Dr. Michael Bourgeois promoted to Vice Provost for Institutional Research and Decision Support and Data Strategy
Dear Colleagues:
I am pleased to announce that Michael D. Bourgeois, Ph.D. has been promoted to vice provost for Institutional Research and Decision Support (IRDS) and Data Strategy in the Office of the Provost. Dr. Bourgeois has served as associate vice provost for IRDS since September 2023.
Since joining VCU, Dr. Bourgeois has successfully led the integration of institutional research, data governance, business intelligence, analytics, and enrollment research into a more unified institutional resource, creating the foundation for enterprise support across both campuses. He co-led the launch of VCU’s first enterprise data warehouse and collaboratively developed the foundational structures for the university’s next phase of enterprise data governance. He delivered strategic analytic solutions by evaluating institutional needs, identifying effective approaches, and defining best-practice models for efforts such as Academic Analytics and LightCast’s Economic Impact Study and Program Demand Gap Analyses. Most recently, he led teams to modernize enrollment forecasting and worked with Faculty Affairs to administer COACHE faculty surveys and stabilize and improve VCU’s teaching evaluation processes.
In his expanded role, Dr. Bourgeois will advance VCU’s enterprise data and analytic strategy and establish IRDS as the university’s center of excellence for enterprise information, analytics and decision support. His portfolio will focus on coordinating and expanding the university’s analytic systems and infrastructure, guiding the evolution of data governance, and strengthening the stewardship and use of official institutional information and shared analytic tools. These efforts will enhance VCU’s institutional insight by supporting more consistent, aligned, and actionable use of institutional data and analytics across academic and administrative units and across both campuses, enabling more reliable planning, clearer decision-making, and a more mature analytic environment.
Dr. Bourgeois continues to consult nationally, serves as immediate past president of the Board of Directors for the Association for Higher Educational Effectiveness, and maintains a research and publishing agenda that includes a forthcoming book on institutional effectiveness and strategic planning in the age of AI.
Prior to VCU, Dr. Bourgeois held executive positions in institutional effectiveness, strategic planning and data strategy at Purdue University, the University of California at Santa Barbara, and the California State University. He earned his doctorate and master’s degrees from the University of California at Santa Barbara and his bachelor’s degree from Texas State University.
Please join me in congratulating Dr. Bourgeois on this well-earned promotion as he continues this important work for the university.
Warm regards,
Beverly J. Warren, Ed.D., Ph.D.
Interim provost and senior vice president for academic affairs