Five Questions with Liz Hemsley
Strategy and Planning Advisor, La Trobe University, Australia
Liz chose to be interviewed in chair #15.
1. What is your job title?
Strategy and Planning Advisor at La Trobe University.
2. Briefly, how would you describe your role in terms of your place in your institution?
I support the strategic and operational planning processes at La Trobe University. My role supports the leaders of the university to make effective evidence-based decisions by providing relevant and timely data. Based on the strategic goals of the university and the KPIs that underpin the success of those goals, I collate, transform and report on a variety of data at regular intervals. I provide this information to assist leaders in planning for the year ahead and reflecting on outcomes from the year before. I also help coordinate the design, implementation and management of business improvement activities across the university.
3. From your perspective, what are the emerging areas of interest in institutional research?
- Performance-based funding
- Artificial intelligence and data science
- Online teaching and online learning
4. What do you believe will be the future priorities for institutional research?
I think the future priority for institutional research moving forward will be around using predictive analytics on student performance and success data to improve the outcomes of our students. By applying this level of analytics, we can better the possibility of retention and completion by identifying patterns and warning signs of student attrition. While retention continues to be one of the biggest concerns for institutions, I think it is important to address this issue in a proactive way.
5. Complete this statement: In my role, I can’t operate effectively without …
…the supportive team around me! Both within and outside of the department I work in, I rely heavily on a variety of people to provide me with information quickly and frequently.
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