Project Report

Students: George Nwigwe, Ik Agunede, Ezeiruaku

Chukwuemeka
ID#: 000588080, 000609041, 000573536
Group 21
An Application for Student Recruitment:
A GIS Case Study
GEOS 459: Applied GIS Capstone Project

Instructor: Wade Hawkins
Completion Date: April 16th 2014
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1) Introduction
SAIT Polytechnic is one of the top post-secondary institutions in Canada dedicated
to providing students with a relevant, skill-oriented education. In an effort to
continue to be a leading institute, SAITs Comprehensive Institutional Plan (CIP)
was developed in 2006. This plan outlines 27 strategic techniques and objectives
to be achieved by 2016. Recent statistics predict a decline of 6.2 % in Calgarys
population between the ages of 20-34, which represents the majority of SAITs
students. This projected shift has motivated SAIT Polytechnics Institutional
Planning Department to seek the help of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to
understand where their students come from and their background, to effectively
target areas with scarce enrollment.
2) Project Problem Statement
The project team wants the Institutional Planning Department (our client) to be
able to make sense out of the database they have and understand the distribution
of students, foreign and domestic, which would greatly improve their student
recruitment and retention approach.
Our client has a tabular data of SAIT students, but is unable to analyze student
based on their demographics or location, and unable to decipher a trend in the
distribution of students around the world, and more specifically, in Calgary.
Without an analysis of student demography and location, it would be difficult for
the Institutional Planning Department to know what areas to focus on in terms of
student recruitment and retention. Hence, the use of GIS technology is necessary
to address these problems. Not addressing these issues could potentially lead to a
decline in the number of SAIT students enrolled each term, which would
subsequently lead to a decrease in generated revenue. With these problems
solved, there would be:
- A better understanding of the distribution of SAIT students which could be
used for further analytical purposes in the future
- Increased revenue generation (based on student retention)
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- A better knowledge of areas where there are less students which would call
for more student recruitment in that area, and where there are more
students which would call for better student retention strategy.
Considering the above mentioned issues, the project team came up with some
basic line of action that would be taken to ensure that the problem is solved. They
include but are not limited to:
- Geocoding student location based on their addresses
- Analyzing the distribution of students at the city, province and international
level.
- Production of maps, graphs, and charts which would enable our client to
visually see the result of our analysis.
- The creation of an internet web mapping application which would give the
client more student-client interaction, and the functionality of adding more
student data as needed in the future for further analysis.
- Creation of a python script for data-clean up and data export to a GIS
environment (a geodatabase).
- A model to quickly run distance analysis from an interest point.
3) Project Technical Approach
The following paragraph depicts the methodology and steps taken by the group to
approach the project problem.
Data Collection
Retrieved student profile data from Client in excel.
Collected the Calgary census data (in the city, provincial, national,
and international level) from the Internet in Excel and CSV format.
Gathered City of Calgary base feature (Communities, Country
boundaries, Rivers, Schools, major cities, et al).



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Data Management

Data Conversion and Transformation, which includes;
Data format conversion (From a tabular document/file to a
feature class).
Geocoding SAIT Student Addresses at the International,
Provincial and City level.
Managing coordinate system through all datasets.
Data clean-up including refinement of individual datasets for a
specified analytical purpose.
Feature classes identification for each datasets.
Geodatabase and feature datasets creation to consolidate all
converted and transformed datasets.
Feature dataset population with the appropriate feature class.
Access Database creation to store excel spreadsheets.

Data Validation
Resolved unmatched and matched geocoding addresses in the
Interactive rematch window in Arcmap, to obtain the highest
possible geocoding accuracy.
Matched addresses postal code was cross referenced using Google
maps to confirm addresses.
Geocoded results were compared to client initial data to locate any
discrepancy.
Calgary socio-demography information was compared to individual
community profiles on the Calgary website to discover omissions.






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Data Analysis
Perform analysis based on the student demographic and City of
Calgary data collected.
Identifies which maps or data are important for successful
completion of each function in the unit.
Manipulation of captured data for a desired output.

Data Output
From the project goals and objectives, some analysis maps were
created using various mapping techniques (such as the choropleth,
proportional symbols, proportional symbol pie charts, bivariate
mapping techniques). Apart from the creation of maps, other
analytical output includes:
Statistical tables (including correlation and regression
coefficient analysis)
Charts
Model builder
Internet web application (ArcGIS Server)
Python scripts
Surveys
Mapbook
4) Scope Description
The project group was assigned the role of developing an innovative and
straightforward method to show the distribution of SAIT students in the city,
provincial, national and international level. All the properties of these students in
terms of gender, age, nationality, residency status, et al, in relation to the City of
Calgary demographics data.
In light of this, our client provided us with the student database (in Microsoft
Excel). This database contains student profile in the city, provincial, national, and
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international level, in terms of school description, residency status, nationality,
and other essential data needed to make this project a success.
The project deliverables would be achieved by building a model that would
eventually analyze SAIT student profiles, and produce an output in the form of
maps, graphs, charts, and other geospatial functions. This output would in turn
help to determine the location of SAIT students prior to and after gaining
admission into the institution. At the end of this project, the deliverables/geo-
spatial applications would be:
- Maps
- Graphs/charts
- Improving SAITs Register office student profile data collection method.
- Creation of a central database to easily access student information.
- Developing a model to create distance analysis of each student from SAIT
- Python script development to automate data clean up, addition to ArcGIS
geodatabase and map book creation.
- Internet web mapping.
5) Assumption and Constraints
Project assumptions and constraints need to be monitored throughout the entire
project life cycle, and can be amended or revised at any time if required.
Some of our project assumptions are:
- All set milestones and deadlines would be met
- Project client would easily and readily give out all information needed to
effectively complete the project.
- All team members will remain on the team for the entire duration of the
project.
- The City of Calgary community profile database is up to date.

Project constraints are limitations imposed on the project, and the team must
work within the boundaries restricted by these constraints. The basic constraints
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for this project are: the project scope, the project quality, schedule, budget,
resources and risk. Out of these six constraints scope, schedule, and budget are
more critical, hence special attention needs to be given to them.
- Scope: the client expressed a keen interest in the potential of GIS, however
the scope of the project had to be streamlined to a particular focus area.
- Budget: The team must use data freely available from the City of Calgary
and information provided by the client.
- Schedule: Team schedule is extremely condensed, therefore each tasks
should be completed in the allocated time.
The best way to deal with project constraints is to document them properly and
create a plan in such a way as to satisfy all project limitations.
6) Tasks Description
Streamlining project objectives: defining project scope, requirement and
objectives to effectively answer the clients specific demands.

Data collection: collecting excel spreadsheets containing students profiles
as well as community profiles from the City of Calgary.

Data Clean up and management: import student profile information into a
geodatabase and geocode each profile up till the international city level (if
possible).

Data analysis:
- Analyze student profile to extract information about gender, nationality,
number of applications entered in SAIT, Business stream.
- Compare local community profiles (gender, age distribution, nationality)
to the population of SAIT students from Calgary.

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Data Output: create maps displaying the distribution and characteristics of
SAIT students. Develop an internet mapping application that the client will
be able to use to add and remove layers to review the maps digitally.
7) Role Description & Responsibilities
See resource sheet on the attached MS project file
8) Schedule
See attached MS project file
9) Risk Management
Risk Impact Avoidance Mitigation
1 The project nature is
very transparent.
The project nature is
simple; therefore
there may not be
enough complexity to
satisfy capstone
project requirements
Consult with
capstone project
supervisor to seek
professional advices
and assistance
where needed
Incorporating enough
geospatial applications
and visual aids to project,
as much as we can within
the project scope
2 Data may require
clean-up/adjustments
It would have an
impact on our set
milestones and
deadlines
This risk may not be
avoided, since client
is not GIS oriented
Informing the client of our
data needs before he
gives out data
3 File/Database may
get corrupted
All data would be lost Having a back-up of
our database, and
having a back-up of
that back-up
Saving weekly updates of
geodatabase in the BGIS
O drive folder
4 Data may need to be
converted from one
file format to another
Attributes and fields
of a dataset may be
lost during
conversion
Advanced research
about proper
conversion
techniques before
carried out
Identify the data types
that could potentially be
lost, and exclude them
from the data analysis,
then a separate analysis
would be run on them
5 Client may not give
out data on time
It would have an
impact on our set
milestones and
deadlines
Reminding client
frequently of our
data needs and the
allotted time for the
project completion,
through regular e-
Preparing/cleaning up the
data we already have,
exporting them into an
already prepared
geodatabase, while
awaiting the data from
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mails and phone
calls
client

10) Performance Measurement/ Quality Plan
See attached excel file
11) Analysis
Before we began the analysis of the data we received from our client, we had to
do an extensive data clean up (removing alpha-numeric characters from the
headers, maintaining consistency between upper and lower case characters, et
al). We also wrote pythons script which would aid with the data clean-up process
and transfer of the data directly into a geodatabase and to create a map book.
After which, the data was brought over to the ArcGIS environment which offers
lots of functionality and data handling.
Moving on to the analysis, the following are some of the analysis that was done:
- Nearness of SAIT students within a specified distance (using model
builder) to SAIT Polytechnic
- The Distribution of Apprenticeship Students in Calgary and in Alberta
2012
- The Distribution of Daytime Students in Calgary 2012
- The Distribution of Enrolled Daytime Students in Calgary 2012
- Distribution of Continuing Education Distribution In Calgary & Alberta
2012
- Median income vs Percentage of SAIT Students in the Calgary
communities 2012
- Age group 20-34 vs SAIT Students in the Calgary Communities 2012
The majority of the maps are concentrated on Daytime students because
they represent 43 % of SAITs student body. Study area has been
centralized on Calgary, where the highest percentage of SAIT students
resides. (8 out 10 SAIT students are from Calgary).
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10) Result
Distribution Analysis Results

Daytime Students
Total Records of applicants received from client was 20,943.
We then geocoded, using this data, to be able to ascertain the location of these
applicants in Calgary. After geocoding, the total applicants of 20,943 became
20,887 (99.7% of the total, 20,943, with an error of 0.3%).
From the current figure of 20,887, there are 9,673 between the ages of 14 to 64
(43% of 20,887). This does not include the age range from 20 to 34.
The applicants between ages 20 to 34 years amounts to 11,214, out of which
9,740 are domestic applicants and 1,473 are international applicants.

Enrolled Students
For enrolled students in Canada in the year 2012, there was a total of 3,202
students (ages 20 to 34), from a total of 6,017 students (all age ranges). It is
important to note that from the total 3,202 students from ages 20 to 34, 42 of
them have been enrolled more than once in a program. Again, from the total
3,202 students, 216 of them (6.7% of 3,202) are international students, while
2,986 of them (93.3% of 3,202) are domestic students. Of the 2,986 domestic
students, 2,669 are Canadian citizens, 316 are Canadian Permanent Residents,
and 1 is a refugee.
For the enrolled domestic students in Canada, 2,743 (91.9% of 2,986) of them
were from Alberta, while 243 (8.1% of 2,986) of them were from other provinces.
Of the total 2,986 domestic students in Canada, 2,190 (73.3% of 2,986) of them
are from Calgary, while 796 (26.7% of 2,986) of them are from other cities within
Alberta.
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Faculties
Number
Enrolled
Students
(ages 20-34)
Total
Number of
Students
(all ages)
Enrolled
Percentage
(%)
Centre For Academic Learner
Services

122 287 42.5
MacPhail School of Energy

349 966 36.1
School of Business

424 1086 39.0
School of Construction

370 934 39.6
School of Health Public Safety

252 762 33.1
School of Hospitality &Tourism

126 498 25.3
School of Information &
Communication Technology

344 839 41.0
School of Manufacturing &
Automation

137 399 34.3
School of Transportation

66 246 26.8

Total

2190

6017

36.4%

2134 = 97.4% students out of the 2190 are the map-able students with Calgary
demographics record for each resided community.


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Apprentices Students
Total of 7411 = 100% records and 7390 = 99.5% out of the total data was captured
after Geocoding with an error of 21 = 0.05% (unmatched records).
Faculties Number of students Percentage
School of Manufacturing & Automation 2060 43%
School of Construction 1745 37%
School of Transportation 730 15%
School of Hospitality &Tourism 122 3%
MacPhail School of Energy 73 2%
School of Information & Communication
Technology 39 1%
Total Number of Students 4769

Continuing Education
Geocoding Accuracy 100%
# of Records 36851
Unmatched records 7


Calgary Alberta Canada World
Number of Continuing Education Students 36850 42607 43823 46875
Number of Distant Learning Students 6667 9255 9602 111758
Number of Continuing Education
(Practicum and Adult Learning Programs)
30191 33335 33903 35117

Faculty Number of Students Percentage
School of Business 11110 30%
Centre For Academic Learner Services 7805 21%
MacPhail School of Energy 4035 11%
School of Construction 3675 10%
School of Info & Comm Tech 2987 8%
School of Health Public Safety 2426 7%
Athletics & Recreation 2137 6%
School of Hospitality &Tourism 1347 4%
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School of Manufacturing & Automation 792 2%
Energy: Open Learning Instruct 366 1%
School of Transportation 152 0%
Corporate Training 26 0%
Total Number of students 36851
** refer to Appendix: Analysis map book to see the respective distribution maps.
Least/Common Analysis Results
Also as a result of the analysis done, we were able to find out the least common
and most common traits of each type of SAIT student.
Most Likely Student Characteristics Least Likely Student Characteristics
Gender Male Gender Female
Gender Count 42614 Gender Count 32536
Age ( at the time of
application)
18
Age ( at the time of
application) 20
Age Count 2453 Age Count 56
Business Stream Grant Business Stream Earned
Business Stream Count 17185 Business Count 3702
School Type
School of
Construction School Type
Centre of Academic
Leaner
School Type Count 6005 School Type Count 985
Program Code BA Program Code MDT
Program Count 1411 Program Count 13
Residency Domestic Residency International
Residency Count 18851 Residency Count 2036
City CALGARY City Zaria, Barcelona
City Count 13753 City Count 1
Province AB Province ZAPOPAN
Province Count 69276 Province Count 1
Country Canada Country Vietnam
Country Count 16335 Country Count 1
Citizenship Canadian Citizen Citizenship Refugee
Citizenship Count 16302 Citizenship Count 26


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Student Type Statistics Breakdown




Apprentices Statistics
Number of Students 4769
Average Student Age 27
Most Frequent Age Group 22
Faculty with the Highest Number of Students School of Manufacturing & Automation
Number of Students in the Faculty 2060
Course with the Highest Number of Students Electrician/Power Syst 2nd Yr
Number of Students in the Course
393
Continuing Education Statistics
Number of Students 36858
Average Student Age 31
Most Frequent Age Group 25
Faculty with the Highest Number of Students School of Business
Number of Students in the Faculty 2060
Course with the Highest Number of Students Health Care Provider
Number of Students in the Course 11110
Daytime Students Statistics
Number of Students 4323
Average Student Age 24
Most Frequent Age Group 19
Faculty with the Highest Number of Students School of Business
Number of Students in the Faculty 869
Course with the Highest Number of Students Business Administration
Number of Students in the Course 524
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Median Income vs Daytime SAIT Students Analysis Results
Correlation between the two variables is 0.012, showcasing that income is not a
driving reason to student enrollment. This comparison in the bivariate map
attached to this report. ** refer to Appendix: Analysis map book.
Distance Analysis Results
Daytime Students
Driving Time (in Minutes)
Distance
(Km)
Number of
Student
Percentage Correlation
6 5 675 16% -0.52
12 10 1373 32% Regression
18 15 1525 36% 0.47
24 20 576 13%

30 25 115 3%

36 30 1 0%

Total Number of
Students
4265
Continuing Education Students
Driving Time (in Minutes)
Distance
(Km)
Number of
Student
Percentage Correlation
6 5 8866 24% -0.78
12 10 10755 29% Regression
18 15 11425 31% 0.75
24 20 4438 12%

30 25 1362 4%

36 30 0 0

Total Number of
Students
36846






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Apprenticeship Students
Driving Time (in Minutes)
Distance
(Km)
Number of
Student Percentage Correlation
6 5 856 18% -0.60
12 10 1479 31% Regression
18 15 1431 30% 0.59
24 20 782 16%
30 25 221 5%
36 30 0 0
Total Number of
Students
4769
All Students
Driving Time (in Minutes)
Distance
(Km)
Number of
Student
Percentage Correlation
6 5 10397 22% -0.69
12 10 13607 29% Regression
18 15 15812 33% 0.66
24 20 5769 12%
30 25 1698 4%
36 30 1 0%
Total Number of
Students
47284

** Driving distance was calculated as an indicatory measure using the distance
buffer. It is assumed that the average driving speed is 50 km/h.
As a result of the analysis, our client was able to pin-point areas where there
student recruitment effort was not yielding the desired result, areas where
student recruitment has not been done in, and areas where there is a need for
student retention. There were also able to get a visual representation on how
scattered and clustered their students are, and where the majority of them are
coming from. This would help them develop a better student recruitment and
retention approach which would in turn increase their revenue.
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11) Conclusion
We were also able to come to a conclusion from our analysis that:
- Income does not affect student enrollment.
- Persons (potential SAIT students) between the ages of 20-34 have a
significant impact on student enrollment.
- Distance to SAIT Polytechnic significantly affects student enrollment
(Majority of students live close to school).
12) Recommendations
Given more resource and time it will be beneficial to obtain international world &
national world demographic information to further compare these results to SAIT
student profiles. Obtaining SAIT Student profiles for other academic years may
enable another group of students or the client to compute the growth rate of
SAIT students and compare it to socio-demographic information of Calgary
communities. It would be beneficial to leverage off the Python scripting portion of
the project to automate all data clean up steps and possible automate the
creation of Access database from excel files.










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13) References
(2013). Comprehensive Institutional Plan [PDF File]. Retried on Jan 20
th
2014,
available from
http://www.sait.ca/Documents/About%20SAIT/Publications/ComprehensiveInstit
utionalPlan.pdf
Fahad Usmani, (2012), Assumptions and Constraints in Project Management.
Available from http://pmstudycircle.com/2012/10/assumptions-and-constraints-
in-project-management/
Dataset Alphabetical, Retried on Jan 30
th
2014, available from
https://data.calgary.ca/OpenData/Pages/DatasetListingAlphabetical.aspx
Community Profiles, Retried on Jan 30
th
2014, available from
http://www.calgary.ca/CSPS/CNS/Pages/Research-and-strategy/Community-
profiles/Community-Profiles.aspx
Esri, Geocoding addresses in a table and rematching unmatched addresses,
ArcGIS Help. Retried on March 14
th
2014, available from
http://resources.arcgis.com/en/help/main/10.1/index.html#//00250000000m000
000
(2013). Factors Affecting Student enrollment [PDF File]. Retried on March 30
th

2014, available from
http://www.aved.gov.bc.ca/ccl_question_scans/documents/1-
Enrolment_Patterns.pdf
Victor J. Mora, (2004) [PDF File] retrieved on April 1
st
2014, Available from
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ir.89/pdf