Stephanie Bond Huie will serve as the ad interim vice chancellor for strategic initiatives at the UT System, which was announced Friday.

Huie, a UT undergraduate and graduate school alumna, replaces Sandra K. Woodley, who left the system to serve as the president of the University of Louisiana System. Prior to her appointment, Huie served as director and then assistant vice chancellor for the Office of Strategic Initiatives. Huie has four years of experience as a research professional and seven years of experience as an administrator in higher education, according to the system website.

Huie will oversee a team of research and policy analysts who monitor trends in higher education in order to facilitate data-informed policy making. Huie said her new role will include monitoring trends and best practices at higher education institutions and representing the system in discussions about productivity and accountability.

Huie said she plans to place a special emphasis on student success, particularly post-graduation employment.

“Post-graduation employment data will allow us to evaluate what types of jobs our students get based on their area of study in college,” Huie said in an email to The Daily Texan. “This data will help us better inform students about career trajectories associated with certain majors and about their salary potential.”

Huie’s office has a wide-ranging influence, being the go-to data mining department for the University, system spokesman Spencer Miller-Payne said.

“They are doing a bang-up job [on informing the policy-making process],” Payne said. “The Board of Regents and the chancellor ask for recommendations on best practices in higher education. You have to be informed to make good decisions. That’s what they’ve been doing more than anything else.”

John Hayek, associate vice chancellor and chief of staff for academic affairs, said the office mines data for emerging universities in the UT System, such as UT-Arlington, UT-San Antonio and UT-El Paso.

“They are our main source of data and information in terms of, you know, how many students are enrolled, how many are graduating; so they are pretty critical to our success,” Hayek said.

In addition to spearheading the research done by the office, Huie also oversees the publishing of the office’s findings on the UT System Productivity Dashboard, which provides real-time data on various indicators of university productivity and performance.

Huie said she is honored to be able to serve the system and her alma mater.

“I know first hand the high-quality education that our students receive,” Huie said. “This is my opportunity to support all of our UT campuses and our students as they continue to provide excellent, high-quality educational experiences.”