Host Debbie Phelps sits down with institutional research, effectiveness, and data leaders across higher education. Choose an episode to listen and read the full transcript.
Empathy, Improv & the Myth of Neutral Data
Jeremy Goodman challenges the idea that IR must stay perfectly neutral, showing how improv techniques and audience empathy help data professionals present findings to campus stakeholders without losing credibility.
Managing Data Demands & Setting Boundaries in IR
A roundtable on managing stakeholder expectations and preventing burnout — project management habits, the "yes, but" qualifier, calendar blocking, and transparent task lists that keep campus partnerships sustainable.
IPEDS, Peer Selection & Actionable Data (with Jon Gallegos)
Jon Gallegos walks through building a benchmarking data store from scratch — leadership buy-in, standardizing on IPEDS, and using Python, Snowflake, and clustering to find real peer institutions.
Why Campus Culture Is the Key to Data Success
Dr. Jason Simon explores why "adaptive challenges" — the human elements, relationships, and institutional norms — determine the success of higher ed data work more than any technical tool or platform.
Finding Your Place in Metrics Strategies (with Lee Howell)
Lee Howell breaks down his "Metric Strategies" framework, showing how higher ed institutions can shift data ownership from a siloed "me" to a collaborative "we" by helping every colleague — not just the IR office — find their place in the data ecosystem.
Adaptive Data Governance
An iterative, "progress over perfection" framework for data governance that empowers colleagues and builds a single source of truth.
Building Lasting Tech Partnerships
The "Effectiveness Equation" of vendor management — defining success early and turning technology spending into mission strengths.
Building a Data-Driven Accreditation Culture
Transforming accreditation from a compliance burden into an opportunity for growth, knowledge management, and continuous improvement.
Embedding Futures Thinking into Strategy
Strategic foresight versus forecasting, the Futures Triangle, and why data visualizations are never truly neutral.
How Ozarks Tech Links Data, Budgets & Strategy
Building an integrated planning model that unites assessment, departmental planning, program review, and budgeting into one cycle.
Why AI & Humans Both Depend on It
A Datatelligent roundtable on context engineering, the semantic layer, and what turns a hallucinating chatbot into a trusted tool.
Peer Support & Student Success
How the Hope Squad peer-to-peer program, survey data, and a sense of belonging drive student well-being and success.
The Power of Proactive Leadership
Why preparation is self-respect — proactive leadership, financial literacy, and career resilience in a shifting landscape.
Advancing in Higher Ed Data
Mapping the road to leadership in institutional research, and the soft skills that help data professionals rise.
Transforming Research, Data & Campus Administration
Cutting through the hype to explore "agentic AI," augmented intelligence, and keeping a human in the loop.
Professional Development
How AIR supports data professionals, builds campus-wide data literacy, and advocates for the data community.
For higher education institutions, data is everywhere—siloed across your Student Information System (SIS), Learning Management System (LMS), CRM and other sources. Institutional Research (IR) departments