Katrina Borowiec
MA, Survey Research 2014
Assistant Director of Institutional Research, Mount Holyoke College
Katrina Borowiec graduated from the GPSR program in May 2014. While enrolled, she simultaneously completed a Graduate Certificate in Institutional Research from Florida State University, finding both programs to complement one another nicely. Prior to beginning the GPSR program, Katrina completed her Bachelor’s in English, with a minor in statistics, from Mount Holyoke College and a Master’s in Higher Education from Boston College. As an Assistant Director of Institutional Research at Mount Holyoke, Katrina is responsible for a variety of tasks including survey administration, report writing, data management, analysis, and visualization. She is also responsible for reporting college statistics to external college guidebook sources such as the US News and World Report and Princeton Review. In addition to these primary job responsibilities, Katrina has enjoyed serving on various college committees including the Multicultural Community and College Life Committee, the Presidential Commission for Work-Life-Family, and Staff Council.
While working as an institutional researcher at Mount Holyoke, Katrina felt comfortable with the data analysis and reporting aspects of the position, but was looking to improve her survey research skillset. This would allow Katrina to take a more active role in the survey development process at her institution. In addition to the University of Connecticut’s strong academic reputation and highly regarded faculty members, Katrina was attracted to the GPSR program due to its flexible format and the opportunity to take courses online. Moreover, the option to complete the degree while remaining employed full-time was tremendously appealing.
Katrina enjoyed all her classes in the GPSR program, since they regularly encouraged her to think about the survey-related strategies she used daily in new and exciting ways. For example, was there a better way she could ask a particular survey question or what were the implications of particular response rates? The development of an original survey in Professor Jennifer Dineen’s Principles and Methods of Survey Research course provided a solid foundation for the rest of the program. The Attitude Formation class with Professor Thomas Craemer was particularly intriguing to Katrina, as it combined her interest in constructing optimal survey questions with psychology. Classes like Surveys for Market Research with Professor Kenneth Dautrich exposed her to market research and business applications of survey administration. Katrina advises anyone who is interested in the program to take a course. The program provides tremendous opportunity to learn about survey design and analysis from a talented group of dedicated faculty. The diverse student body provide insightful and interesting discussion as each are in various industries, at different stages of their careers, and from all over the world. However, she explains, do not mistake the online format for being “easy.” Online courses are rigorous and time management skills are essential. In exchange for this dedication, she says, students will be rewarded with a unique skillset and a stronger understanding of the survey research field.
Katrina currently lives in western Massachusetts, where she enjoys spending her free- time with her two Shelties, Zoey and Autumn. An avid fan of music and the performing arts, Katrina also loves to attend concerts and figure skating events whenever she has a chance. In addition to her full-time job, Katrina works part-time as a Professional Tutor at Elms College and an Academic Resource Specialist Springfield College, where she provides academic assistance to adult learners. Katrina’s ultimate goal is to earn a doctoral degree in education or a related social science discipline. She expects to use the knowledge obtained from the GPSR program in the development of her dissertation and throughout her career.
