Coaching, training, and educational opportunities to increase assessment knowledge and skills.
The Assessment in the AM series is A&R’s annual public speaker series, open to all on the University of Arizona campus. These trainings are led by subject matter experts from across UArizona and the United States.
Academic Year 2025-2026
Leveraging Qualtrics’ Potential Register Now
Where? ENR2 RM S215 (in-person only)
When? Thursday, Jan 29th 2025 9-10:30 am
Format: in-person only
Dr. Megan Forecki, coordinator and lead analyst of the Graduating Senior Survey, will provide applied tips and tutorials on how to make the most of Qualtrics’ built-in features. Participants will learn to leverage tools like content validation, automated triggers, SSO authentication, and built-in reporting to improve the quality of your data and respondents’ user experience.
Speaker
Megan Forecki, PhD | Lead, Institutional Assessment Professional, Student Engagement & Career Development
Megan Forecki currently serves as the Institutional Assessment Lead in Student Engagement and Career Development (SECD). In her role, she oversees the University of Arizona’s Graduating Senior Survey, and supports SECD’s assessment strategy through data management and building relationships across campus to support students’ undergraduate and post-graduation success. Megan has a PhD from the Center for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Arizona and earned her MS in College Student Personnel Administration from Illinois State University.
Building Rigorous Retention Analyses Register Now
Where? ENR2 RM S107 (in-person and remote options)
When? Tuesday, March 3rd 2025 9-11 am
Format: in-person and virtual
This 2-hour session will introduce attendees to the core concepts and techniques used to conduct applied retention analyses across the U of A campus, differentiating between descriptive, causal inference, and predictive analyses.
Speaker
Kendra Thompson-Dyck, PhD | Director, Assessment & Research, Student Success
Dr. Kendra Thompson-Dyck serves as Director of Assessment & Research in Student Success at the University of Arizona. Her work supports institution-wide data collection and assessment to improve undergraduate student experiences and outcomes.
Sarah Kyte, PhD | Sr. Research Scientist, Student Success, Central Team
Sarah Kyte, PhD, is the Senior Research Scientist in Student Success, and a faculty affiliate in Educational Policy Studies and Practice. A sociologist by training, her work takes a holistic view of practices and policies that support student success and effective strategies for bringing data-driven tools to practice.
Ashley Hurand | Director, University Analytics & Institutional Research
Ashley Hurand serves as Director for University Analytics & Institutional Research (UAIR) at the University of Arizona. UAIR is responsible for managing the Enterprise Data Warehouse as well as the institution’s self-service reporting tool, UAccess Analytics.
Heather Haeger, PhD | Associate Professor, Educational Policy Studies and Practice, Member of the Graduate Faculty, Research Director, STEM Learning Center
Dr. Haeger is the Research Director for the Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM) Learning Center and an Associate Professor in Educational Policy Studies and Practice at the University of Arizona. Her research is focused on equity in educational practices and barriers to full participation in STEM education.
Fall and Spring 2025
- Panel: AI at the Intersection of Assessment and Research - Marla Rodriguez (Arizona Online), Antonio Escalante Jr. (Dean of Students), Dr. Brian C. Heinze (Research, Innovation, & Impact), Erin Whittig (Student Success & Retention Innovation.
- Crafting Effective and Intentional Data One-Pagers - Dr. Elisa Sperandio (A&R)
Spring 2024
- Propensity Score Matching - Dr. Ned Tilbrook (A&R). Resources: Propensity Score Matching guide in A&R's Assessment Toolkit.
- Web Accessibility & Survey Design - Jeff Bishop (Disability Resource Center), Dr. Elisa Sperandio (A&R), Dr. Ned Tilbrook (A&R). Resources: Accessibility in Survey Design guide in A&R's Assessment Toolkit.
Spring 2023
- Leading with Logic Models and Theories of Change. Logic Model Worksheet.
- Dashboard Design Thinking (Review a recorded version of a similar presentation for Women in Data Science here).
Spring 2022
Assessing Structures for Serving and Indicators of Servingness as a Hispanic Serving Institution
Cutting through the Noise: Leveraging Data Visualization for Successful Communication of Results. Data Visualization Resource Guide.
