Data Day 2026 - From Vision to Value: Building a Culture of Data-Informed Decision Making

Networking and Continental Breakfast

Welcome and Opening Remarks

Yenny Anderson, Associate Vice President for Institutional Data and Initiative Lead
Mark Erickson, Interim Vice President, Strategic Planning and Initiatives
Joseph Helble, President 

From Vision to Practice: Building a Culture of Data-Informed Decision Making

Yenny Anderson, Associate Vice President for Institutional Data and Initiative Lead

From Practice to Platform: The Data Lake Launch and What’s Next

Yenny Anderson, Associate Vice President for Institutional Data and Initiative Lead
Ilena Key, Associate Vice President, Chief Information Officer, ITS

Concurrent Demo Sessions

Beyond the Default: Customizing Conversational AI for Institutional Data
Get an inside look at OID’s current prototypes for interacting with institutional data through custom conversational agents built under our Future Makers AI Enhancement grant. We will navigate the critical distinctions between "default" general-purpose AI and specialized agents, exploring when the security and precision of Lehigh’s data ecosystem are required. This session offers a preview of the tools we hope to roll out soon and the guardrails we’re building to ensure data integrity and institutional trust.

Kimberly Williamson, Director of Educational Analytics, OID

The Future of Student Success: Real-Time Insights for Strong Career Outcomes
Over the past decade, CCPD’s data strategy has evolved from manual attendance metrics to an integrated data ecosystem that unifies student engagement, academic characteristics, and career outcomes. This session will explore the progression of technology and engagement measures that have moved CCPD from summary reporting to actionable insights and predictive analytics with the aim of proactively supporting student success and driving stronger, more equitable career outcomes.

Lori Kennedy, Senior Director, CCPD
Tierney Gallagher Fallon, Director of Outcomes and Operations, CCPD

Panel Discussion and Q&A
Data Governance Demystified: Enabling Insight and Trust
Data governance is more than policies and procedures—it’s the foundation for trustworthy, actionable, and impactful data across the university. In this panel, experts from across Lehigh will unpack what data governance really means, why it matters, and how it supports informed decision-making in your daily work.

Facilitator: 
Casey Gogno, Data Governance Officer
Panelists:
Yenny Anderson, Associate Vice President for Institutional Data and Initiative Lead
Chris Cook, Vice President for Finance and Administration
Ilena Key, Associate Vice President, Chief Information Officer, ITS
Dominic Packer, Vice Provost for Educational Innovation and Assessment          
Eric Zematis, Chief Information Security Officer

Concurrent Workshops
                    
From Reports to Decisions: Designing Better Financial Insights 
Join this interactive session to explore how financial data can better support everyday decision-making across campus. In this session, “financial decisions” can range from managing budgets and monitoring balances to planning expenditures, evaluating commitments, and making strategic resource decisions. “Financial insights” go beyond static reports - they are the clear, timely, and trustworthy information needed to understand your financial position and take action with confidence.

Through interactive polling, guided reflection, and facilitated discussion, we’ll identify the key questions you need answered, the challenges you face with current reports, and what an ideal financial dashboard could look like - whether you’re reviewing a grant, reconciling a budget, or planning ahead.

By attending, you will:
- Clarify the key financial questions you should be asking to support better decisions
- Identify common challenges and gaps in current financial reporting
- Learn how to recognize and define meaningful financial insights
- Influence the design and direction of future tools like Hawk-i

This session is designed for anyone who regularly interacts with financial data - including faculty managing research or discretionary funds, and staff supporting financial operations, reviewing budgets, or making strategic decisions - and offers a unique opportunity to directly shape how financial information is delivered and used across campus.

Erica Douglas Gluszynski, Assistant Director of Enterprise Systems, ITS
Ilena Key, Associate Vice President, Chief Information Officer, ITS

Turning Data into Insight: A Hands-On Workshop with Visualization and AI 
This session will engage participants in thinking critically about how to work with data more effectively. Participants will learn how to ask meaningful data questions, tell compelling stories with data, select appropriate visualizations, and use AI to build visualizations and ask natural language questions about data. The session will emphasize building practical skills that can be applied across roles and tools using data available in the data lake.

Sophia Karp, Data Strategist, ITS
James Monek, Director of Technology Infrastructure & Operations, ITS
 

Q&A and Concluding Remarks

Yenny Anderson, Associate Vice President for Institutional Data and Initiative Lead