Wendy Geller, Phd Email & Phone Number

Montpelier, Vt, Us

I'm a part of the Civilian and Commercial Services Team at AEM where we help organizations develop, modernize, and support their data programs.

Center For Research On Vermont, University Of Vermont, Burlington, Vt

As an affiliate, I have conducted quantitative and qualitative research on migration factors impacting Vermont's population, disseminated findings, helped prepare grant proposals, and managed research assistants. This work has been based on the Vermont Roots Migration Survey data set that my co-researchers, Dr. Cherie Morse, Dr. Seth Marineau, and Dr. Jill Mudgett, and I collected during the spring of 2014.

Burlington, Vermont Area

As Division Director, I was responsible for the teams that collect, manage, and analyze the Agency of Education's (AOE) most critical data assets. My Division represented the business side of AOE's DataOps and was comprised of experts in data management, data science, statistics, and assessment.At the federal level, I represented the state of Vermont at the National Forum for Education Statistics where policies and best practices in education data quality, data management, applied research, and policy analysis are formed. Teams in my Division managed large scale data ingestion tools, stewarded and wrangled data, as well as developed and carried out evaluation work internally and with outside partners from areas such as academia, federal bodies, and research organizations. As part of leading the data governance program at the Agency, my Teams also worked closely with legal staff to ensure the protection of all confidential education information and the maintenance of data privacy. My daily work was geared towards finding efficiency, standardizing and scaling processes to reduce burden and risk, creating a collaborative environment for my Work Family to innovate within, and finding ways to do good science in service to the public.

Before my Division was formed, I supervised and coordinated the data analysis and data governance efforts at the Vermont Agency of Education. I oversaw the Innovation & Transformation Division's centralized Data Administration & Reporting Team (DART) as well as led a multi-division team of subject matter experts, statisticians, and business analysts. As a cohesive unit, we engaged in the data collection, data management, and required reporting work the agency is responsible for. On a national level, I represented the state of Vermont at the National Forum for Education Statistics where policies and best practices in education data quality, data management, applied research, and policy analysis are formed.I also led the development and implementation of rigorous evaluation procedures and collaborated with Agency legal staff to ensure the protection of all confidential education information in order to maintain data privacy. Together, my teams and I helped enable both transparency and accountability as well as provided scientifically sound evidence for informing practice and policy decisions. Our efforts were geared towards informing efficient, effective statewide education data policy and procedures so that we could undertake policy-oriented studies and longitudinal assessments of complex data sets.To that end, I was responsible for internal evaluation and analytic work as well as collaborating with and facilitating studies conducted by outside researchers, institutions, and agencies. Such partners included post-secondary institutions, other Vermont state agencies and departments, multi-state education consortia, the Federal Department of Education, and other education research partners.

In this role, I was responsible for analyzing data, designing and managing research projects "​in-house"​, as well as liaising with outside researchers, institutions, and agencies to perform rigorous, policy-oriented studies. My responsibilities included overseeing data administration and reporting operations within the Vermont Agency of Education. I also supervised a team of business analysts and statisticians that comprised the then IT division's centralized Data Administration & Reporting Team (DART). Working with business analysts representing all divisions throughout the AOE, I helped shape statewide education data policy and provided empirically-sound information for wider policy decisions. Part of my role was dedicated to helping the Agency fulfill its legislated responsibility and program mandates for ensuring data quality, completeness, and integrity through management of data governance activities. Other aspects of my work included aligning data collection, management, and reporting activities to the Agency's strategic objectives as well as participating in national data forum discussions to promote and demonstrate best practices in education data quality, applied research, and policy analysis. As Vermont pursued its goal of a comprehensive statewide longitudinal data system, I helped lead data sharing efforts across entities including the Federal Department of Education, multi-state education consortia, other Vermont state agencies, post-secondary institutions, and other education research partners. I also collaborated with Agency legal staff to ensure the protection of all confidential education information.

Norwich University

I typically taught four courses per semester at Norwich and advised around 30 students per year. I did service to the university through being involved with the Athena Society for gender equality and serving as the Faculty Adviser for the Native American Students at Norwich University Student Club, as well as participating in Pi Gamma Mu, the Social Science Honor Society chapter on campus. I was a member of the Academic Integrity Committee and the Institutional Representative for Norwich at the Vermont Women in Higher Education Organization.

Maynooth, Co Kildare, Ireland

My doctoral work focused on educational attainment, gendered out-migration from rural areas, rural community sustainability amidst rapid economic development, and the gendering of the knowledge economy. While conducting my research as a government fellow, I was funded in part by the Irish Social Sciences Platform (ISSP). The ISSP is a conglomeration of academics from 19 disciplines in 8 institutions across the Republic of Ireland that operate under a common research agenda focused on knowledge, innovation, society, and space. A major commitment of the ISSP is to play an active, ongoing role in important social, economic, and cultural policy issues. I was also funded in part by the EU Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The goal of ERDF is to "strengthen economic and social cohesion in the European Union by correcting imbalances between its regions.The ERDF also gives particular attention to specific territorial characteristics. ERDF action is designed to reduce economic, environmental and social problems in urban areas, with a special focus on sustainable urban development. At least 5 % of the ERDF resources are set aside for this field, through 'integrated actions'​ managed by cities. Areas that are naturally disadvantaged from a geographical viewpoint (remote, mountainous or sparsely populated areas) benefit from special treatment. Lastly, the outermost areas also benefit from specific assistance from the ERDF to address possible disadvantages due to their remoteness."

Sociology Department, National University Of Ireland, Maynooth

A thesis course required for BA completion, I designed this class to delve into the contentious links between status reproduction, familial and peer socializing processes, class and conceptualizations of the place of knowledge/skills within the wider socio-economy. It investigated the idea that education is often viewed as a means of maintaining (or attaining) social class/status. The course also examined how gender further mitigates this process through shifts in gender roles and the changing division of labor, construction of family and, indeed, self. Designed to shepherd students through the inception, design, and production of original undergraduate research in these fields, students examined different kinds of conceptions of capital, socio-economic and gender relations as well as the connections between such issues and the wider global world. Under my supervision, students identified specific areas in relation to "education," "class" and "gender" that that they were interested in conducting research upon and I guided them through the process of producing a piece of original work by the end of the academic year.

Phd, Sociology

Activities and Societies: National Institute for Regional and Spatial Analysis member, EU Regional Development Fund Fellow, Irish Social.

Ma, Sociology

Activities and Societies: -Sociological Association of Ireland

Ba, Sociology/Anthropology