Turning Academic Complexity Into Institutional Clarity
Higher education institutions are under more pressure than ever — to retain students, demonstrate program quality, satisfy accreditors, and scale responsibly. The gap between what institutions know they need and what they have the internal capacity to execute is where I work.
With over 12 years of academic program leadership, cross-functional academic data leadership for 16 institutional partnerships, and a track record that includes 86% year-over-year retention and a 95% pathway program completion rate while preserving four year graduation, I bring both the strategic vision and the operational experience to move institutions from diagnosis to results.
How I Work With Institutions
I offer four core service areas, each scoped to fit your institution’s size, timeline, and specific challenge. Engagements range from focused project work to ongoing retainer partnerships.
Fractional Academic Director & Advisor
Retainer
For growing EdTech companies, new pathway programs, and small colleges launching or scaling online offerings, hiring a full-time academic director is often premature, but operating without one is costly. As a fractional Academic Director, I embed into your leadership team on a part-time basis, providing the program oversight, faculty coordination, and academic strategy you need without the overhead of a full-time hire.
Engagements typically include 8–20 hours per month and are structured around your most pressing priorities, whether that’s launching a new program, managing institutional partnerships, or building academic operations from the ground up.
Ideal for: EdTech companies building academic pathways, small colleges launching online programs, organizations navigating rapid enrollment growth
What I bring: 12+ years of academic program leadership · student retention data strategy for 16 institutional partnerships developed and managed · PMP certified
Student Retention & Lifecycle Analytics Strategy
Project or Hourly
Student attrition is rarely a single-cause problem, and template-driven retention initiatives rarely result in substantive change. I work with enrollment management teams, VPs of Academic Affairs, and CAOs to design data-informed retention strategies grounded in your institution’s student lifecycle data, not national benchmarks that don’t reflect your population.
Engagements typically include current-state analysis, identification of high-risk student segments, intervention design, and implementation roadmapping. Where needed, I can advise on technology integration across data platforms such as Ellucian Banner, Salesforce, and LMS platforms, and ensure critical trend visibility and FERPA-compliant data-governance.
Ideal for: VPs of Academic Affairs, Chief Academic Officers, enrollment management teams facing persistent attrition challenges
What I bring: 86% year-over-year retention achieved · 95% first-year program completion rate · FERPA-compliant analytics platform built from the ground up · platform integration experience
Academic Program Health Assessment & Roadmap
Project or Retainer
Before you scale a program, restructure a department, or respond to accreditor concerns, you need an honest, data-grounded picture of where things stand. This engagement delivers a comprehensive assessment of your program’s academic quality, operational infrastructure, enrollment health, and strategic positioning — along with a prioritized roadmap for what to address and in what order.
This is particularly valuable for new academic directors inheriting programs without documentation, provosts evaluating underperforming programs, and pathway providers preparing to expand to new institutional partners.
Ideal for: New directors stepping into established programs, provosts evaluating program viability, pathway providers scaling to new campuses
What I bring: 12+ years running academic programs at scale · Enterprise data strategy across 16 campuses · Digital transformation of 20+ courses
Accreditation Preparation & Self-Study Consulting
Accreditation is one of the highest-stakes processes an academic institution undertakes — and one of the most resource-intensive. Whether you are pursuing initial accreditation, preparing for a renewal visit, or responding to a show-cause action, I provide expert guidance through every phase of the self-study process: standards interpretation, evidence organization, narrative writing strategy, committee facilitation, and mock review preparation.
As an active CEA Site Reviewer, I evaluate institutions against the same standards your accreditor will apply. That perspective — understanding exactly what reviewers look for and where self-studies typically fall short — is what separates adequate preparation from a successful outcome.
Ideal for: Language institutes, intensive English programs, pathway providers, and community colleges seeking or renewing accreditation
What I bring: Active CEA Site Reviewer · Co-directed a 10-year accreditation self-study · PhD + PMP · Deep familiarity with standards interpretation from both sides of the review process