About Us

Our Mission, Vision, and Team

Mission

The Office of Planning, Assessment, and Institutional Research empowers the Penn State community to use rigorous evidence and insights to realize the University’s land grant mission of teaching, research, and service. OPAIR provides a central point of contact for University data acquisition, reporting, analysis, and governance; assessment; strategic planning; and accreditation.

Vision

The Office of Planning, Assessment, and Institutional Research (OPAIR) will evolve into Penn State’s information hub.

OPAIR will use its unique position at the nexus of research, accreditation, assessment, and strategic planning to support individual unit endeavors towards organizational excellence by making institutional data and strategic information easily accessible, clearly understood, and well-leveraged both within the University and across the Commonwealth.

OPAIR will also identify potential parallels and partnerships both internally and across Penn State’s units and campuses, building and supporting new networks to boost collaboration, efficiency, and innovation.

Our Team

Administration
Lance Kennedy-Phillips

Lance Kennedy-Phillips

Vice Provost for Planning, Assessment, and Institutional Research

Rachel Avila

Rachel Avila

Administrative Support Coordinator

Melissa Meyer

Melissa Meyer

Executive Assistant and Business Operations Lead

Marie Sullivan

Marie Sullivan

Director of Accreditation

 Catherine E. Watt

Catherine E. Watt

Senior Director of Policy Analysis

Abby-Gail Blanchard

Abby-Gail Blanchard

Graduate Assistant

Assessment
Betty Harper

Betty Harper

Assistant Vice Provost for Assessment

Christopher Barnes

Christopher Barnes

Assistant Director of Assessment

Kirsten Hochstedt

Kirsten Hochstedt

Assistant Director of Assessment

Jessica Myers

Jessica Myers

Assistant Director of Assessment

Kelsey Colwell

Kelsey Colwell

Assessment Specialist

Data Modeling

Katarina Durasova

Katarina Durasova

Director of Data Modeling

Sravani Gogulamudi

Sravani Gogulamudi

Metadata - Developer

Jeffrey Molek

Jeffrey Molek

Data Modeling Analyst

Amanda Innocent-Ike

Amanda Innocent-Ike

Data Modeling Analyst

OPEN POSITION

OPEN POSITION

Data Modeling Analyst

Data Engineering

Frank Kachurak

Frank Kachurak

Interim Director of Data Engineering

Sharlene Luo

Sharlene Luo

Data Engineer - Architect/Developer

John Saraka

John Saraka

Data Engineer - Developer

Crippen Taylor

Crippen Taylor

Data Engineer

OPEN POSITION

OPEN POSITION

Senior Data Engineer

Data Science and Analytics

Carly Sunseri

Carly Sunseri

Director of Data Science and Analytics

Savitha Kolar

Savitha Kolar

Data Scientist

Xianzeng Niu

Xianzeng Niu

Data Scientist

Humaira Rahman

Humaira Rahman

Business Systems Analyst

Yuanhong Zhu

Yuanhong Zhu

Data Scientist

Institutional Reporting

Kim Marchek

Kim Marchek

Director of Institutional Reporting

Matthew Gueguen

Matthew Gueguen

Analysis and Planning Consultant

Cheryl Murphy

Cheryl Murphy

Data Modeling Analyst

Dan Nugent

Dan Nugent

Data and Reporting Analyst

Holly Pedri

Holly Pedri

Institutional Reporting Specialist

Kendra Yoder

Kendra Yoder

Data Analyst

Planning, Policy, and Measurement
Daniel Newhart

Daniel Newhart

Assistant Vice Provost for Planning, Policy, and Measurement

Karen Henninger

Karen Henninger

Director of Data Governance

Alison Parker

Alison Parker

Planning Consultant

Michael Rosenberg

Michael Rosenberg

Senior Policy Analyst

Project Operations

Amy Elliott

Amy Elliott

Assistant Vice Provost for Project Operations

Mary Boyadzhiev

Mary Boyadzhiev

Project Manager/Business Analyst

Abigail Picozzi

Abigail Picozzi

Part-Time Marketing Communications Specialist

Aziza Ismail

Aziza Ismail

Part-Time Instructional Designer