A. L. Burruss Institute Director Shows Commitment to Faculty and Community

Christy Storey and her team strive for excellence when helping clients with research needs

KENNESAW, Ga. (Aug 17, 2020) — Director Christy Storey leads a team of researchers at the A.L. Burruss Institute of Public Service and Research who create and maintain large, high-quality datasets, and provide a wide range of technical assistance in a broad spectrum of policy areas, to nonprofit organizations and governmental entities at various levels.  Known for expertise in survey research and program evaluation, the Burruss Institute also provides Kennesaw State faculty with opportunities to participate in applied research projects when external clients require subject matter experts. 

The staff can assist with grant proposal development when faculty need to revise or design evaluation components.  They also can consult on questionnaire design, online survey development, weighting data and procuring difficult to source population samples. 

“We are here to help faculty and to serve the greater community,” she said.  “We speak with faculty about their survey needs and their program evaluation needs.  I think we provide a very important resource to faculty, whose projects may call for the need of complex data collection and analysis.”

Storey is responsible for overseeing and administering operations of the institute, including personnel, clients and financial.  Additionally, she serves as the functioning authority to ensure all operations and projects run smoothly at the Burruss Institute, a unit of KSU’s Office of Research.

“My role is leading and helping direct and manage a team of very skilled individuals and it is a privilege for me to do that,” said Storey, who has been at the institute for 30 years. 

She has held various positions at the Burruss Institute, located at the KSU Center, before being promoted to her current position as director.  Those roles included being a public service research associate, assistant director for administration & grants management, and associate director.

Prior to her time at KSU, Storey held positions as an accountant at Cobb County Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs and as a research analyst for the Center for Transportation Studies at Georgia State University.

The Metro Atlanta Speaks survey, conducted for the Atlanta Regional Commission, is her favorite research project that is done annually by surveying metro Atlanta adults to find out their views on contemporary issues.  This year brought about some new questions focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic, income inequality and race relations. 

“We are going to continue to serve the community and KSU faculty,” said Storey.  “We have several projects that we have recently worked on such as the WellStar College of Health and Human Services internship dashboard and a criminal justice professor’s study on collective efficacy in neighborhoods.”

Despite COVID-19, Burruss Institute’s staff were able to continue to work from home and keep up with their various project demands.  Storey said that they discovered that they can still be effective because they could communicate with faculty and their external clients using Microsoft Teams for virtual meetings.

“We are going to help faculty in every way possible so that they can still pursue their research interests, even in this new world of having to deal with COVID-19,” she said.

Storey received her bachelor’s degree in public administration and political science from Georgia College and State University, as well as a Master of Public Administration from Georgia State University.

— Landon Mion