CIRPA 2026
Trusted analytics for better-informed decisions.
We help colleges and universities build the trusted data and analytics capability they need to understand what is happening, explore what may happen next, and act with confidence.
Technology creates capability.
Trust creates confidence.
People make the decisions.
Trust the foundation
Reliable data, testing and governance help people trust what they’re using.
Understand what’s happening and what’s next
Student and employee journeys, forecasting and scenario planning turn complex data into useful insight.
Give people time to think
Automation reduces repetitive work and creates more time for analysis, better questions and judgment.
Where people usually start
- Data that doesn’t match across systems
- Numbers nobody quite trusts
- Understanding student and employee journeys
- Planning for uncertain enrolment
- Too much manual reporting
Find us at CIRPA
Two sessions on what trusted analytics looks like in practice.
We’ll be talking about trusted analytics throughout CIRPA, including two sessions that explore what it looks like in practice.
Concurrent session
HR Analytics: Lessons for IR
HR data can be messier, more political and more consequential than institutions expect. Dorys Crespin-Mueller of Thompson Rivers University and Andrew Drinkwater of Plaid Analytics share lessons they’re learning as they grow HR analytics capability, including what happens when employee data becomes part of IR’s world.
Speakers
Dorys Crespin-Mueller · Thompson Rivers University
Andrew Drinkwater · Plaid Analytics
Workshop
Harnessing the Flow: A Shared Data Standard for the Age of AI
Every institution is rich in data and short on shared meaning. As AI increasingly reads and answers from institutional data, that moves from inconvenience to risk.
This hands-on workshop introduces the MortarCAPS Data Standard (MCDS), an open higher-education data standard co-founded by CUCCIO and CAUDIT. Participants will work through practical examples and leave with a 90-day first step for their own institution.
No laptop required.
Speakers
Sandeep Sidhu · MortarCAPS / ECU
Andrew Drinkwater · Plaid Analytics
Between sessions, you’ll find us at the Plaid Analytics table.
A little less serious
For data people of all ages.
Pick up a copy of Data Saves the Day at the Plaid Analytics table.
Find the bad data. Navigate the reporting maze. Connect a few dots. And remember that people are more than numbers.
Because even data people need something to colour between sessions.
2016–2026
Ten years of learning alongside this community.
Plaid Analytics is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2026.
CIRPA members have been clients, collaborators, colleagues, sounding boards and friends throughout much of that journey. Thank you for ten great years of conversations, questions, challenges and ideas that have helped shape Plaid and the work we do.
We’re looking forward to what comes next.
Keep the conversation going
Smart Data
Better decisions depend on more than dashboards.
Together with Higher Education Strategy Associates, we’re exploring what it takes to make institutional data more useful, trustworthy and ready for the questions ahead.
The HESAxPlaid Smart Data series brings higher-education leaders together to explore the practical foundations behind better analytics and better decisions.
What could trusted analytics look like at your institution?
Maybe it starts with forecasting. Or fragmented data. Governance. Student journeys. People analytics. A reporting process that takes far too much manual effort.
You don’t need to start everywhere. Start with a problem worth solving.
Talk to us about trusted analytics
Find us at the Plaid Analytics table during CIRPA, or book some time to talk.