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Karen is an experienced manager who serves as department vice president, research center director, and enterprise project director.

While Karen’s primary research career has focused on managing complex, large-scale survey projects, she has great passion and strong expertise in survey methodology and continuous project improvement.

Since joining NORC in 1993, Karen has gained extensive experience through her work, which spans the length of NORC’s extensive library of social science surveys. She currently works as the Project Director for the National Science Foundation’s Survey of Doctorate Recipients and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation funded Entrepreneurship in the Population (EPOP) Survey Project. She maintains project oversight responsibilities for NORC’s broad portfolio of higher education related projects including the Hillel Campus Climate Initiative Project, the suite of College Point Advising evaluation collections, and the Association of American Law Schools research initiatives. As a project leader of major enterprise projects, Karen is responsible for all aspects of management, including for all facets of the project, including client management communication, project team leadership, obtaining IRB and Office of Management and Budget clearance, sample design, controlled experiment designs methodological plans, system architecture, data collection oversight, data products and deliverables such as final reports, and external data users' requests.

Karen regularly authors multiple presentations and reports and she frequently produces or co-writes other publications in support of her projects. In the past, Karen co-authored a guideline for the U.S. Department of Education, How to Solicit Rigorous Evaluations of Mathematics and Science Partnerships (MSP) Projects: A User-Friendly Guide for MSP State Coordinators (2005). Earlier in her career with NORC, Karen was the Director of the Data Preparation Center. This experience has given her a thorough understanding of the most effective data collection and quality assurance methodologies, which are seamlessly incorporated into her current project protocols.

Karen received her undergraduate degree and a secondary teaching certificate from the University of Michigan while working at the Institute for Social Research. Since that time, she earned a Master of Project Management.

Education

MPM

Keller Graduate School of Management

Education Certification

University of Michigan

BA

University of Michigan

Honors & Awards

President’s Award | 2019

NORC at the University of Chicago

Project Contributions

2023 American Law School Faculty Study

Reviewing law school policies and understanding the career pathways of law school teaching faculty

Client:

Association of American Law Schools

American Economic Association Climate Study

Understanding the experience of women and minorities in the economics profession

Client:

American Economic Association

American Finance Association Climate Study

Exploring the working environment in the finance profession, with a focus on equity

Client:

American Finance Association

American Law School Dean Study

Examining the career pathways of law school deans, challenges encountered, and solutions adopted

Client:

Association of American Law Schools

Booth School of Business Doctoral Student and Research Professionals Climate Study

A survey of inclusiveness and well-being among doctoral students and research professionals

Client:

Booth School of Business

Bottom Line 2019 Follow-up Survey

Assessing a guidance and mentoring program for low-income college students of color

Client:

Carnegie Corporation of New York

BU School of Public Health Annual Survey

Helping BUSPH identify the strengths and weaknesses of its programming and resources

Client:

Boston University School of Public Health

Climate Study for the Canadian Economics Association

Examining the work situations of an entire field of economists in Canada

Client:

Canadian Economics Association

Columbia University Campus Climate Student Survey

Exploring students’ sense of inclusion and experiences with cross-cultural interactions, antisemitism, Islamophobia, and freedom of expression

Client:

Columbia University

CUNY Accelerated Study in Associate Programs

Assessing whether a student support program leads to more successful degree and career attainment

Client:

City University of New York

Entrepreneurship in the Population: Indiana (EPOP-IN)

Understanding views and experiences with business ownership and self-employment in Indiana

Client:

Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP)

Entrepreneurship in the Population (EPOP)

Tracking the U.S. population’s experiences with and interest in entrepreneurship and self-employment

Client:

Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation

Entrepreneurship Scholars Climate Survey

Understanding the professional culture and experiences of entrepreneurship and innovation scholars

Client:

Kauffman Foundation

Graduate Schools’ Response to COVID-19

A rapid survey details how STEM schools coped with pandemic disruptions

Client:

National Science Foundation

Middle States Commission on Higher Education COVID-19 Report

Evaluating how higher education institutions adapted in response to the pandemic

Client:

Middle States Commission on Higher Education

National Study of Faculty Attitudes Toward Academic Freedom

A new study of academic freedom inspired by Paul Lazarsfeld’s 1958 research

Client:

American Association of Colleges and Universities and American Association of University Professors

National Survey of Students’ Personalized Learning Experiences

Exploring how strategies to promote personalized learning are working in the classroom

Client:

International Association for K-12 Online Education

Survey of Doctorate Recipients

The only comprehensive data on U.S.-trained doctorate holders in science, engineering, and health

Client:

National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics at the National Science Foundation (NCSES/NSF)

Survey on Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Curricula in Higher Education

Gaining insight into psychedelic-assisted therapy curricula and implementation in U.S. higher education

Client:

BrainFutures

The Perch Perspective: Rice University Staff Climate Survey

Assessing employee engagement and satisfaction at Rice University

Client:

Rice University

U.S. Athlete Doping Prevalence Study

A groundbreaking study of the use of banned substances by elite U.S. athletes

Client:

United States Anti-Doping Agency

Walden University Diversity and Inclusion Climate Survey

Supporting the online university’s efforts to ensure a strong culture of diversity and inclusion

Client:

Walden University Diversity and Inclusion Working Group

Working Environments at the University of Chicago and Northwestern University

Qualitative interviews examined “microclimates” in academic departments at the two schools

Client:

University of Chicago, Northwestern University

Publications