Emeritus, Institutional Research

A world traveler, motorcyclist, composer and former slaughterhouse worker. Clearly, Paul Carmichael is not your typical research expert.

However, for more than 10 years, Paul was the “go to” person for any and all information about Middlesex. He knows almost everything there is to know—from admission trends, to student demographics, to class enrollment statistics, to student satisfaction, and beyond.

Paul consistently collected, filtered and analyzed data to make them available in multiple forms for Middlesex staff and faculty to aid their understanding and decision making (he calls his work a “reality check” of the school). Paul also provided data for mandated federal, state and college system reporting. He even offered guidance to any student tackling research for a class project.

He has published several articles and book chapters, including in peer-reviewed journals, and has presented at numerous conferences and workshops. He served as chair of the Institutional Research Council for Connecticut Community Colleges and as president of the Connecticut Association for Institutional Research (ConnAIR).

Before to joining Middlesex, Paul worked as a faculty member in the Graduate School of Social Service at Fordham University at Lincoln Center in New York City. He also was a senior research and policy analyst for the Public Education Unit of the Community Service Society in NYC, where he prepared reports for congressional testimony on public school education policy.

Paul worked as part of the research staff at the Bigel Institute for Health Policy at the Heller School at Brandeis University, and was a clinical social worker at Youville Hospital and Rehabilitation Center in Boston. He also was the director of Neurological Consultation Services at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

This extensive resume comes after his first work experience—which really was at a slaughterhouse and meat-packing factory in Albany.

When he’s away from spreadsheets and data entry, Paul loves to travel and has taken numerous trips throughout North America, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. To date, his greatest adventure has been to circumnavigate the globe with only his backpack filled with the bare necessities (and a journal).

Paul is an active member of the LIONS service organization, a board member of a Unitarian-Universalist Society, and an occasional organist and pianist at his church. His artistic endeavors include music composition, writing a novel, studying time travel and learning about life in the first century.

Paul earned his undergraduate degree from McGill University (a tribute to his Canadian parents), and his master’s degree in social work from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He earned a Ph.D. from Brandeis University, where he received the National Research Service Award from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. He also attended Oxford University in England (where he lived with his family for 14 months), but missed his exams after suffering injuries from a motorcycle accident.