For too long institutional research (IR) has played a merely descriptive role within higher education. Generating, cleaning, and disseminating data have become the building blocks of the field. These actions can no longer serve an institution accountable to its constituents in a world of injustice and a global health crisis. IR professionals will need to turn off autopilot to enhance our roles as advocates and storytellers. Join Deborah Lee from Concordia University Irvine and Rosa Belerique from the New York Film Academy in this call to action as we discuss how to understand and use data for effective advocacy.

Deborah Lee is the Director of Institutional Research and Assessment and the Accreditation Liaison Officer at Concordia University Irvine. Her background is in criminology, sociology, and research methods. She oversees institutional research, assessment, regional accreditation, specialized accreditation, and state authorization while also serving as the co-chair for the Retention and Persistence Committee at Concordia. As an alumna of the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC) Assessment Leadership Academy, Deborah has served on the WSCUC Academic Resource Conference Proposal Review Committee for the past five years. She was also elected to the Board of Directors for the California Association for Institutional Research (CAIR) from 2017 to 2019 and is currently serving her second year as an IPEDS Educator for the Association for Institutional Research (AIR).

Rosa Belerique serves as the Vice President of Institutional Research and Effectiveness at the New York Film Academy (NYFA) and 2020 Vice President and 2021 President of the California Association for Institutional Research (CAIR). In her role at NYFA Rosa supports assessment and program review efforts, strategic planning, and reporting. Her work in assessment and institutional research led to her role as a mentor within the WSCUC Assessment Leadership Academy (ALA). She has a Master of Science in Counseling with an emphasis in Student Development in Higher Education, and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Communication Arts. She has over 10 years of experience in higher education and has specialized in creating offices of institutional research and assessment structures during that time.  

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