2026 Assessment Institute Featured Speakers
Plenary Keynote and Panel
Plenary Keynote Speaker
-
Nasser H. Paydar, President, Council for Higher Education Accreditation
Plenary Moderator
- Stephen P. Hundley, Professor of Organizational Leadership; Founding Executive Director, Center for Leading Improvements in Higher Education; Chair, Assessment Institute in Indianapolis; Executive Editor, Assessment Update; and Host, Leading Improvements in Higher Education, Indiana University Indianapolis
Panelists
- Megan Good, Executive Director, Center for Assessment & Research Studies (CARS); and Assistant Professor, Graduate Psychology, James Madison University
- Mark Howse, Associate Vice President Institutional Effectiveness, Assessment, and Accreditation, Morehouse School of Medicine; and Chair, HBCU Collaborative for Excellence in Educational Quality Assurance (HBCU-CEEQA)
- Will Miller, Associate Vice President for Continuous Improvement and Institutional Performance, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University; Chair, Continuous Improvement Summit; and Co-Lead of the Assessment Institute’s GenAI Community of Practice
- Ken O'Donnell, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, University of La Verne; and Co-Founder, HIPs in the States (High-Impact Practices)
- Nasser H. Paydar, President, Council for Higher Education Accreditation
Thematic Keynote Sessions
In addition to the plenary keynote and panel, the Assessment Institute in Indianapolis will offer 10 hour-long thematic keynote sessions—5 on Monday and 5 on Tuesday—addressing contemporary higher education issues related to:
- Engaged Learning
- Innovative Instruction
- Leading Improvements
- Strategic Directions
- Student Success
Below are the speakers for these thematic keynotes. More information about each session will be provided in program materials shared closer to the Institute dates.
Engaged Learning
Monday, October 19, 2026
This session is organized by the Project for Educational Research That Scales (PERTS)
- Dave Paunesku, Executive Director & Co-Founder, Project for Educational Research That Scales (PERTS), Stanford University
Tuesday, October 20, 2026
This session is organized by Experiential Learning and Teaching in Higher Education and HIPs in the States
- Amy Cicchino, Associate Professor of Writing and Rhetoric and Director of the University Writing Center, University of Central Florida; and Editor-in-Chief, Experiential Learning and Teaching in Higher Education
- Jocelyn Evans, Professor of Government and Director of the University of the Kugelman Honors Program, University of West Florida
- Sara Evans, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice, Kennesaw State University
Innovative Instruction
Monday, October 19, 2026
This session is organized by the American Association of Colleges & Universities (AAC&U)
- Kate Drezek McConnell, Vice President for Curricular and Pedagogical Innovation and Executive Director of VALUE, AAC&U
- Caleb J. Keith, Assistant Vice President for Digital Innovation, AAC&U
- C. Edward Watson, Vice President for Digital Innovation, AAC&U
Tuesday, October 20, 2026
This session is organized by the Competency-Based Education Network (C-BEN)
- Laurie Dodge, Vice President of Quality Assurance and Accreditation, C-BEN
- Ryan Specht-Boardman, Senior Director of Higher Education Solutions, C-BEN
Leading Improvements
Monday, October 19, 2026
This session is organized by the Learning Improvement Community
- Keston Fulcher, Learning Improvement Strategist, Center for Assessment & Research Studies and Professor of Graduate Psychology, James Madison University
Tuesday, October 20, 2026
This session is organized by the Continuous Improvement Summit
- Will Miller, Associate Vice President for Continuous Improvement and Institutional Performance, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University; Chair, Continuous Improvement Summit; and Co-Lead of the Assessment Institute’s GenAI Community of Practice
Strategic Directions
Monday, October 19, 2026
This session is organized by the Assessment Institute's Generative Artificial (GenAI) Community of Practice (CoP)
- John D. Hathcoat, Associate Professor in Quantitative Psychology and Associate Assessment Specialist in the Center for Assessment & Research Studies, James Madison University; and Co-Lead of the Assessment Institute’s GenAI CoP
- Will Miller, Associate Vice President for Continuous Improvement and Institutional Performance, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University; Chair, Continuous Improvement Summit; and Co-Lead of the Assessment Institute’s GenAI CoP
- Ruth Slotnick, Director of Assessment, Bridgewater State University; and Co-Lead of the Assessment Institute’s GenAI CoP
Tuesday, October 20, 2026
This session is organized by the Center for Assessment and Research Studies (CARS)
- Jennifer Flatt, Provost/Executive Vice President of Academic & Student Affairs, Northeast Wisconsin Technical College
- Laura Gambino, Vice President, New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE)
- Megan Good, Executive Director, Center for Assessment & Research Studies (CARS); and Assistant Professor, Graduate Psychology, James Madison University
- Jillian Kinzie, Associate Director of the Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research and the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) Institute, Indiana University Bloomington
- Joseph D. Levy, Associate Vice Provost of Accreditation and Quality Improvement, Excelsior University; and Chair, Consortium of Organizations for Student Affairs Assessment (COSAA)
Student Success
Monday, October 19, 2026
This session is organized by the Consortium of Organizations for Student Affairs Assessment (COSAA)
- Shaun Boren, Director of Assessment and Research in the Division of Student Life, University of Florida (representing Council for the Advancement of Standards and Journal of Student Affairs Inquiry, Improvement, and Impact)
- Crystal Cyr, Director of Student Life Center for Assessment, Insights & Research at the University of Colorado Boulder (representing ACPA’s Commission for Assessment and Evaluation)
- Rebecca Gibbons, Director of Disciplinary and Institutional Accreditation, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (representing the Association for the Assessment of Learning in Higher Education and Student Affairs Assessment Leaders)
- Maureen A. Guarcello, Director, Program Evaluation, Compliance, and Assessment, Division of Student Affairs and Campus Diversity, San Diego State University (representing Student Affairs Assessment Leaders)
- Joseph D. Levy, Associate Vice Provost of Accreditation and Quality Improvement, Excelsior University; and Chair, Consortium of Organizations for Student Affairs Assessment (COSAA) (representing COSAA)
- Scott Radimer, Assistant Dean for Assessment, Accreditation & Accountability, School of Education, William & Mary (representing NASPA’s Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Knowledge Community)
Tuesday, October 20, 2026
This session is organized by the Lumina Foundation
- PJ Woolston, Director of Strategic Insights, Lumina Foundation