Keynote Speakers
Dwayne Benjamin
Economic returns to education are widely used to guide student choices, justify public policy, and shape institutional planning. Yet the underlying evidence is often thinner — and more difficult to interpret — than these uses imply. This keynote examines how advances in linked data, combining institutional, administrative, and survey sources, have expanded what can be measured while also exposing important limits on what can be credibly claimed. Drawing on examples from Canada and the United States, including policy initiatives such as the U.S. College Scorecard, the presentation explores the gap between evidence and accountability, and considers how institutional research can better support decision-making under uncertainty.
Dwayne Benjamin
Dwayne Benjamin is a labour economist and Professor of Economics at the University of Toronto, where he has been a faculty member since 1989. He holds degrees from the University of Toronto and Princeton University. His early research and teaching focused on labour markets in diverse settings, including agricultural markets in Asia and labour market policy in Canada. Among his earliest projects was an institutional study linking high school application and admission records to student performance in introductory economics — an analysis designed to inform prerequisite policy and an early expression of the applied institutional research that continues to shape his work.
Alongside his academic career, Professor Benjamin has held several senior leadership roles at the University of Toronto, including Vice-Dean, Graduate, and most recently Vice-Provost, Strategic Enrolment Management. In these positions, he oversaw enrolment strategy, admissions, financial aid, and registrarial functions, drawing extensively on institutional data to support planning and decision-making. He also chaired the Reporting and Analytics Council, contributing to the University’s institutional research and data governance framework.
His experience in graduate education has informed his research on PhD labour market outcomes, and he has collaborated with graduate students to apply economic frameworks to institutional data in support of both strategic enrolment management and the economics of higher education. His current research extends this work, examining the economic returns to different types of skills, pathways through education and employment, and the intersection of the labour market with military personnel — including recruitment, retention, and transition.
Brent Arnold
AI is already reshaping how we research, teach, and work, but most institutions are still figuring out how to use it safely and strategically. This keynote cuts through the noise with practical guidance on choosing the right AI tools, governing their use, and avoiding real-world risks. It also tackles the bigger question: how do universities prepare students for jobs that are disappearing, evolving, or don’t exist yet? Expect a candid, forward-looking conversation about the role of higher education in an AI-driven world, and what needs to change now.
Brent Arnold
Brent J. Arnold is a seasoned litigator with over 20 years of experience specializing in cybersecurity, privacy, and commercial litigation. He has appeared before all levels of court in Ontario, including the Supreme Court of Canada, and has been recognized in Best Lawyers™ in Canada and the Lexpert Directory. Brent is a respected thought leader and speaker, serving as Chair of the Canadian Internet Society and holding leadership roles in multiple legal and technology organizations. His expertise lies at the intersection of law and technology, where he provides practical guidance on managing complex litigation, cyber risk and data breach response.
Brent is a sought-after public speaker and has been quoted in leading national newspapers, appeared several times on CBC television and radio, and hosts the Net Positive podcast.
Brent has held leadership positions in the Canadian Bar Association, the Ontario Bar Association, the Advocates’ Society, the International Association of Defense Counsel, and the Defense Research Institute. He currently serves as the Chair of the Canadian Internet Society, a thinktank that advocates for open, accessible, affordable and secure internet access for Canadians.
Alex Sevnigy
Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing how institutions collect, analyze, interpret, and communicate data. In this keynote, Alex Sévigny will explore how AI, analytics, and natural-language interfaces are reshaping decision support, strategic communications, and institutional planning. Drawing on research, applied case studies, and practical experience, he will examine opportunities for using AI to transform data into insight while addressing issues of trust, ethics, governance, and organizational readiness. The session will help institutional research and planning professionals understand how to navigate this new era responsibly and strategically.
Alex Sevnigy
Alex Sévigny, PhD, APR, is a tenured associate professor of communications management at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and director of the MCM Research Lab. His work explores what data science, artificial intelligence, analytics, and digital transformation can bring to communications management, strategy, and organizational decision-making. He teaches in McMaster’s internationally recognized Master of Communications Management program, where his executive courses focus on data science, AI, analytics, and digital transformation.
Alex is an international expert on AI, digital strategy, and data science for communicators and marketers. Beyond his university role, he is an active consultant and trainer to governments, political staff, not-for-profits, universities, and global corporations. His consulting and training work has included organizations in Asia, the Middle East, Canada, and the United States, as well as public-sector and professional organizations such as the Bank of Canada, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the Canada Drug Agency, the Ontario Medical Association, the University of Toronto, Western University, and McMaster University.
Alex’s research background in artificial intelligence began during his PhD in computational linguistics, where he developed a word-by-word natural language understanding model for French. He has also co-authored an electronic dictionary of Mi’gmaq and published on how AI is affecting communications and marketing. He is co-founder and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Professional Communications and has a forthcoming book on how communications management is being transformed by artificial intelligence, digital media, and data science.
Deborah Williams
The U of A’s economics program initiative addresses the need for improved data to support decisions about academic program sustainability and growth. This initiative aims to provide leaders operating in the context of reduced government funding, tuition restrictions, and a new internal budget model, with the financial insights necessary to make informed investment decisions and understand the true cost of instructional delivery. This session will cover the origin, governance structure, and approach the U of A adopted for program economics.
Deborah Williams
As the Associate Vice President and Chief Data and Analytics Officer at the University of Alberta, Deborah currently leads the institution’s enterprise information governance, analytics and reporting functions. Her previous experience spans diverse leadership roles, including supervising functions such as audit and safe disclosure.
Deborah excels at building relationships with senior executives and clients to proactively develop analytical products that meet business requirements. She has helped the institution evolve its data informed culture, implemented technical and data content training programs, and successfully presented complex analytical results in an accessible manner. A key innovator, she enhanced and automated institutional reporting, saving significant manual effort, and continues to drive change. As Chief Data & Analytics Officer, she leads the development of robust data governance practices that ensure quality and appropriate security. Her team is currently transitioning to a secure cloud environment to advance scalability, collaboration, and modern analytics capabilities.
Data at the Frontier of the Unknown and Unknowable
A confluence of internal and external factors has led Wilfrid Laurier University to review its academic structures and curricula, budget model and financial sustainability strategies. This means data. But which data? And who should have access to them as curriculum is reviewed and reformed, as recruitment and retention strategies are developed, as units’ financial ‘bottom-lines’ are examined and compared, and as new processes are developed to ensure long-term financial sustainability? This presentation outlines the steps Laurier has taken to ensure that the right data are available to leaders so that current decisions position the institution well for a variety of future scenarios.
Heidi Northwood
Dr. Heidi Northwood is Provost and Vice-President: Academic at Wilfrid Laurier University, where she provides academic leadership across the institution’s multi-campus environment. In this role, she advances strategic initiatives that enhance academic excellence and belonging for both students and faculty. Specific areas of focus include retention initiatives, strategic enrolment management, the growth of new undergraduate and graduate programs, academic partnerships and pathways, and experiential learning. She also serves as a co-lead for the university’s budget.
Prior to her appointment as Provost, Dr. Northwood served as Senior Executive Officer of Laurier’s Brantford campus and Senior Executive Officer, Global Strategy. In these roles, she supported campus growth and planning, strengthened community and global partnerships, and contributed to institution-wide strategic and international initiatives. Before this, she was Laurier’s inaugural Dean of Liberal Arts, where she played a key role in establishing a new academic faculty, fostering interdisciplinary teaching and scholarship, and building collaborative academic communities.
Prior to joining Laurier in 2014, she was a faculty member in the philosophy department at Nazareth University in Rochester, NY for 18 years. Her area of expertise is ancient Greek philosophy and her current research focuses on Aristotle’s ethics and politics.