Andrea Spargo Named SHEEO Award Recipient
The State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO) announced that Andrea Spargo, research specialist with the Rhode Island Office of the Postsecondary Commissioner is this year’s recipient of its prestigious David L. Wright Memorial Award. This award recognizes a current SHEEO agency staff member from a member agency who embodies the exceptional commitment, work ethic, and ethical practices of David Wright and who has made outstanding contributions to their agency.
SHEEO also presented awards to the Utah System of Higher Education and one to Clayton Christian, commissioner of higher education for the Montana University System.
“It is truly our pleasure to honor and recognize the commitment and resilience of our state higher education executive officers, their agencies, and the dedicated professionals who serve within them. The recipients of this year’s SHEEO Excellence Awards play a crucial role in shaping systems to better serve students and advance our nation’s postsecondary landscape,” said Dr. Robert Anderson, SHEEO president.
Andrea Spargo carries forward David Wright’s legacy with thoughtfulness and dedication — demonstrating the very qualities this award celebrates: ethical leadership, tireless work ethic, and a lasting impact on higher education policy.
She is an educational researcher with more than 20 years of experience in data collection, management, and advanced analysis across K–12 and postsecondary systems. Her expertise in translating complex data into clear, actionable insights for diverse audiences has been invaluable to Rhode Island and to success in building cross-agency collaboration. Those who work with her consider her an asset to their teams, heralding her ability to apply thoughtful logic and analytic skills to vague and ill-defined projects, bringing order to chaos.
“The David L. Wright Memorial Award honors someone whose commitment, work ethics, and ethical practice have made a lasting difference in the field of state higher education. Andrea Spargo is that person. She has spent more than a decade as a quiet pillar of Rhode Island’s higher education landscape, building data and research infrastructure that makes good policy possible, earning the trust of every partner she has worked with across RI’s Institutions of higher education, government, and business; doing it all with a spirit of service that is, simply, who she is. She has built a reputation that precedes her into every room she enters,” said Commissioner Shannon Gilkey, Ed.D. “Because of Andrea’s influence on Rhode Island higher education, the state provides a more affordable, equitable, and impactful system of delivery that Rhode Islanders will continue to access for many years to come. Andrea personifies the importance of SHEEO offices across the country for the work she conducts, the way she conducts it, and the impact she has on our communities.
Among the many projects Andrea has led or developed are Rhode Island’s attainment dashboard, population profiles, and a now-popular annual report focused on key metrics related to education, workforce training, and earnings tailored to municipal audiences. She collaborated with the Department of Labor and Training to develop the first statewide talent pipeline analysis, aligning graduate output with workforce demand, and she serves as the data lead for Workforce Pell implementation. Her accomplishments span far beyond this short list – a testament to the work ethic and dedication she has shown throughout her time in Rhode Island.
Additional accomplishments include:
- Spargo co-authored the “Roadmap for Postsecondary Attainment in the Ocean State”, creating an annual benchmark for analyzing population characteristics, educational attainment, enrollment, completion, and affordability.
- She evaluated the institutional performances of Rhode Island’s three institutions of higher education in the areas of graduation/completion, workforce development, and mission-specific metrics and produced an annual report for each Institution of Higher Education as part of a performance funding assessment.
- She coordinates the annual private, non-degree school data collection, managing the data element template, and co-facilitating information sessions to ensure institutions understand what is being asked and why.
- Spargo is a key contributor to the Direct Admissions pilot, where she will use RILDS-prepared data to make eligibility determinations for RI’s rising seniors, placing her at the precise intersection of data infrastructure and student access.
- Launched the state’s inaugural college-going report, providing critical information about high school college-going patterns and information by student groups, sparking a multi-year campaign to address college-going challenges coming out of the pandemic.