Krishnan Kottaiswamy, ETL developer, hosted the ‘One Action’ presentation for about 20 of his UMIT colleagues.

Wish you could predict the future? A small group of University of Miami Information Technology staff learned the basics of predictive analytics—the use of data and statistical algorithms to predict future trends and behavior patterns—at a lunchtime presentation hosted by one of their peers. This was the first of a series of brown bag lunches implemented by the Decision Support and Planning and Institutional Research teams as their “One Action” in response to the results of last year’s faculty and staff engagement survey.

“Collaboratively, our teams reviewed the survey results and discussed the opportunity to focus on professional development,” said Sheryl Borg, executive director of Decision Support Services. “Working together as a blended team for the past two years has given us a unique opportunity to share diverse skills. Now we’re formalizing that. The team is strengthened as each team member has opportunities to learn and lead others in learning.”

Krishnan Kottaiswamy, ETL developer, hosted the presentation for about 20 of his colleagues. “We’re considering predictive analytics to assist in forecasting future plans for the University community.” Kottaiswamy said. “This was a great opportunity to teach others about it.”

The lunches will be hosted quarterly and anyone on the team can submit a topic for consideration. “We plan on having more sessions and eventually involving others going forward,” Kottaiswamy said. “Everybody has different skills—if anyone wants to learn through these sessions, they could transfer their knowledge and help each other grow.”

In addition to the brown bag lunches, the team created a shared calendar, where anyone can post webinars and conferences, and a resource library to share learning materials. UMIT Decision Support leaders encourage team members to dedicate up to five hours per month for professional development and to provide meeting rooms to support learning activities.

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