In addition to the feedback and guidance provided by Academy Mentors, Academy institutions receive advice on their projects from Academy Scholars and Senior Scholars, who are experts in the areas of assessment of student learning and student success. They provide responses to project updates in SparQ and facilitate Academy events.

Senior Scholars

The Senior Scholars are responsible for leading the development and improvement of the curriculum for the Academy programs, in addition to providing mentorship to Academy participants. They give presentations on research and best practices in assessment of student learning and supporting student success at Academy and Workshop events and at the HLC Annual Conference.

Janice Denton

Professor Emerita, University of Cincinnati

Janice Denton is Professor Emerita in the Chemistry Department at the University of Cincinnati Blue Ash College where she taught from 1990 - 2023. During that time, she chaired the college assessment committee, directed the university’s General Education program, and served as department head. She is a member of her university’s Academy of Fellows for Teaching and Learning and was awarded the Blue Ash College Distinguished Teaching Award in 2001. She served as a mentor in HLC’s Assessment Academy from its inception in 2005, became a mentor in the Persistence and Completion Academy when it started in 2013, assumed the role of Scholar for both Academies in 2016, and became a Senior Scholar for the Assessment, Persistence and Completion, and Student Success Academies in 2018.

Susan Hatfield

Professor Emerita, Winona State University

Susan Hatfield is Professor Emerita in the Communication Studies Department at Winona State University (WSU), where she taught from 1981 to 2015. During that time, she developed and directed WSU’s assessment program, served as a department chairperson, and coordinated the First Year Student Experience. She has previously served on the Board of Visitors for the Marine Corps University and the Board of Directors of the Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology. Susan is currently a Trustee with the Palmer College of Chiropractic.

Scholars

Susan Murphy

Susan Murphy is retired from a career at the University of New Mexico (UNM) and Central New Mexico Community College (CNM). She taught in Campeche, Mexico at the Universidad Autonoma during a Fulbright assignment and has served in numerous administrative positions. At UNM she coordinated the operations of branch campuses for the Office of the Provost; at CNM she served as Dean of Arts and Sciences, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Vice President for External Affairs. She led CNM's work in assessment and institutional effectiveness spanning the liberal arts, career, and professional degree programs. Dr. Murphy has consulted widely on issues of accreditation and assessment guiding institutions in developing outcomes, mapping curricula, and designing viable assessment plans. She obtained her doctorate in Romance Languages from the University of New Mexico.

Rosemary Niedens

Rosemary Niedens currently serves as the Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs at Newman University in Wichita, Kansas. During her 20+-year association with Newman, she has held multiple roles on both the academic and student affairs sides of the institution. At present, Niedens is responsible for the first-year programs, persistence programs, concurrent enrollment programming, and academic and student support services including cooperative education, testing services, the probationary and conditional status program, special needs advising, Disability Services, international student services, Title IX and certified peer tutoring, among others. She teaches leadership studies and supervises the ASC Community Leader Scholars program. At the community level, she is a past chair and serves on the board of the Salvation Army, and she also works closely with the Adorers of the Blood of Christ Associate Program.

Jenny Schanker

As Senior Director of Learning and Research at the Michigan Community College Association, Jenny Schanker leads Michigan’s work on Guided Pathways, Math Pathways, Open Educational Resources and developmental education reform. At the MCCA, and while serving in her former role as an English instructor and department chair at Lake Michigan College, Dr. Schanker has focused on issues related to college readiness, developmental education, dual enrollment, transfer, and  alignment of non-credit and credit career education and training. She has served as a Mentor in the Higher Learning Commission’s Persistence and Completion Academy from 2013-2018 and as an Academy Scholar since 2018 and holds an M.A. in English from DePaul University and an Ed.D. in Community College Leadership from National Louis University.

Jan Smith

Jan Smith is the Assistant Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness at Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas. She has given numerous international, national and regional presentations on topics related to higher education, most notably accreditation. Jan has a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Wyoming and has 20 years of experience as a professor in the Department of Psychology and Counseling at Pittsburg State. Jan was a long-time mentor for HLC’s Assessment Academy before becoming an Academy Scholar.