About

Grant provides high-level administrative support to the Vice President and directors in Institutional Research & Planning (IR&P). He manages complex calendars, prepares budget reports, assists with research, designs presentations, and coordinates meetings, events, and retreats. He also organizes office logistics to ensure the efficient operation of the department.

Before joining the team, Grant graduated from Boston College with a B.A. in Economics. A California kid at heart, he hopes to continue exploring the Northeast with his friends, all while improving his chef skills and getting others to dunk on the office mini hoop.

Shad manages compliance reporting and data collection for external collaborations (e.g. IPEDS, Common Data Set). He also assists with survey research, student data analysis, and data warehousing. A trained mixed methods researcher, Shad uses both quantitative and qualitative methods to understand the full scope of student success in his work. 

Prior to joining as Assistant Director in 2024 he was a graduate assistant for IR&P and Ph.D. student at Boston College, having moved to Boston from New York where he worked in Student Affairs at Columbia University's School of Engineering. He holds a B.S. in Brain & Cognitive Sciences from the University of Rochester, an M.A. in Higher & Postsecondary Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, and is currently a Ph.D. Candidate in Higher Education at Boston College.

Outside of work, Shad enjoys spending time with friends and family, going to concerts, playing RPGs, and getting up early on Saturday mornings to watch the English Premier League.

Zigrida works with the University’s space data, using CAD and Archibus to update the space inventory. She implements and/or coordinates administrative database changes resulting from alteration and renovation activities as well as the annual space update, and coordinates the data exchange with the Data Warehouse. Zigrida also assists in responding to ad hoc requests for space data and in creating presentations related to space planning.

Zigrida joined the Boston College space planning team in 2000; prior to that Zigrida worked for a number of years with a small software development company focused on military security systems. Earlier experiences included a Senior Administrative Assistant position with Lotus Development Corp.

Zigrida received her B.A. in Psychology from Emmanuel College.

Zigrida is a fluent speaker of Latvian and edits her church’s quarterly Latvian-language newsletter.

Sylvia supports university-wide planning initiatives and assists departments, divisions and schools in designing and implementing strategic, business and operational projects and solutions. She applies an integrating perspective to align and coordinate institutional planning activities through process optimization and project management. Leveraging group wisdom within and outside of IR&P through collaborative endeavors, she strives to ensure that maximum efficiency is found in organizational efforts and that resources are strategically deployed to advance Boston College priorities.

Sylvia joins from Ontario, Canada, and brings with her an extensive background in higher education evidence-based policy research, data analytics, institutional research and planning, and quality assurance. Taking on progressively responsible roles, she has worked closely with senior leadership, faculties and administrative units to operationalize institutional goals.

Sylvia graduated from McMaster University, Ontario with a Master's degree in Economics. She currently lives in Massachusetts and enjoys curling up with a book, hiking and spending time with family.

Christiana oversees the Space Planning team that provides space management and planning for the University’s building portfolio. She works closely with her team and the IR&P team to provide programming and planning services that align BC’s space with their strategic and master plans. A key role for her team is the coordination with Facilities Management Information Systems (FMIS) to maintain and continually advance BC’s space database that is responsible for various University-wide annual reports.

Before joining BC, Christiana worked in the design consulting industry for over 20 years. She gained programming and design experience, construction knowledge, and management experience while working with institutions and corporate clients at Sasaki and Spagnolo Gisness & Associates. Her focus was design and project management for the Institutional market.

Christiana received her B.S. in Interior Design with a business minor at Ohio University and is an accredited NCIDQ Interior Designer. Focusing on her family and sneaking time to enjoy the outdoors and eat good food keeps Christiana on the go.

Gaby provides information design with charts, figures, dashboards, and other forms of data visualization and graphic design deliverables. She collaborates with the IR&P team as well as the greater University to provide engaging and appealing data visualizations in order to communicate institutional data to students, faculty and staff, and other partners. In addition, she works closely with the ITS department at BC in its efforts to establish and implement an intuitive data warehouse and promote data literacy across the University.

Before joining Boston College, she worked as a research assistant at the University of Massachusetts Boston where she contributed to several projects in economic research. Gaby holds a Master’s in applied economics from the University of Massachusetts Boston as well as a B.A. in economics from the same institution.

When she’s not at her computer, Gaby enjoys traveling, reading, and playing with her cat, Daijin. 

Dan provides data and design thinking consulting services for IR&P and the University. Since joining the new office of Institutional Research in 2006, he has played key roles in the creation of a modern business intelligence infrastructure at BC, contributing as a developer, business analyst, and quality assurance lead. He currently focuses on University data governance and data literacy efforts, encouraging cross functional data sharing and collaboration.

When no data exists, Dan uses design thinking to collaborate with BC faculty and staff to tackle University challenges. In his workshops, Dan hopes to give participants an intuitive understanding of the steps of design thinking so they can adapt the process to fit their own circumstances and constraints. He has an MBA from BC and a certificate in Design Thinking from Cornell University.

When he's not working, Dan enjoys drawing and brewing homeade beer made with Mountain Dew.

Meg conducts research projects and data analyses related to institutional policies, planning, and effectiveness across a broad spectrum of academic and administrative program areas. Meg came to Boston College in 1999, and worked in University Advancement as a Senior Associate Director for the Boston College Fund before joining the IR&P team in 2004.

She brings extensive experience in study design, data analysis, and report presentation from her earlier positions in marketing, investor relations, and management consulting. Meg earned her Bachelor's degree from Trinity College in Washington, D.C. and a joint J.D. and Master's in Public Administration from Saint Louis University. She holds a Ph.D in Higher Education from Boston College, where her research focused on Hispanic-Americans in Catholic higher education.

Originally from the South Shore, Meg currently lives in Dedham, MA and enjoys planning big and small adventures with her daughter, Nora.

As a Space & Data Planner, Rumiko works under Institutional Research & Planning, tracking and reporting on college space use, managing space planning, data collection, and research support. Before joining IR&P, Rumiko worked for architectural firms in Boston and Tokyo, Japan, providing conceptual design, strategic design approaches, branding, and project management from concept to completion. She has worked with clients from private residences to multi-family housing, commercial office renovations, and university and hospital projects. She brings nearly 20 years of experience in the construction field to her work at IR&P.

Rumiko holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication Studies from West Virginia University and a Master's degree in Interior Architecture from the Rhode Island School of Design. Originally from Yokohama, Japan, Rumiko enjoys walking around BC Campus and finding great space and architectural details. She also enjoys long weekend walks with her husband, daughter, and dog, Dorsey.