Meet Ashley Ballard, a member of the Office of Information Technology whose journey from Arizona to Alabama reflects adaptability, ambition, and enthusiasm both inside and outside the workplace. Within OIT, Ashley recently transitioned to the Workday project, where her primary responsibility is coordinating with individuals across campus who rely on Banner for HR and finance data. Ashley is tasked with understanding stakeholder needs, developing plans for delivering data from Workday, and building the integrations required. She explains that implementing Workday involves significant configuration and development, stating, “it’s a lot of building. I am focused on integration points, but there’s other people who are building reports. I’m making sure data from Workday can be sent to external systems.”
Before joining OIT, Ashley worked as a data analyst at the campus Career Center. There, she was responsible for determining student outcomes after graduation, tracking their locations, jobs, and salaries, and handling the First Destination Survey to gather valuable insights about alumni. Motivated to strengthen her technical skills and pursue remote work opportunities, Ashley moved into OIT. Her background includes recruiting college graduates for software engineering positions and working in data engineering, analytics, and software testing. She spent three years testing websites for General Motors, making sure car sales platforms functioned efficiently in countries like Chile and Colombia. The technical challenges and growth opportunities within OIT stuck out to her, offering a dynamic environment for further development.
Ashley’s life outside of work is equally active and engaging. She enjoys hiking in Tuscaloosa with her two dogs and has recently started stand-up paddle boarding on local lakes, finding joy in Alabama’s scenic beauty. When she’s not out in nature, you can catch Ashley beating Jeopardy contestants from her couch or listening to music, especially Taylor Swift and Noah Kahn. She may be new to Alabama, but Ashley and her husband have become devoted college football fans, regularly attending the Crimson Tide’s games! OIT appreciates all that Ashley does for UA!