech@Emerson
Browse the technical training offerings from Evisions:
For additional questions, special requirements, or to schedule a meeting, please contact us at helpdesk@emerson.edu.