Analytics Culture Roadmap: Action Steps for the Journey

Dr. Paige Borden is the chief analytics officer for the University of Central Florida. She is responsible for designing, developing, and leading enterprise analytics and oversees the division of analytics and integrated planning, including institutional knowledge management, institutional research, and Workday reporting and analytics. Borden focuses on guiding the university’s analytics strategy, increasing data literacy, and decision support. Her umbrella of activities includes leadership for university accountability, student predictive analytics initiatives, decision-support intelligence, and state and federal reporting. Borden also provides leadership and vision for the major Enterprise Analytics redesign involving cloud-based data lakes, university data governance, Workday reporting, and PRISM analytics. Active and respected in her field, Borden is the current chair of the Nominations and Elections Committee for the Association for Institutional Research (AIR) and a former three-year member of the AIR Board of Directors. Borden also serves on the Association of Governing Board’s Council on Student Success and the AIR-EDUCAUSE-NACUBO Joint Analytics Project. A Florida native, Borden has 30 years of experience in higher education, earned a bachelor’s in international affairs from Florida State University and earned her M.B.A. and doctorate in higher education leadership from the University of Central Florida.

Gerald L. Hector, CPA, is currently senior vice president for administration and finance at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida. He also held similar positions in higher education at Morehouse College, Cornell University, Ithaca College, and Johnson C. Smith University. His experiences span all aspects of higher education management that include treasurer, debt management, controller’s office, information technology, post award management, policy office, student accounts/bursar, facilities, grounds, business operations, auxiliary services, risk management, purchasing and procurement, legal, financial aid, campus safety, compliance, and public private partnerships. He has also served as a liaison with local elected officials for construction projects.

Hector has published several works, including a landmark white paper titled “Navigating the New Normal, Financial Imperatives for MSI Effectiveness and Avoiding Financial Exigency” and a book titled It’s Easy Son, Quit Making Things Difficult. The book birthed a podcast of the same name that features corporate leaders, college presidents, Olympians, spiritual leaders, and educators. He is currently writing his second book about the nuances of higher education institutions from the perspective of a senior executive at both Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs) and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). His research focuses on how both impact and shape the future of our nation and the world. 

With a bachelor's degree in management information systems and a master's degree in educational technologies from the University of Central Florida (UCF), Felicia Kendall has dedicated the past 20 years to exploring the intricate world of IT infrastructure and data systems. Currently, Kendall leads the centralized data systems group at UCF, providing platforms for data to drive actionable insights and make informed decisions. Her passion for data-driven innovation drives her to seek new ways to apply technology to real-world problems constantly.

Tait Kellogg, Ph.D., is passionate about making strategic, data-informed decisions accessible at all levels of higher education. She is the consulting project manager for the Joint Statement on Analytics guide for institutional leaders seeking to build a culture of analytics, a partnership between EDUCAUSE, NACUBO, and AIR, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Tait also coaches individual teams to understand why data is valuable, how to identify their outcomes and develop a data-informed strategy, and how to tell their story using data.