SUNY New Paltz hires new director of institutional research

NEW PALTZ — SUNY New Paltz has announced the appointment of Kelli Parmley as the new director of institutional research. Parmley will coordinate research about New Paltz in an effort to provide the best education it can for its students and the campus community. She has served as the associate director of institutional research at New Paltz since May 2000.

“Institutional research as a profession is much more than a statistical endeavor,” said Parmley about her new position. “It has a fundamental role to play in improving how we access and coordinate information in a way that helps New Paltz, both internal and external to the campus. It is with that in mind, the continued support of the many people I have already worked with, and a great deal of enthusiasm, that I look forward to what is ahead.”

Including her two years as associate director at New Paltz, Parmley has an extensive resume of professional experience in institutional research. From April 1999 to May 2000 she served as the associate for financial analysis in the Office of Resource Planning at SUNY Administration in Albany. From the fall of 1997 to the spring of 1999 she was a School of Education fellow and graduate assistant in the Office of Institutional Research at the University at Albany. Additionally, Parmley was the senior budget analyst and senior personnel administrator for the Office of Mental Retardation and Development Disabilities in Albany, from July 1993 to August 1997.

Steven Poskanzer, interim president at New Paltz, said he is pleased with her appointment. “I’m impressed with her intelligence, her diligence, her creativity, and especially her ability to understand and support the college’s core academic values. To be effective in the field of institutional research, you have to be expert with data, but you also have to understand the culture of one’s institution — what makes it unique, and what its aspirations are. Kelli combines these attributes in a terrific way.”

Parmley received her master’s of public administration in June 1993 from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship. In May 1991, she received her bachelor of science in industrial and labor relations, with a concentration in personnel/human resource management, from Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations. She is currently pursuing her doctorate at the University at Albany School of Education with a concentration in higher education administration.

Parmley replaces Carl Bacon, who retired in June after serving New Paltz as the director of institutional research for 16 years.