Melissa Barnett

Melissa D. Barnett, Ph.D., joined OIE in 2020 and serves as the Data Governance Manager. In this capacity, she leads the university-wide data governance program in consultation with university governance bodies to enable the university to achieve its mission. Prior to Georgia State, Melissa’s research and evaluation studies provided guidance to senior leadership on matters related to the student experience at MIT and Harvard. Her evaluation research experience combined with leading and managing the first data literacy workshop series for staff at MIT highlighted to her the importance of and need for a robust data governance program. Melissa’s analytic skill set includes both quantitative and qualitative techniques and data visualization. In addition to her evaluation research, Melissa has co-authored several peer-reviewed publications and has taught various undergraduate courses, including Statistics and Research Methods. Melissa received her Ph.D. in sociology from Florida State University and her B.A. in English writing from Denison University.