The U of A's Office of Institutional Research and Assessment recently changed its name to the Office of Strategic Analytics and Insights and hired a new director, Brandon Bayles, to lead the team's transition to an increased use of data and analytics to inform strategic decision-making.

This change supports the university's long-term goals of augmenting its research enterprise and becoming a more data-driven institution. As part of this transition, the university will utilize data and strategic analytics to inform organizational decisions, advance student success and improve its overall academic excellence.

"We already have a wealth of data at our fingertips," Bayles said. "As an educational institution, we want to continually improve our academic programs by making decisions based on what our data shows and tells us we should be doing."

Under Bayles' leadership, the new Office of Strategic Analytics & Insights will continue to provide the same services and functions that were offered by the former office, while also evolving over time to leverage data science, incorporate data visualization tools and develop a deeper understanding of the university's data. Bayles also plans to create a campus data analytics consortium composed of data peers from different colleges, departments and divisions as a way to combine efforts, foster collaboration and share ideas.

"I'm honored to lead the University of Arkansas in the transition to become more data-centric and plan to implement an analytics-focused strategy to further our mission," Bayles said. 

Bayles began his role as director of strategic analytics and insights in October 2022. He has more than 15 years of experience managing and developing data and analytics solutions for a wide range of companies. Most recently, he served as the principal architect of business intelligence and analytics for George's Inc. Prior to his role at George's Inc., he served in a similar position at Tyson Foods, where he was the technical lead and architect for enterprise and supply chain analytics. Additionally, he worked as a technical account manager, developer and data engineer at Vision Chain, Crossmark (Walmart Division) and J.B. Hunt Transport.

"Brandon brings a wealth of experience to the new Office of Strategic Analytics & Insights," said Colleen Briney, vice provost for planning. "His experience managing business intelligence, data and analytics at the highest level at some of the largest corporations in the region makes him well-suited to lead the University of Arkansas in its mission to become a data-driven institution. He will be instrumental in augmenting our research enterprise, not only in academia, but also as an organization."

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas' flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $2.2 billion to Arkansas' economy through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the few U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research News.