Providing credible, objective, and relevant data and analysis.
The Office of Assessment and Decision Support (OADS) was established in 2011, bringing together and expanding upon the functions of the former Office of Planning and Institutional Research with additional analytical and assessment-related elements to strengthen the connection between assessment of student learning and institutional assessment.
OADS continues to develop the capacity for advanced data analytics with the goal of applying more rigorous methods and statistical models to help decision-makers understand the likely impacts of their decisions.
As our portfolio and mission continues to evolve to support the University, we remain dedicating to ensuring the quality of our analytical product. OADS has a responsibility to advocate for the right data systems, methods, and communication tools that will tell a more complete story and enable decision makers to better respond to stakeholder needs. Read more about our core values.
Expertise
Extensive experience with the myriad sources of Georgetown University data and how to access and combine those data in meaningful ways.
Analytic expertise in statistical modeling, survey research, assessment, program evaluation, and data mining.
Technical capabilities in database management and development, reporting tool creation, and data modeling.
Familiarity with and access to data on peer institutions and the broader higher education context via participation in data sharing consortia.
Our Team
Please feel free to contact us individually to discuss your projects or data needs. You can also reach our office by emailing oads@georgetown.edu.
Marianne Bujacich joined the Office of Assessment and Decision Support in October 2022. As an institutional research analyst, she assists with institutional reporting and assessment projects related to student data.
Marianne graduated from George Washington University with a BA in Psychology and a BS in Biological Anthropology. She is currently pursuing an MA in Organizational Sciences.
Lu Hao joined the Office of Assessment and Decision Support in 2014. As the Assistant Director/Senior Analyst, she leads the institutional research team and oversees institutional reporting to government agencies, higher-education associations and private publishers. Lu also leads and coordinates a variety of projects involving statistical analyses, survey research and data visualization to support strategic planning.
Lu graduated from Georgetown University with an M.S. in Mathematics & Statistics and an M.A. in Communication, Culture & Technology. Her prior work focused on standard setting in globalized value chains.
Trent Kennedy joined the Office of Assessment and Decision Support in February 2022 as a Senior Institutional Research Analyst. In that role, he serves as the leading analyst for the Georgetown University Law Center and Georgetown University – Qatar communities, providing support for survey research projects, external reporting, and select internal data needs. In addition to those responsibilities, he is committed to helping Georgetown stakeholders grow their capacity for data-driven projects and data-informed insights.
Trent earned his J.D. from the University of Minnesota, his M.A. in Student Personnel Services from Northwestern State University, and his B.A. in Higher Education Administration from Hampshire College. He currently serves as the Chair of the Association of American Law Schools Section on Empirical Study of Legal Education and the Legal Profession and the Immediate Past Chair of the Section on Student Services. He has a forthcoming article in the College Student Affairs Journal on the use of CAS Standards among law student affairs professionals. Outside of work, Trent is an avid reader and a happy (if not always graceful) hiker.
Ming joined OADS in August 2015 as Senior Statistical Analyst after receiving a PhD degree in Measurement, Statistics and Evaluation from the University of Maryland. In her current role, she supervises projects involving the use of research methodologies and advanced statistical techniques for the University’s data-driven decision making and strategic planning. She also takes the lead on predictive analytics for student enrollment and survey research methodology and data analysis.
Before joining OADS, Ming had taught in higher education and conducted research on methodological issues in statistical analysis and applied research on K-12 educational assessments. Ming’s research interests include:
-Predictive analytics in higher education -Classification accuracy in mixture models -Growth mixture models used for individual prediction -The use of Item Response Theory (IRT) in survey instrument development -Application of Structural Equation Modeling in higher education research
Outside of her work, Ming enjoys playing piano and cooking.
Christian joined the Office of Assessment and Decision Support in September 2022. As Evaluation and Research Coordinator, he coordinates and manages end-of-course evaluations for the Main Campus and is the primary University contact for the Blue course evaluation system. In this role he also provides project management and administrative support for related projects, including for the University’s Survey Coordinating Group.
Christian received an MPA from Fels Institute of Government at University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Villanova University’s School of Business, where he received a research fellowship. He has worked in the nonprofit and private sectors, focusing on elder rights advocacy, museum programming, and market research for global brands in the tech and healthcare industries. Prior to joining Georgetown, Christian’s roles were centered on impact evaluation, social enterprises, and the creative communication of quantitative information, while his research publications include articles on marketing ethics, customer service, and sustainable packaging for consumer goods.
Liza Moore joined the Office of Assessment and Decision Support in September 2021 as an Institutional Research Analyst. She supports institutional reporting, survey research, and assessment projects for the OADS team, and assists with analytical projects and statistical analyses. Liza is also skilled in data visualization and dashboarding and is passionate about communicating insights through strategic and creative data storytelling.
Liza graduated from Goucher College with an M.S. in Higher Education Policy, Research, and Administration (2021), and from St. Mary’s College of Maryland with a BA in Psychology and minor in Sociology (2016). Prior to joining OADS, Liza worked for several years as a Research Analyst in the Office of Planning, Research, and Institutional Assessment at Anne Arundel Community College, focusing on building dynamic dashboards and improving data literacy for faculty and staff. She also has experience in marketing research, having worked as a Project Manager at a full-service market research firm, focused on the education, transportation, hospitality, and healthcare industries.
Thanh Tran joined Georgetown in 2019 and is an Institutional Research Analyst for OADS. He is an expert of Quickbase, the Georgetown Main Campus’ budgeting and financial planning system, and has been maintaining the data integrity, as well as assisting users with functionalities. As part of the OADS team, Thanh supports the institutional planning and reporting for the University, while also performing analyses and delivering insights (e.g., on Budget and Actuals, Admissions, Enrollment/Tuition Management, Union negotiations, etc.) using a variety of analytic tools, especially R (tidyverse). He loves efficiency and always looks to automate and enhance processes to improve workflow of the University.
Thanh graduated from Bowdoin College with a degree in Mathematics and Psychology, along with a minor in Japanese. At Bowdoin, he worked at the Office of Institutional Research, Analytics & Consulting for three years, gaining invaluable insights into the world of institutional research. He consistently strives to build on the mathematical foundation and to advocate for data analytics in higher education.
Jiaqi Song joined the Office of Assessment and Decision Support in June 2022 as a Graduate Research Assistant. She supports specific data management and analysis projects of significant strategy and operational importance to Georgetown University for the OADS team, applying a variety of analytic tools such as Python, R and SQL. Her wide interests involve data wrangling, visualization, statistics, machine learning and so on.
Jiaqi is currently a graduate student in the Data Science and Analytics program of Georgetown University, and graduated from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen with a BS in Data Science (2021). In her spare time, Jiaqi enjoys having fun in music festivals or concerts.
Richard Daker is a PhD candidate in the Psychology Department at Georgetown University. His research focuses on predictors of academic success, with the goal of A) identifying factors that support student success and B) using those findings to develop methods to foster this success and help students achieve their academic potential.
Richard has published several research articles, including in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General as well as in npj Science of Learning. Before beginning his PhD, he worked at ideas42, a non-profit that aims to use behavioral science to do social good, where he developed and tested methods to boost academic success and graduation rates of community college students.
Danny Holzman is a PhD student in the Psychology Department at Georgetown University. His research focuses on better understanding and enhancing human cognition. Before beginning his PhD, Danny worked in the neurotechnology industry doing research on noninvasive brain stimulation.
Jackie Schlipp is the lead data analyst within the Provost’s Office of Academic Appointments. She is responsible for the coordination and execution of GU faculty internal reporting requests for the Office of Main Campus Faculty Affairs, the Office of Assessment and Decision Support, and in support of leadership across main campus. In addition, she oversees the ongoing design and development of more efficient business processes to improve the operations of the faculty affairs team. She also provides direct appointment oversight and support to the McDonough School of Business.
Jackie has been at Georgetown University since 2012. Before coming to GU, she worked as a Staff Accountant for payroll and an HRIS Analyst for HR at Chico’s FAS, Inc. in Fort Myers, FL. She earned a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Central Florida.
