1. What is your job title?

Manager, Surveys at Macquarie University.

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

I manage the team that looks after all external and internal student, staff, and alumni surveys, including developing survey methodology, engagement strategies, analysing data, generating insights, and advising on performance monitoring, benchmarking, and quality assurance at strategic and operational levels. Moreover, I work as the lead advisor of survey research and methodology, and I support staff across the university to design and deploy survey research projects and analysis. I also manage the UniForum program, which measures and benchmarks the efficient allocation of professional staffing in the university sector. Managing the UniForum program involves working with staff from different areas of the university for data collection and validation, and then helping senior management and business units understand the results.

My expertise in IR is managing survey projects, data analytics, generating actionable insights, and acting as a trusted advisor to the senior management on student experience, engagement and outcomes, and professional staff resourcing.

3. From your perspective, what will be the key skills, capabilities, and knowledge required for institutional research moving forward?

With the fast-changing data landscape and workforce, expectations for IR shifted from a ‘reporting culture’ to a culture that generates predictive analytics and precise insights for decision-making. AI and machine learning have started entering the higher education sector in student lifecycle analytics, with the increasing use of external vendors offering dynamic solutions. Data governance, data security, and adapting quickly to changes in technology, particularly using AI and machine learning algorithms, will be some key future skills and capabilities. IR professionals need to master what they can do better than the machine and better with the machines.