Othot Information

OSU has partnered with the data analytics vendor, Othot, since Fall 2019 to help recruit our growing freshman classes. In May 2022, OSU expanded our partnership to support enrolled students on their paths to graduation.

 

Data privacy is one of our chief concerns and has been a frequent topic of conversation as we develop our reports and datasets. Wherever possible, unnecessary data has been eliminated from reports, sensitive data has been simplified or obscured, and personally identifiable information has been withheld. Data is transferred using a secure portal, and Othot has several data protection strategies in place.

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Othot Dictionary

Below are a selection of terms that are unique to the Othot platform. Please review the IRA Data Dictionary for common terms at OSU. If there is an Othot term that is not included here that you would like to be added, please email dataliteracy@okstate.edu.

 

"Week" Factors

Among the Othot factors, some indicate a term and week designation. These selected weeks are generally significant within the academic calendar. Some factors, such as Account Balance, reflect a snapshot of data that updates weekly, up until the week indicated. Once that week has passed, the factor will become static, and a new factor with a later week will be updated. These factors may appear in a student's list of top importances/factors prior to the indicated week of the semester.

 

For example, in week 5 of the semester, you may see a factor that references week 6 ("Account Balance Week 6: Fall"). The value of this factor may change again in week 6, but will not change after that.  A new factor with a future week will be updated from that point forward, up through the week indicated (such as "Account Balance Week 10: Fall"). 

 

Cumulative Factors

Cumulative factors count the number of relevant events or interactions up to the week or semester indicated. By analyzing historical data, the Othot models can identify a benchmark number that indicates a higher likelihood of student success. Measuring the cumulative value weekly allows us to compare it back to the indicated week or semester historically ("# Event Swipes (Cumulative) - Week 3: Fall"). In this way, we can identify students who have already achieved the benchmark identified by the factor versus students who are still working toward that goal.

 

Common Factors

• # A/B/C/D/F Midterm Credits
  The number of midterm credit hours, where grade = A/B/C/D/F for the term
• # Credits
  The total number of credits for which the individual is enrolled for the term; includes withdrawn courses
• # Event Swipes (Cumulative) - Week #
  The total number of sign-ins that the individual had for Events as of the indicated week of the term; events are most often recorded through CampusLink or Slate
• # Missing Midterm Credits
  The number of midterm credit hours for the term where no grade was submitted
• # of Program Changes

  The number of program changes interactions that occurred prior to the indicated date. This includes students who have added a major or dropped one.

• # Success Meeting Swipes (Cumulative)

  The total number of Success Meetings that the individual had attended during the indicated period

• # Traditional Courses

  The number of courses for which the student was enrolled that have an Instruction Method of Traditional for the indicated term (usually, in-person)

• % COA Met by Gift Aid

  The percent of Cost of Attendance that is met by gift aid (all sources - external, federal, foundation, institutional, state; waivers are subtracted from the COA). This generally includes scholarships and grants.

• App Major Change

  Indicates whether or not the individual's major was changed during the application process. Options are Same Major, Forced Change, and Student Change

• Class BOAP

  Student classification at the beginning of the academic period

• Concurrent Credits

  The number of credits that the individual earned from Concurrent or Dual Enrollment college-level work

• Distance

  The distance between an individual's high school zip code and OSU's zip code.

• Earliest Start Time

  The earliest start time of all courses in which the student is enrolled for the indicated term

• Entry Type
  Indicates if the individual was admitted to OSU as a Freshman, Transfer, or Readmit
• Essays Sent Flag
  Indicates Yes/No if the individual submitted an essay for admissions
• First Generation Flag
  Indicates Yes/No if the individual is a first generation student
• High School GPA

  High School GPA

   

  *Note, prior to Fall 2025, Unweighted High School GPA was provided to Othot. For Fall 2025 onward, Weighted High School GPA will be given. This means that fewer students will be flagged with this concern for a few years until the unweighted GPA data is removed from the training data due to age.

• Highest Test Score
  Othot derived; converts the student's SAT Composite score to an ACT scale, then takes the max of the converted SAT & the ACT Composite to determine the highest score acheived by an individual
• Housing Flag
  Indicates Yes/No if the individual is living on campus
• Leadership Sent Flag
  Indicates Yes/No if the individual submitted their Leadership resume for admissions
• NSO Flag
  Indicates Yes/No if the individual attended Orientation & Enrollment
• OSU Credits Earned (Cumulative)
  The number of credits a student has successfully completed at OSU (final grades of D+ or P)
• OSU GPA (Cumulative)
  The individual's institutional GPA for all OSU completed courses
• Parent # in College
  The number of individuals in the parent's family that are in college, from the FAFSA
• Parent # in Family
  The number of individuals in the parent's family, from the FAFSA
• Resource Amount
  The total amount of oustide aid (e.g. private scholarships)
• Student # in College
  The number of individuals in the student's family that are in college, from the FAFSA
• Student # in Family
  The number of individuals in the student's family, from the FAFSA
• Territory
  The recruiting territory to which the individual belonged during the admissions process
• Total Precourse Credits

  The total number of credits that the individual earned prior to their graduation from high school (Adv Standing, Credit by Exam, AP, IB, concurrent/dual enrollment, etc.) 

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Othot Implementation

The implementation timeline for the Othot retention module is below. We are focusing our initial efforts on generating predictive models for first year students (freshmen and transfers). This is the most intensive stage as IRA builds the foundations for our recurring data sharing processes. Once we have a tested and trusted model for first-year students, we will continue to develop models for students through six years at OSU.

 

Implementation Timeline