Florida State University’s Office of Institutional Research (IR) has received the 2025 TaxWatch Government Productivity Award for a training program that equips employees across the university with new tools and skills — while saving Florida taxpayers millions of dollars. 

The TaxWatch Awards ceremony, held at the Florida Historic Capitol Museum, recognized state agencies and workgroups who have enhanced services, improved efficiencies and delivered significant cost savings to taxpayers. In 2025, FSU’s Office of Institutional Research was one of just 10 entities honored for its contributions.

“This award highlights how the Office of Institutional Research is empowering employees to engage with data in ways that directly improve their work and strengthen FSU,” said Associate Vice Provost and Chief Data and Analytics Officer James Hunt. “It’s about meeting people where they are and giving them tools to succeed.”

“This award highlights how the Office of Institutional Research is empowering employees to engage with data in ways that directly improve their work and strengthen FSU. It’s about meeting people where they are and giving them tools to succeed.” 

— James Hunt, Associate Vice Provost and Chief Data and Analytics Officer

The IR training program was designed to equip FSU employees with critical data and technology skills tailored to the university’s specific tools and compliance needs. Leveraging Microsoft 365, the program automates scheduling, enrollment and digital badge issuance, offering accessibility and efficiency.  

By eliminating reliance on external sourced trainings, the program has saved over $100,000 in direct training costs. When factoring in enhanced productivity, employee retention and reduced outsourcing, it delivers an estimated $10 million in annual taxpayer savings. 

“I’m most proud that this program doesn’t just save money — it contextualizes training for the day-to-day operations of FSU and builds a culture of excellence,” said Institutional Research Program Director Lee Howell. “Employees gain skills directly applicable to their roles, departments benefit from faster and more accurate reporting, and the university is better equipped to serve the state of Florida. 

Offering a catalog of 10 courses, the trainings include sessions on tools such as Excel and Oracle Business Intelligence and are designed to support all skill levels — ranging from foundational ‘Day Zero’ sessions for beginners to advanced certifications for experienced users. 

In the past year, the team delivered 60 sessions to more than 860 employees across FSU’s Tallahassee, Panama City and international campuses in Florence, Italy and London, U.K.  

“We often see faculty members and facilities staff learning side by side in Excel trainings,” Howell said. “Everyone learns practical skills they can apply immediately — whether it’s a professor managing research data or a facilities team member tracking budgets. It’s a powerful way to build skills across roles and strengthen the entire university workforce.” 

A twelve-member team, composed of nine Institutional Research staff — Lee Howell, Andrew Brady, Samantha Nix, Heather Epstein-Diaz, Eclipse Ramsey, Katie Gipalo, Logan Poland, Gene Cilluffo, Zachary Stoffers, Caitlyn Jesse and Sarah Sikes — along with Human Resources collaborator Emily Kennelly, developed this ecosystem to meet FSU’s unique needs. Kennelly’s work as an instructional designer, particularly in the creation of digital badges, integrates IR’s offerings into FSU’s broader training infrastructure, strengthening connections to leadership development and ensuring the university workforce is better supported. 

“We’re empowering people across campus to pull their own data, use these tools effectively and apply them directly to the work they do at the university,” said Institutional Research Associate Director Andrew Brady. “Our goal is to show them how these resources fit into their unique roles, so they can make informed decisions and work more efficiently.” 

For more information on IR’s training programs, visit ir.fsu.edu. 

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Florida State University’s Sustainable Green Team recently won its third award from Florida TaxWatch for establishing two new recycling programs and FSU’s first Little Free Library.

The awards program at TaxWatch, a nonpartisan, nonprofit government watchdog and taxpayer research institute in Tallahassee, has recognized state employees and teams who increase productivity and promote innovation since 1989. This year, 10 organizations were recognized, including FSU’s Sustainable Green Team.

FSU’s Sustainable Green Team, comprised of six members from four FSU and Florida A&M University departments, is led by Mitch Gans, who manages the Research Computing Center Data Center in FSU’s Information Technology Services. Members are Amy Finley and Kev Sullivan of the Center for Information Management and Educational Services (CIMES), Daynah Blake and Mehmet Öztan of the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering’s RIDER Center, and Dina Vyortkina of the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences.

The team came together about four years ago, as people began to return to their offices after the COVID-19 pandemic. Gans, who had remained in his office in the Sliger Building in Innovation Park during the pandemic, had begun working on the building’s green office certification with the CIMES and RIDER centers, but since the team’s expansion they have been able to take on a variety of waste management programs.

“We look for opportunities to solve big sustainability issues,” Gans said. “We’ve built several new recycling programs.”

The team began recycling plastic six-pack can rings from across campus and has continued to expand its efforts. They developed a materials recovery center to support their zero-waste data center, adopted the street outside their offices with the City of Tallahassee to pick up trash, started a recycling program for e-cigarette batteries, repurposed plastic waste from 3-D printers to create artistic structures and developed a Green Guide certificate program to encourage their allies across campus to become more sustainable.

“The FSU Sustainable Green Team does a lot of work with service providers and recyclable materials and will be looking for more ways to personally engage the community it serves in the future,” Gans said.

Recently, the team has connected with the community through events, including hosting tables at FSU-FAMU College of Engineering events and establishing FSU’s first Little Free Library at the Sliger Building.

The Little Free Library, located at 2035 E. Paul Dirac Dr., is always open and functions on an honor system where anyone can take or share a book. The book-sharing box aims to provide book access to all without the restriction of time, space or privilege, and reduces book and paper waste by providing a way to share used books with the community.

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