What activities and passions bring you joy outside of your time with OPAIR?
Outside of my time with OPAIR, I enjoy spending time with my husband and three children, ages 17, 14, and 10. They are all very active in sports, so we spend most nights and weekends cheering them on in soccer, basketball, and baseball/softball. When we find ourselves with a rare night or weekend off, we love spending time with family and friends, traveling, relaxing at the New Jersey shore, listening to music, or going to see musicals.
Could you share your professional background and explain how it has guided you to your role at OPAIR?
I have spent most of my career in higher education, primarily in Institutional Research, starting at a community college in 2006. I was excited to be offered an opportunity to join OPAIR in September of 2023.
Can you discuss an accomplishment that you are particularly proud of?
In my former position, I created the first Institutional Research and Planning Manual to document instructions for every standard report our small office created. This resource was beneficial not only to myself when running the reports every year but also to my successor when I left the position.
What are the highlights of working as part of the Institutional Reporting Team?
I am very fortunate to work on such a great team with a supportive manager and excellent coworkers! I have learned so much from them about working with and automating large datasets, especially since I came from a much smaller institution.
Can you describe a typical day for a Data Analyst? What are your key responsibilities?
As a data analyst, my typical day involves working on both internal and external data requests. IPEDS, Common Data Set, US News surveys are a few of the major projects I’ve worked on, along with my fellow team members over the past year or so.
What aspects of your role motivate you and which do you find the most fulfilling?
One of our team goals is to increase efficiency and automate our standard reports as much as possible, and I find this process exciting and challenging. When the code and views we created last year produce this year’s report without errors, it is a very satisfying feeling!