As a higher education researcher, teacher, and practitioner, Dr. Carla Harcleroad is personally and professionally dedicated to addressing complex postsecondary student success and degree completion issues, and she is inspired by higher education efforts that seek to increase access and educational achievement for lower-income, first-generation, and historically underrepresented student populations.
Dr. Harcleroad has held numerous leadership, research, and teaching roles at multiple insitutions and organizations in the past seventeen years. She has worked as a Lead Researcher at the Educational Policy Improvement Center, which focuses on understanding, and increasing, college and career readiness for high school students, and she built and directed PathwayOregon at the University of Oregon (UO), which is a nationally recognized retention and degree completion program for lower-income Oregonians. Following her work a the UO, Dr. Harcleroad served as the Assistant Dean for Student Success and Managing Director of the College Advising Center she developed at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon.
Directly prior to joining Arizona State University, Dr. Harcleroad served as the Associate Vice President for Advising & Career Services at Portland State University (PSU). In this role, she worked with Deans, Associate Deans, Vice Provosts, department chairs, and individual faculty members to implement PSU's Academic & Career Advising Redesign. This work involved the oversight of significant fiscal resources and supervisory responsibility for nine advising, career, and transfer teams. Most recently, Dr. Harcleroad led investment efforts to support building renovations and the establishment of the Undergraduate Advising Resource Center, the University Career Center, and the Transfer & Returning Student Resource Center in new physical space.
While serving in these various roles, Dr. Harcleroad has maintained her commitment to serving as a practitioner-teacher and practitioner-scholar, and she has taught graduate and undergraduate students, supported professional development opportunities for employees, presented at conferences, coordinated participation in national surveys, developed and implemented programmatic assessment and research instruments, and served on Association of Public and Land-grant Universities committees committed to using data to inform practice and improve service delivery and the student experience.
Dr. Harcleroad in an expert in organizational change, change leardership and management, college student retention, and advising theories and frameworks. She received her Ph.D. in Educational Policy, Management, and Organization from the University of Oregon, an M.A. in Higher Education and Organizational Change from UCLA, an M.S. in Educational Leadership, Higher Education Administration from the University of Oregon, and a B.A. in English and Applied Linguistics from Portland State University. In her free time, you will find her with family and friends, caring for her rescued Bullmastiff, "Joey," reading, and spending as much time as possible enjoying sun-filled activities.