Love Data Week 2026

Join us for this Kick-off celebration of Love Data Week.  Braden Hosch from the Division of Educational & Insitutional Effectiveness will share how Stony Brook compares to other universities using publicly available data.  Participants will learn important principles about how to frame their stories with benchmarking data.  Lunch will immediately follow after the presentation and is included in the registration.  Registration is required (seats limited).

Presented by Dr. Braden Hosch, Vice President of Educational and Institutional Effectiveness.

A reporter's take on what we know - and what we don't know - about AI's emerging impacts on the labor market.  The discussion will included the latest research from economists and the AI labs themselves about how workers are using AI, and current thinking among experts on how the tech's rapid deployment will play out across job roles, industries, and regions.  Registration is required (limited seats).

Paul is the co-founder of Work Shift, editor of the must-read newsletter, The Job, and host of The Cusp podcast.  A veteran higher education reporter, Paul is perhaps the nation's top journalist focused on connections between education and work.  He started Work Shift after a decade as a senior reporter and then news editor at Inside Higher Ed, where he led the outlet's coverage of low-income and first-generation students, college completion, community colleges, federal policy, and emerging models of higher education.  He also was the founding host of the successful podcast, The Key with Inside Higher Ed, and has contributed chapters for books on innovation in higher education, published by the Harvard University Press and the Standard University Press.  Earlier in his career, Paul was a senior reporter at the Chronicle of Higher Education.

How do Seawolves use data?  Explore campus-wide insights on data types, commonly used tools, and how data use and support needs vary across roles and disciplines.  

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Presented by Ahmad Pratama, the Data Literacies Lead for SBU Libraries.  He develops programs to help the community critically use, interpret, and communicate with data.  He holds a PhD in Technology, Policy, and Innovation from Stony Brook and is a former Fulbright scholar with research expertise at the intersection of technology and society.

Love is in the Data!  This presentation showcases how the Student Assessment Council uses student feedback and assessment data to better understand learning experiences, inform program improvements, and amplify student voices. 

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Presented by Izabella Stakley and Eliana Vargas from the Office of Educational Effectiveness.  Izabella currently serves as the Jr. Program Evaluator in OEE and Eliana serves as a co-chair of the Student Assessment Council and is a student worker in the department.

Review tips and best practices for breaking down data in an audience-friendly way that enhances the inclusivity and accessibility of the content. 

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Presented by Lindsay Bryde from the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, Lindsay is responsible for ensuring course content is accessible and ready for students to begin engaging with on day one of the term.

The library piloted an interactive way to collect student input that's fun, engaging, and cost-effective.  This method can serve as a complement to traditional surveys, offering a quick way to gauge opinions, test assumptions, and spark curiosity.  We will share our interesting findings, along with lessons learned for others interested in experimenting with creative, visual data collection. 

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Presented by Xian Bak.  Xian is a Library Data Scientist for Stony Brook University Libraries.

This session explores a real data science challenge faced at Stony Brook and how it was addressed using applied AI in Python.  The session will begin with an overview of the problem and the underlying data constraints, then moves into a technical deep dive on the solution.

Topics include chunking strategies, parallel processing, the use of OpenAI APIs, and other practical techniques for scaling analysis across large, ambiguous datasets.  The resulting system mapped approximately 130,000 transactions across thousands of data points in under six hours.  The session presents a concrete, real-world example of applied data science, with a focus on methodology, system design, and lessons learned.  

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Presented by Josh Cohen who serves as Associate Director of Philanthropic Funds with a dual reporting linke to the Office of the Provost and University Advancement.  He works closely with academic units across campus.

Explore strategies for embedding regular, milestone-based evaluations throughout the semester using triangulated feedback, including early-term check-ins, student-belonging measures, and quick formative evaluations, deepen student learning, and strengthen teaching practices.  

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Presented by Yasmene Kimble from the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching.  Yasmene supports faculty development in teaching and learning, promoting effective teaching practices centered around course assessment and program initiatives centered around course assessment.

Explore SBU's Data Cookbook, a repository for data definitions.  Learn more about University defined fields, how you can define your own as well, and utilize them in your reports.

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Presented by Theresa Diemer & Arielle Markiewicz from the Division of Educational & Institutional Effectiveness. Theresa serves as Assistant Director for Data Governance & Management, responsible for maintaining and ensuring that data sources owned by IRPE are valid and robust in order to meet internal and external reporting requirements.  Arielle is the Business Analyst for Data Governance.  In this role, she supports data governance activities to advance policy development and coordination, data stewardship, data definitions and standards, improving data quality and strategies.

This session explores how data can help us better understand the value of general education.  Drawing on faculty perspectives and assessment insights, we'll examine what the data tells us about student learning, engagement, and areas for growth.  

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Presented by Catherine Scott and Diana Jernigan-Breedy from the Office of Educational Effectiveness.

In today's data-driven world, effective data governance is crucial for organizations to ensure data quality, compliance, and security.  This presentation will provide a comprehensive overview of data governance, focusing on it's key components, benefits, and best practices.  Attendees will learn abut the roles and responsibilities within a governance framework, the processes and controls necessary for maintaining data integrity, and the tools and technologies that support data governance initiatives.

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Presented by Kim Berlin from the Division of Educational & Institutional Effectiveness.  Kim is the Director of Enterprise Data & Analytics where she provides campus-wide technical expertise in the development of the university enterprise data warehouse.  The data warehouse models and centralizes data from multiple systems including PeopleSoft Financials, Campus Budget Module (CBM), Campus Solutions (CS), and Human Capital Management (HCM), as well as other university systems.

Student Tik Tok sessions (inspired by "Ted Talks") where faculty will share experience with using data, challenges, and provide key tips students could apply in their academic or professional lives.  Light refreshments will be served. 

Hosted by the Division of Educational & Institutional Effectiveness - featuring faculty and staff sharing stories, tips and tools.

This panel brings together assessment leaders from two SUNY flagship institutions to explore how assessment is structured and supported on each campus, including where assessment offices sit within the organization and how the work is carried out.  Panelists will then highlight applied examples of assessment in practice, such as data collected through general education assessment or other projects, with a focus on the implementation of teh new civil discourse student learning outcome.  The session will conclude with time for audience questions and discussion.  

Hosted by University of Buffalo, Office of Curriculum, Assessment and Teaching Transformation (CATT) in collaboration with the Office of Educational Effectiveness (OEE) at Stony Brook University.

Moderators and mediators can reveal fascinating nuances in your data if you're willing to introduce more variables.  Figure out where an effect happened or why it happened by letting things get a bit more complicated.  This year, the session returns with updated examples and new ways of thinking about how added complexity can sharpen interpretation.  

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Facilitated by Dr. Carl Lejuez, PhD.  Dr. Lejuez serves as Stony Brook's chief academic officer, with responsibility for all academic unites and operations.  He is also a professor of clinical psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences Department of Psychology.

In this session, we will give an overview of Stony Brook's public facing Tableau dashboards, recent enhancements made to them, and how to use them.  There will be a brief discussion of the additional resources available in Stony Brook Analytics.  

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Presented by Sean Hoffman from the Division of Educational & Institutional Effectiveness.  Sean is the Assistant Director for Analytics and is responsible for design and implementation of Stony Brook Analytics Tableau dashboards, as well as training of University personnel in their use.

If you've ever created a survey with a multi-select question, sent it out, and only then realized how hard that data - comma-separated lists of selections - is to analyze, this session is for you!  Learn to instantly split, stack and normalize "check-all-that-apply" responses for seamless analysis.  The session will be interactive; I will share a file and invite everyone to follow along with me in Excel and untangle the demo responses.  

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Presented by Julie Sharma, a former college English teacher and professional musician, Julie brings a variety of skills along with her long-time interest in technology to her role in the Division of Information Technology.  Julie thrives on empowering others to get the most out of technology for their own jobs and processes; keeping learning fun; and collecting, visualizing, and using data to inform decisions.

How can we help students verify their data skills for a competitive job market? Join us to preview a new asynchronous course that empowers students to earn a professional Qualtrics micro-credential at their own pace. We will explore how this initiative transforms student curiosity into a tangible, resume-ready badge. 

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Monique Lopez-Walters is an Instructional Technologist in Stony Brook University’s Division of Information Technology (DoIT), where she supports faculty and staff in using educational technologies to enhance teaching and learning. She previously taught high school Spanish and later transitioned into educational leadership, serving as a Director of World Languages, ENL, and FLES. Monique brings a practitioner’s perspective to her work, grounded in classroom experience, academic leadership, and a passion for leveraging technology to improve learning experiences.

This session will demonstrate how  the Course Completions Report in Power BI can be used to accomplish the following: student advising, academic scheduling, student success and enrollment projections.  

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Presented by Diane Perillo & Tiffanie Vlack from the School of Professional Development.  Tiffanie Vlack serves as the Associate Director for Academic Planning & Data Analytics for the School of Professional Development / Continuing Professional & Online Education, supporting a wide range of initiatives through insightful examination and informed perspective. She is grounded in her belief that approachable, meaningful data empowers teams to make decisions that strengthen programs and enhance the student experience.

Diane Perillo serves as the Sr. Director for Finance & Operations in the School of Professional Development/ Continuing Professional & Online Education, supporting strategic budgets initiatives, optimizing operational efficiencies and  building a culture that supports data informed decision making as a team and not as individuals. Diane cares about the graduate online population and believes that our role in higher education is to remove barriers for students.

Learn practical tips and tricks for designing effective surveys and writing better survey questions. We’ll explore best practices for creating clear, engaging surveys and briefly highlight how different survey tools can be used to support good design and data collection goals. A little love goes a long way in survey design! 

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Presented by Simran Kaur & Ahmed Belazi from the Student Affairs CRAFT team.  Simran plans, develops, and administers both targeted and institution-wide surveys, prepares data files, analyzes results, and communicates essential findings. Simran has also spearheaded the instrumental work to gain a deeper insight into qualitative data returned by survey activities and translate it to stakeholders and decision-makers. 

Ahmed currently serves as the Executive Director of Strategic Analytics and Technologies, Belazi advises the Vice President for Student Affairs and Senior Cabinet on strategy and long-term planning while leading the Division's assessment activities and promoting a culture of evidence-based decision-making.

This fast, practical session is for anyone who’s tired of fighting their spreadsheets and ready to make Excel do the heavy lifting. We’ll cover the high-impact skills that turn messy data into clean, reliable, analysis-ready tables—think formulas, data validation, PivotTables, and a few “why didn’t I do this sooner” tricks for speed and polish. You’ll learn to design a more efficient workflow, cleaner files, and the confidence to build spreadsheets that actually help.  

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Presented by Daniel Pitti from the Career Center.  Dan Pitti received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from SUNY Purchase in 2015 and Master of Science in Applied Health Informatics from Stony Brook University in 2020. Dan was the recipient of the 2015 Emerging Scholar award from SUNY Purchase, and following graduation worked at the Henri Begleiter Neurodynamics Laboratory at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, co-authoring several papers on outcomes relating to Alcohol Use Disorder. During this time Dan began became interested in Data Analytics, and transitioned career paths from academic research towards this new focus.

Celebrate with our talented International Love Data Week presenters and fellow data enthusiasts in the Wang Center Theater Lobby from 12:00 - 1:30 p.m.! Meet the faculty, staff, student poster presenters, and SBU offices working with data and enjoy some light bites in a casual atmosphere. Grab some data-themed swag and chat with colleagues from partnering offices, including Institutional Research, Planning & Effectiveness, the Center for Excellence in Learning & Teaching, the SBU Libraries, the Student Affairs C.R.A.F.T. Team, and more.  Registrationis encouraged.   

Hosted by the Division of Educational and Institutional Effectiveness this event is open to all staff, students and faculty.

Seawolves dive into data! Explore student poster presentations at the 2026 Open House on Feb. 13 to discover how students drive research and innovation at SBU.

• Development of an Ozone Bioindicator Garden and Automated Detection of Ozone-Induced Leaf Damage Using Convolutional Neural Networks by Amy Chen, Information Systems Major, Class of 2027 
  
  
• Optimal Experiment Design and Image Reconstruction Using Generative Methods by Spiros Manolas, Applied Mathematics & Statistics & Mathematics Double Major, Class of 2027 
  
  
• Assessing Deep Brain Stimulation to Enhance Parkinson’s Disease Treatment Through Computer-Based Motion Analysis of Tremor, Gait, and Facial Expressions by Mariami Kochiashvili, Biology & Psychology Double Major, Class of 2026 

• Development of High-Reflectivity Mirror for pfRICH by Mahmodol Mojumder, Physics Major, Class of 2027

• Associations between Blood Cadmium and Lead on Postural Balance  by Jessica Alfano,  Interdisciplinary Biology Major and Writing Minor, Class of 2026