BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

 

KAY M. McCLENNEY

 

 

Kay McClenney is Director of the Community College Survey of Student Engagement and an adjunct faculty member in the Community College Leadership Program (CCLP) at The University of Texas at Austin.  Also within the CCLP, she directs the Ford Foundation’s  coordinating team for the national Community College Bridges to Opportunity Initiative and the MetLife Foundation’s national student retention project.  She is also Senior Associate with The Pew Forum on Undergraduate Learning and a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Education Commission of the States (ECS), where she served as Vice President and chief operating officer from 1990 to 2000. 

 

Dr. McClenney has served as a consultant to education institutions, state higher education systems, state government, and professional associations in 48 states and internationally.  In addition, she served for nine years as a community college educator, during which she was a faculty member, system administrator, and interim CEO.

 

A frequent keynote speaker, Dr. McClenney has also authored numerous publications on education issues, strategic planning, accountability, and assessment.  She currently serves on the National Advisory Boards for the National Survey of Student Engagement at Indiana University, the College and Careers Transition Initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Education, the project on Building Engagement and Attainment of Minority Students at the American Association for Higher Education, and the Community College Leadership Academy at Arizona State University. 

 

She earned her Ph.D. in educational administration from the Community College Leadership Program at the University of Texas at Austin, and she has been named a Distinguished Graduate of that program.  Her previous degrees include a B.A. from Trinity University and an M.A. in Psychology from Texas Christian University.

 

Kay served as a member of the Board of Directors of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) and the Executive Board of the American Association of Women in Community Colleges (AAWCC).  She was the recipient of the 2002 PBS O’Banion Prize for contributions to teaching and learning in America.