Data for All: Transforming in a Data-Driven University

Dr. Claire Norris serves as the Associate Vice President for Inclusion, Diversity, and Effectiveness at the University of Louisiana System (UL System). Dr. Norris holds over ten years of professional experience committed to creating and maintaining equitable teaching and learning environments for faculty, staff, and students. Dr. Norris provides leadership in the areas of institutional research, effectiveness, and accountability across the UL System. Her research and policy background help inform strategies that serve all students. Before joining the UL System, Dr. Norris worked at the Louisiana Board of Regents (BoR). During her tenure at BoR, she served as the Senior Policy Analyst in the Planning Research and Performance Division; she later joined the BoR Academic Affairs Division as an Assistant Commissioner for Academic Affairs. In both of these roles, Dr. Norris was responsible for conducting research and developing and monitoring policy associated with academic affairs. At her core, Dr. Norris is a passionate sociologist; she spent five years as a faculty member in the Sociology Department at Xavier University in New Orleans, LA. She has authored and co-authored several peer-reviewed journals in the areas of race, health, and social support.

Natalie Young Williams, JD, is Chief of Staff and Director of Institutional Advancement for Paul Quinn College. Natalie works to forge strategic alliances to advance the growth goals of the PQC Corporate Work Program and the development initiatives of the College. Natalie has more than a decade of experience optimizing operational excellence and creating effective and sustainable educational solutions. Prior to joining Paul Quinn, Natalie managed EdisonLearning’s strategic alliance with Magic Johnson Enterprises and was the Executive Director of Friends of Magic, a corporate and community engagement initiative for the national network of Magic Johnson Bridgescape Academies. Natalie is a graduate of Vanderbilt University Law School and Arizona State University with degrees in Philosophy and Journalism. Natalie relocated to Dallas from Phoenix, Arizona with her husband Morris Williams III. Natalie has a son, Saben Lee, who was a point guard on the Vanderbilt University basketball team.

Eric is currently serving as the Director for  Data & Analytics at The Ohio State University. Eric was hired into Ohio State in 2017 to lead the Enterprise Tableau implementation and to serve as the Tableau administrator for the university.

In two short years, Eric has transformed a siloed Tableau presence at OSU into an enterprise consolidated solution. OSU now has over 6,000 Tableau worksheets, 4,200 users and 250+ Tableau developers. Eric also founded a higher education Tableau Slack channel to connect Tableau administrators and professionals in the higher education space from around the world. The Slack channel has over 1,200 participants from 200+ universities across 12 time zones. Eric’s most recent accomplishment is Ohio State’s public COVID-19 dashboard which has over 1.5 million views!

Eric previously worked at Nationwide insurance for 18 years before joining Ohio State. At Nationwide, Eric began his career as an IT developer and eventually progressed into the data world as a leader for the data and analytics team within marketing.

Eric is a graduate from Ohio University.