IRP Staff

Samantha James is a Data Management Specialist in the Office of Institutional Research and Planning, where she supports the unit by managing data projects, processes, and protocols to ensure integrity, security, reliability, and efficiency. Her responsibilities include longer term data projects, managing business operations, and unit portfolio management for ad hoc request, institutional reporting, and projects.

Samantha James has over 18 years at Georgia Tech in both academic and research unit operations, with the last four years in Institutional Research. Before joining IRP, she occupied roles in Sponsored Post Award Administration, Accounting, Administrative Support, and Student Human Resources. In these roles, she trained, advocated, and analyzed procedures, voicing techniques to increase process productivity. She assisted in the development and tactical implementation of administrative improvement, financial strategy, and department-wide trainings to incorporate efficiency and consistency among those tasks to facilitate better organizational practices. She is now an active contributor to the Institutional Research field through volunteering efforts on professional committees, presenting sessions at professional gatherings, and being a resource where and when needed to colleagues nationwide.

Samantha has a Finance BSB, MBA, and PMP Certification. Samantha’s greatest qualities, per Gallup–CliftonStrengths, is she is analytic, consistent, disciplined, productive, and promotes harmony in her surroundings. In her free time, she likes to participate in activities that promote health and physical fitness, encourage mental and spiritual well-being, as well as spend time with friends and family.

Meghan is a data scientist in Institutional Research and Planning at Georgia Tech. In this role, she works with multiple internal and external data sources to prepare data reports, analyses, and visualizations to support decision making at Georgia Tech.

Meghan has a BA (English) from the University of Georgia as well as an MA (English) and MS (Data Science and Analytics) from Clemson University. She came to Georgia Tech with a wide variety of work experiences in roles ranging from communications and public affairs to research development to data analytics at University of Texas at Austin, Clemson University, and Georgia Tech. These experiences have provided a deeper understanding of and appreciation for the transformative and communicative power of data analytics and visualization paired with language.

When she isn’t poring over spreadsheets, Meghan can be found spending time with her family, reading whatever she can get her hands on, running very, very slowly in local races or, on a certain weekend every year, sauntering down Peachtree Street dressed as a silver robot.

Lucas Provine is a graduate student in the Industrial/Organizational (I/O) Psychology Ph.D. program here at Georgia Tech and is a member of the PARK Lab. He received his Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg. He assists the IRP Team with data cleaning, analytics, report and dashboard development, as well as other miscellaneous project requests.

Lucas’ primary research interest lies in how new technologies are changing the workplace experience for employees. He examines how individual differences such as personality or attitudes might influence people’s willingness to accept (or reject) these new technologies. Additionally, he is interested in psychometrics, social psychological theories, and human-AI interaction. For leisure, he enjoys PC computer gaming, playing drums, and spending quality time with friends.