Fresh off defeating Stanford to win the 2025 National Championship, the Florida State University Women’s Soccer team proved that elite execution starts with smart strategy. Celebrating on the field, trophy in hand, Head Coach Brian Pensky shared the secret behind their title run with FSU Provost Jim Clark: “You know how we won? We out-thought them.”
That game-winning mindset took center stage at the Turnbull Conference Center during FSU’s second annual Data Day Conference.
Hosted by the Office of Institutional Research and sponsored by the Office of the Provost, the daylong event brought together more than 250 faculty, staff, researchers and professionals to explore how data powers success across the university.
“One of the things I appreciate most about Data Day is that it brings together people from every corner of the university,” said FSU Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Jim Clark. “Faculty, administrators, analysts, researchers and technology professionals each bring a different perspective, but we share a common goal: using data to better serve our students, strengthen our institution and advance our mission.”
Clark expanded on Coach Pensky’s idea of out-thinking the competition, noting that while most elite programs stick to one main game plan, FSU uses data across all disciplines to anticipate challenges and adapt more effectively.
Coach Pensky delivered the keynote address alongside Lead Video and Data Analyst Ryan Poche, demonstrating how that quantitative focus translates to performance. The pair illustrated how tracking tactical indicators helps produce championship results.
“Soccer is the ultimate game of opinions,” Pensky said. “People call it ‘the beautiful game,’ but everybody’s definition of beautiful is different. Data backs up certain opinions. At the end of the day, I rely a lot on what the data says.”
Pensky and Poche demonstrated how tracking high-danger scoring zones and true shot difficulty identified elite shot-stopping, leading directly to a championship shutout victory. Beyond game strategy, custom tools evaluate transfer portal targets before coaches turn on game film, while biometric tracking monitors fatigue to prevent injuries. Their presentation illustrated a broader theme of the conference: Thoughtful use of data can improve decision-making across every part of the university.
Senior Vice Provost and Chief Strategy Officer Rick Burnette emphasized the university’s goal of expanding analytics across every discipline.
“With every dashboard we’ve built, with every analysis we make, we have an opportunity to improve our operations, improve our university, improve the trajectory for our students and improve the work experience,” Burnette said. “At FSU, we believe every day is data day.”
Throughout the day, attendees engaged in breakout sessions led by campus “Data Champions,” campus leaders who shared examples of streamlining operations and leveraging platforms like Power BI, Qualtrics and AWS.
Discussions focused heavily on student success, from refining academic support programs and mapping career readiness to supporting accreditations efforts and addressing responsible AI integration.
To highlight the long-term impact of this work, Joling Emerick was awarded the annual Database Award, recognizing her 29 years of dedicated service to FSU’s data infrastructure ahead of her retirement. Having served the university since 1997, Emerick built FSU’s student-tracking database. Her work became the foundation for decades of institutional growth, supporting significant gains in retention and graduation rates.
Closing the conference, Associate Director of Institutional Research Andrew Brady delivered remarks on behalf of Associate Vice Provost and Chief Data and Analytics Officer James Hunt, challenging attendees to continue advancing the campus-wide mission.
“Our goal isn’t simply to become better at using data,” Hunt said. “Our goal is to become the most data-engaged university in the country. That doesn’t happen because of one office. It doesn’t happen because of one conference. It happens because of people like you: people who ask good questions, seek better answers, share what they learn and use data thoughtfully in service of our students, our colleagues and our mission.”
To explore session recaps and analytics resources, visit data.fsu.edu. Learn more about Office of Institutional Research at ir.fsu.edu. FSU’s Data Day will return for its third annual conference on July 22, 2027.