Knowledge Strategy & Operations
About Us
What is Knowledge Strategy & Operations?
Knowledge strategy refers to how organizations use knowledge in its many forms to bridge gaps, inform decisions, and to help them reach their goals.
Knowledge Strategy & Operations at Tufts
The Knowledge Strategy & Operations (KSO) team serves as strategic knowledge partners to the Office of the Provost, developing and expanding leadership capacity, mining and leveraging data to deliver comprehensive understanding, and implementing meaningful technology and workflow solutions.
The KSO team uses an array of knowledge inputs – including subject-matter expert consultations, stakeholder input, learning/knowledge development and educational assets, data, information, documentation, and systems/applications – to improve internal workflows, provide understanding, and expand capacity.
What We Do
- Offer strategic advice for program and curriculum design, in consultation with owners of expertise
- Oversee enrollment and logistics for instructor-led/facilitated courses and workshops
- Design and deliver online (asynchronous) education
- Procure learning and professional development resources
- Facilitate and instruct programs, as needed
- Manage professional development and training data, certifications, and training compliance reporting for audit and Provost/OVP operational functions
- Create and manage operational linkages among faculty development programs to increase access and inclusion
- Succession pipeline planning and leadership development for Provost/OVP-unit operations
- Partner closely with TTS to offer technology solutions that reduce workflow burdens
- Assess process opportunities and resource gaps where data and/or workflow solutions could be usefully applied
- Integrate and select technologies and tools to streamline data-gathering for new and existing workflows
- Implement swift, measurable improvements to simplify and expedite processes and increase capacity (e.g. automated cross-functional hand-offs; responsive reporting to support/track/trigger workflow)
- Deliver useful information directly into the hands of faculty, staff, and leadership
- Contribute to strategic planning for access to and use of data (including inputs to decision-making around licensing of new tools, with data of interest extracted back to Tufts)
- Develop user-friendly reporting showing actionable trends for decision-making, critical visibility for workflows, and operational indicators to reduce risk and maintain business continuity
- Format and synthesize available data, making connections to create ‘universes’ of material through partnership with other units, locally hosted systems, 3rd party systems, and other internal and external sources
- Maintain reporting that ensures data integrity for critical fields over time
- Optimize data source formats and approaches to maximize data freshness and cross-unit alignment
Who We Are
Laura Lucas, Ph.D., Director of Knowledge Strategy and Operations
Laura has designed and delivered knowledge programs, processes, and tools for Cabinet Ministers, MPs, and scientific, health, engineering, and civil society innovators in over 50 countries and right here at Tufts. Her work centers on convening and equipping people to use their knowledge together to build effective, valuable solutions to complex challenges.
Philippa Lehar, Assistant Director of Knowledge, Data Operations & Design
Philippa has a background working on enterprise-wide operational standards, channeling both her project management and business analysis expertise into systems, data tools, and reports design at Tufts. Her recent focus has been on driving toward simple, intuitive data-driven workflows to best fit the needs of her colleagues across Tufts.
Olivia Dupree, Knowledge Management Specialist
Olivia is a recent Tufts graduate with a M.S. in Health Informatics and Analytics and has a background in data management. Her work focuses on monitoring of current data, monitoring of data during transitions, auditing existing data, and implementing improvements to the data model.
Jennifer Akeley, Knowledge and Development Specialist
As Knowledge & Development Specialist, Jenni will provide specialized subject-matter expertise to design, develop, implement, evaluate, and maintain online and hybrid courses and learning programs in collaboration with subject-matter experts across the Provost and Vice Provost structures.