Jay Byron

Gerard “Jay” Byron is the Senior Research Analyst and Programmer in BU’s Office of the Provost. Jay joined the Office of the Provost in 2022. His expertise is in research design and methods, data analysis, data programming, and reporting. His work supports strategic decision making for university leadership, including the President, Provost, Associate Provost of Graduate Affairs, Associate Provost for Undergraduate Affairs, Office of the VP for Community and Inclusion, and the Board of Trustees. Jay works closely with the Assistant Provost for Academic Data and Decision Support to conduct research and data analysis for campus stakeholders such as deans, assistant provosts, graduate program chairs, accrediting bodies, working groups, and external review committees.

Prior to joining BU, Jay spent over ten years conducting social science research at survey research, higher education, mental health provider, and social service provider settings. At the survey research firm Market Decisions Research, Jay lead and co-lead projects involving public health and survey design (e.g., questionnaire development, sampling, weighting, analysis). At Northern Essex Community College, his projects involved campus culture and climate surveys, course evaluations, faculty satisfaction surveys, student exit surveys and interviews, and the review of IRB proposals. As a postdoctoral researcher with the University of New Hampshire ADVANCE team he co-researched academic workplace gender bias and co-designed a questionnaire on workplace culture. At the University of Massachusetts Medical School, he collaborated on the Department of Mental Health’s Consumer Satisfaction Survey and qualitatively co-investigated the implementation of mindfulness on adolescent inpatient units. Jay has taught courses in Sociology at the University of Massachusetts Boston and Lesley University. He has co-authored articles on organizational culture, campus climate, and social psychology.

Jay earned a certificate in Survey Research, a MA in Applied Sociology, and a PhD in Sociology from the University of Massachusetts Boston. He has a BA in Communication from Bridgewater State College and a second BA in Sociology from San Francisco State University. He is a mixed-methods researcher that specializes in Sociology, Social Psychology, Mental Health, and Survey Research.