In addition to my academic work, I am involved in administrative work at the University of Vermont (building on earlier professional experience). I also have expertise in data analysis and management through my professional experience and consulting work. I have applied some of this to analyzing the issues facing higher education.

I run the Middle East Studies program, which is part of our Global and Regional Studies program. This is a small program, but I have been working on expanding it. My initiatives have included running both internal events for students and bringing in guest speakers, working with the University to re-establish Arabic language education, and revising the curriculum to make it more flexible for students.

In addition to this, I am active in the administration of the College of Arts and Sciences at UVM. I served as term on the college curriculum committee, where I gained extensive expertise into transforming academic programs to meet changing student needs. I am currently serving on the college Honors committee, where I help establish standards for students Honors’ theses. Additionally, I serve as the College parliamentarian. Finally, I established a social media initiative for the Political Science department.

I consult with several organizations outside of UVM. I have written an analytical report for the Center for American Progress and provided input into studies for the US State Department’s Office of International Religious Freedom and the US Commission for International Religious Freedom. Finally, I have acted on my personal concern for the status of refugees and migrants by providing free analysis for the Catholic Social Services Immigration Legal Services, US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants.

Moreover, I have professional experience in data analysis and management. I was a Senior Consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton, where I worked on organizational change and analysis projects in support of the US intelligence community. I also managed a project at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) on the causes of domestic US radicalization; this involved developing and implementing a research plan, overseeing a team, and analyzing and presenting the results. Finally, I ran the Pew Research Center’s Global Restrictions on Religion project, which involved similar management, analysis and dissemination tasks.

While most of my work focuses on my substantive areas of expertise, I have begun applying this experience to understanding the issues higher education faces. I have done this primarily on my LinkedIn page. I have also written on this topic at the Duck of Minerva.