Dr. Lindsay WaytFeb. 7, 2025 – On Friday, Feb. 21, South Florida State College (SFSC) will host its annual Professional Development Day from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for its staff and faculty to advance their skills and knowledge. This year’s keynote speaker, Dr. Lindsay Wayt, senior director of analytics at the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO), will discuss, “Building a Data-Informed College Together.” 

“It is becoming increasingly more important, especially in the age of advancing technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), that everyone in higher education can find a use for data in their daily work. We are really looking forward to Dr. Wayt’s presentation,” said Dr. Michele Heston, vice president for student services and academic affairs at SFSC.

In her presentation, Dr. Wayt will explain how data can be used to bring diverse groups of professionals together within higher education. She will also address how individuals can build their data skills to make their day-to-day work more effective and enjoyable.

Dr. Wayt works on initiatives and programming that support NACUBO’s efforts to help colleges and universities integrate analytics into institutional achievement goals, which include collaborating with NACUBO members and key stakeholders from other organizations to propel the use of data-informed decision-making in higher education. She has experience conducting higher education research and studying topics such as using data and analytics in higher education, tuition discounting, and higher education leadership. Dr. Wayt completed her doctoral work focusing on educational leadership and higher education.

Following Dr. Wayt’s keynote, she will lead a session that dives deeper into the use of analytics. Other event sessions include AI in Action, Data-Driven Success, Teaching with AI, and FERPA. Again this year, employees will create posters to present current research or practice at a poster session with a cookie social. Attendees will finish their day with departmental meetings and training.