WKU Sociology & Criminology Alumni Profiles

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Angela Byrd '10 & '13

Angela Byrd initially had no intentions of attending Western Kentucky University. She first attended college in Indiana, where she is from, but struggled academically for the first two years. She had been to different schools and changed her major multiple times when a friend invited her to Bowling Green for a summer visit. On a whim, she decided to take a tour of WKU while in town and immediately fell in love with the atmosphere and beauty of the campus. “The move to BG and WKU offered me a fresh start – and the faculty and advisors I had my first semesters were incredible. They were encouraging, supportive, and helped me find and
succeed in classes that fueled my interests. When I finally discovered sociology and changed my major, it was a game changer.”

Angela graduated with a bachelor’s in sociology and a minor in political science in 2010. She continued her education and earned her master’s in sociology in 2013. Initially, Angela found a job on campus as a means to pay for graduate school. She worked as a
temp doing data entry in Western Kentucky University’s Office of Admissions in 2010. She was hired full-time as an Admissions Processor, then as an Admissions Coordinator in 2011. In these roles, she learned the ins and outs of WKU student data. This included how it’s entered, who enters it, and where to find specific pieces of information. In January of 2015, Angela accepted a position in WKU’s Office of International Enrollment Management as a Data and Systems Analyst. In this position, she used the research methods she had learned in school while acquiring experience with data research and reporting. In 2018, She moved to WKU’s Office of Institutional Research where she still works today.

Angela currently works in WKU’s Office of Institutional Research as an Applications and Programmer Analyst. In this job she works with data most of her days. One of her main responsibilities is to build and maintain data sets used by other IR staff and for WKU’s SAS Visual Analytics platform such as: construct predictive models for WKU applicant yield, first year student retention, and budget projections, develop new Visual Analytics reports, and conduct research that supports WKU Academic Affairs and WKU Enrollment and Student Experience. One of Angela’s favorite parts about her job is getting to take raw data and develop it into something meaningful: from variable inception and data set creation, to research and analytics, and more. She loves to show people that when done well, data collection and analytics is impactful and very engaging. “Knowing that my work directly supports decision making at WKU – and ultimately the best interest of students – is the most rewarding part of what I do.”

Angela’s advice to students is to be prepared, be focused, and pursue something you love. She says any experience on your resume is valuable and no experience is bad experience. Finally she advises students to keep growing their interests. “Stay true to your interests and yourself – but stay open to opportunities and jobs that aren’t exactly what you had in mind.”