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Name: Nancy D. Floyd
Job title: Applications analyst, Institutional Planning and Assessment
Hometown: I was born in San Francisco where my father was stationed with the U.S. Army, but he retired in Columbia and I grew up here.
What are your job responsibilities? I’m responsible for supervising and working on the federal Integrated Post-secondary Education Data System (IPEDS), which basically is a big federal survey of information reporting on pretty much everything the University does. The data, which includes everything from student and faculty numbers to course offerings and financial aid, goes to the National Center for Education Statistics of the U.S. Department of Education. Our office also is the official reporter for the University to the state Commission on Higher Education, and we’re the official respondent to all of the surveys the University participates in, including U.S. News, Peterson’s, and all of the other college guides. The office is centralized to ensure all of the responses are coming from the same data. We also produce the Fact Book, of which much of the information is summarized on our Web site at www.kudzu.ipr.sc.edu. The other main branch of the office deals with academic program review and productivity, planning, assessment, and compliance with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
How long have you been in the position? About 15 months.
Do you have any previous USC experience? Yes, a bachelor’s degree in French from the University in 1984, a master’s in marketing research in 1988, and completion of everything but the dissertation on a doctoral degree in educational research in 1992. I had assistantships in Student Development, Education, Nursing, and Student Financial Aid. I’m flirting with the idea of doing something with the higher education program now but haven’t gone out on any dates.
It’s quite a leap to go from French to marketing research. What happened? I’m a terrible dabbler. I get interested in something and then get interested in something else.
Is there such a thing as a typical day in your office? No. We have these ongoing big projects that we continually work on, but if somebody calls from another office and they need something critical immediately, we’ll stop what we’re doing to regroup and help.
What else can you tell us about your office? It’s a really happy, hard-working group of nine people. I believe one of the reasons we work so well together is that we’re in a house (1710 College St.) and we all relate to one another like a family because the house provides a homey atmosphere. We really try hard to make it a happy work environment.
What’s the best part of your job? Getting to be the hero when people call and say they need something and working with key people in different administrative units of the University. We also have data query tools on our Web site that help users generate their own information, tables, and the like.
How do you unwind? I’m kind of a trivia head, and back in April before Ken Jennings was a contestant, I was on Jeopardy, but came in third and didn’t even have the pride of being able to say I lost to Jennings. My partner and I like to travel to see family and will visit my son this fall who just started at Indiana University. I also like to walk our dog, go camping, and like to read and listen to music.
9/04 |
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Nancy Floyd
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