University Of Alaska Anchorage: Storytelling Through Data

Press release from the University of Alaska Anchorage:

August 10, 2021

Ask Daniel Campbell, Ph.D., to talk about his career in education and research and
he’ll kick things off with a joke: “I liked college so much I never left,” citing
his appreciation for higher education’s potential to advance knowledge and understanding.

That admiration led Campbell to his recent position as director of UAA’s Office of
Institutional Research, which he began remotely from his home in Pullman, Washington,
on June 20. In this role, Campbell will lead Institutional Research in support of
the university’s mission to ensure student success by developing data for informed
decision making.

“When we think about research, we have to think about it from multiple perspectives,”
said Campbell. “How can we work with our colleagues to learn what kind of data they
need? And when we ask a question and explore the answer, what's the utility of that?
If we've generated the same report for 20 years, is it still helping folks? Research
is really important to a continuous improvement model.” 

Before coming to UAA, Campbell had been involved virtually at every level and in every
type of research over his two-decade career — from applying for grants to administering
them, to his current research and practice in the use of data-driven decision making
in higher education administration.

Starting his career at Eastern Washington University, Campbell later transitioned
to Washington State University to build a non-service line oncology research center.
During that time, he developed his passion for higher education. From there, he was
recruited by the University of Idaho (UoI) where he took a leadership position with
one of its largest federally-funded pathogenic research centers and later built one
of the largest assessment and accreditation offices at the institution.

While working at UoI, Campbell completed his master’s degree in higher education,
focusing on research administration and grant development. That focus was further
refined when Campbell proceeded toward his doctorate, examining how university leadership
at all levels classifies and assesses data for policy making, strategic planning and
budgetary allocations.

“Data tells a story,” said Campbell. “How can that story be shared and utilized to
inform leadership in the greater context of decision making? Higher education is incredibly
complex, nuanced and impactful. I want to make sure I'm able to listen and hear what
leaders across the institution and our partners across the state need, and help provide
them with high-utility data. 

Campbell also plans to make research made by him and his team more available in ways
that the broader community can use in their work. 

“Institutional Research offices typically talk about graduation rates, degrees awarded
and student demographic breakdowns. But there's also depth and power in narrative
stories, information that transcends and parallels the numerical” said Campbell. “Going
back to how data can tell a story, sometimes that’s a graph or a figure, and other
times it's something richer. So we want to make sure we continue to deliver data consistently
while appropriately and respectfully capturing any narrative and sharing it in a way
that communicates to all sectors the impact that UAA has.”

This press release was produced by the University of Alaska Anchorage. The views expressed here are the author’s own.