How I Use R and Shiny for Data Analytics in The Treasury's Use Case

Outside the classroom, data analytics has a purpose.

February 1, 2025

Lack of a System

Although student organizations at Notre Dame are supported by tools that the university developed, there isn't a definite way to look at students' membership statuses directly from the university's payment platform. We are usually only given a CSV or Excel file. For treasurers in the past, manual table manipulation and filtering was needed to assess a student's membership status.

When I interned for TJC in the Summer of 2024, I learned about the concept of dashboarding. That is—to make a one stop shop for business insights. This inspired me to look into this kind of solution for the Asian American Association ("AAA"). I began developing our Membership Status Platform immediately after my internship before the Fall 2024 Semester started.

Why is this Important?

We do many different events and activities in AAA. All these events are expensive. Membership dues help us get individual contributions so we can fund these events. In the past, it was easy for people to falsify memberships because previous boards couldn't instantaneously check membership statuses. With this system in place, any board member can look at the roster and our members can check if their membership is active or expired. We also use membership figures to prove our eligibility for university-based funding for student organizations.

Costs and Benefits

This system did not cost us anything. All one needs for this kind of system is a business or data analyst who can use R (or Python) and learn Shiny—the R package that lets us use this. As of February 2, 2025, we have recorded 209 individual transactions.

This is about a 318% increase in membership dues collections from previous AAA board members.

Transparency is a Virtue

The members that we care for are our stakeholders.

January 20, 2025

Starting the Transparency Initiative

This year, The Treasury pioneered the issuance of Treasury Transparency Reports. We believe that our stakeholders deserve to know where the funds of AAA goes. Each month (excluding January for Christmas Break), The Treasury publishes a report on revenues, expenditures, and current balances that is viewable by members.

The Treasury Works in the Background

There are things we do that people don't realize. As Treasurer, I coordinate with our board members, university departments, and councils to secure funding.

January 12, 2025

Funding

I sound like a business major (I am) when I say this, but the lifeblood of an organization is funding. Without money, we can't operate. I absolutely love being the treasurer of my organization because I get to apply what I learn from the Mendoza College of Business in our day-to-day operations.

Asian Allure

Asian Allure is the biggest cultural showcase event at the University of Notre Dame. This also entails thousands of dollars in expenses. The Treasury is in charge of reaching out to alumnus for spending, and getting funding grants from the offices of the university. Because of our board's efforts, we were able to fundraise and make Asian Allure the biggest it has ever been.

AAA Family Groups

This year, we achieved the goal of funding our family groups. Family groups are important because this builds community. Providing funding helps us ease the burdens of spending out of pocket. We prioritized the provision of funds this academic year, and because of this, we are able to provide stipends for our members.

Study Breaks

Study breaks are essential in an academically-rigorous institution like Notre Dame. Given our funding initiatives, we were able to provide more snacks and food during our midterm and finals season study breaks.

Asian Winter Retreat

Asian Winter Retreat is an annual event we host to build community. Because of funding initiatives, spending for the venue, transportation, and supplies were made easier.

More Events!

These are just examples of what AAA prepares for. As we begin the Spring 2025 Semester, we anticipate more events (that need funding!). The Treasury will always be thrilled and honored to prepare our organization.

Board Members of the Asian American Association (Academic Year 2024-2025)