Five Questions with Louise Hargreaves

Bond University, Australia

Louise chose to be interviewed in her own chair

1. What is your job title?

Manager, Government Relations and Institutional Research.

2. Briefly, how would you describe your role in terms of your place in your institution?

Our team is situated in the Information and Planning unit within the Office of Strategy, Systems and People (SSP). The Office is a central, independent unit reporting directly to the Vice President of Operations. My role is responsible for providing information and analysis to support strategic planning and management decision making, particularly in relation to the external policy environment. This includes researching and monitoring government policy, financial, demographic and other factors relating to the University’s strategy and performance, and ensuring that senior executives are informed of developing trends. I also manage data collections including surveys, international rankings, ratings and benchmarking.

3. From your perspective, what are the emerging areas of interest in institutional research?

One of the fundamental purposes of institutional research is to assist in balancing short-term decision making with long-term planning and strategic objectives. As institutional research continues to develop from a service-based resource dedicated to supporting top-level management, to a more inclusive, institution-wide model servicing a multitude of stakeholders, we have the opportunity to add value to decision making at the operational as well as the strategic level. The challenge in an environment of technological change (e.g. machine learning and big data analytics etc.) is to balance the short-term reactionary and opportunistic decisions with decisions necessary to implement the long-term strategy.

4. What do you believe will be the future priorities for institutional research?

For a profession that is less than 60 years old, institutional research has undergone regular evolution to meet the changing needs of higher education. This ability to adapt to data and information needs will see the role of institutional research become more relevant in a rapidly changing environment where decision making is becoming more complex. The future priorities for institutional research are no different to other professions undergoing disruptive change. The question is, how do we continue to add value in a world where tools and data—once the domain of information and planning offices—become more widely accessible? In essence, we are facing the same disruption as universities—once the originators and keepers of knowledge—and the traditional university model is now being challenged by automated learning platforms and the availability of knowledge online. In a new world of digital technologies, artificial intelligence and robots, we may need to consider reprioritising the institutional research skills set. Technical and analytical skills have long dominated institutional research; however, issues intelligence and contextual intelligence will become progressively more important. Our internal stakeholders will increasingly demand more than standard data reports, they will be seeking contextual understanding and information on how to apply the research findings. As institutional researchers, we need to have an extensive knowledge of the sector within which we work, and a deep understanding of how we can progress the institution’s objectives within this environment. Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

5. Complete this statement: In my role, I can’t operate effectively without…

…the support, knowledge, and motivation of my fellow institutional researchers. I am also very fortunate to have mentors who encourage a high-performance environment and give so generously of their time in bringing each and every team member to their full potential.

Read the May 2018 AAIR newsletter Right Here, Right Now!

May 2018 Newsletter

Answer 5 Questions

Would you like to feature in the ‘Institutional Researcher’s Corner’ segment of our newsletter, The Institutional Researcher? Contact our trusty editors with the answers to 5 simple questions, and we’ll feature you in an upcoming issue. Email Our Editors