CHRR's Leadership Team

As you know from last month’s newsletter, feedback from our most recent round of Quarterly Check-In (QCI) meetings helped create the impetus for a “Donuts with the Director” conversation between me and members of our IT staff. My subsequent report to the Leadership Team about the value of that gathering prompted several team members to request similar opportunities within their own program areas.

Thanks to the invitation extended by Josh Hawley, last week it was OLDA/OERC's turn to partake of pastries with me. Another animated and productive hour-long conversation ensued, covering a wide range of topics and perspectives. Thank you to everyone who attended, either in person or virtually.

Readers will recall that I had two takeaways from my initial meeting with the IT team: first, that informal small-group conversations with CHRR staff truly do create space for substantive and meaningful dialogue; and second, that our IT colleagues serve as the connective tissue binding the center together, providing the infrastructure and pathways that allow CHRR to function as an integrated whole.

The takeaways from my meeting with the OLDA/OERC group were similarly two-fold. First, the conversation made clear that there is tremendous, unrealized potential for collaboration between OLDA/OERC and other parts of CHRR, particularly around the shared goal of thoughtfully and securely linking survey data with administrative data. This is a space where different units bring complementary strengths, and where deeper coordination could significantly amplify the value of the work we are already doing independently.

Second – and closely related to the first takeaway – it became evident that these collaborative data-linkage efforts offer a powerful opportunity for CHRR to more intentionally demonstrate the broader impacts of our collective work. As federal funders increasingly emphasize impact, applicability, and public value, our combined survey, administrative, and data infrastructure capabilities position CHRR exceptionally well to tell a compelling story about how rigorous research serves real-world needs. By aligning and elevating these efforts across units, we not only strengthen individual projects and proposals, but also reinforce CHRR's identity as a center whose integrated work tangibly benefits communities, policymakers, and the scientific enterprise alike.

I left the conversation energized by both the expertise in the room and the possibilities ahead, and with hope that this is just the beginning of a more interconnected set of conversations across CHRR.

CHRR Team Member Celebrations

"Teamwork makes the dream work." -John Maxwell

This month we are observing the work anniversaries of two valued employees:

• Amanda Roose, 29 years of service to CHRR.
• Jason Dale, 26 years of service to CHRR.

These two individuals collectively have provided CHRR with 55 years of experience in project management and technology services. Thank you for all that you do!

Things You Might Want to Know

Stephanie Moulton Appointed Interim Dean of Glenn College

Beginning May 1, Professor Stephanie Moulton, currently associate dean for faculty and research, will serve as acting dean of the Glenn College. In this role, Dr. Moulton will help guide the college while supporting students, faculty and staff in advancing public policy research and education that makes a difference in communities locally, nationally and globally. Dr. Moulton has been a prolific research partner with CHRR over the years, with special emphasis on her scholarship in the areas of housing and consumer finance.

Interestingly, her latest study involves the marriage of survey data and state-level administrative information, a topic discussed above as part of the unrealized potential for collaboration between OLDA/OERC and CHRR.

CHRR Program Areas Represented in Recent Love Data Week Celebration

The recent Secondary Data Fair hosted by The Ohio State University Libraries featured several presentations by CHRR and our sister organization the Ohio Education Research Center (OERC). Together, we shared information on three resources: CHRR's data repository solution, labor data from the federally funded National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS), and state administrative data from the Ohio Longitudinal Data Archive (OLDA). Pictured below with me at this event is OERC Research Associate Katie Jennings and NLS User Services staff member Steve McClaskie.