Dickert Named Assistant Dean for Educational Experience Assessment

Carnegie Mellon University has appointed Joanna Dickert assistant dean for educational experience assessment, effective July 1. In this newly expanded role, she will be responsible for the leadership and oversight of assessment efforts for the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences in addition to continuing these responsibilities for the Division of Student Affairs and the Office of the Vice Provost for Education’s Core Competencies Initiative.

“Joanna is a collaborative and energetic leader who has a passion for assessment and evaluation, program design and development, and strategic planning,” said Holly Hippensteel, associate vice president for community standards and diversity initiatives. “She embraces innovation and has an outstanding record of progressive, student-centered leadership.”

Building on her 15 years of experience at CMU, Dickert will provide oversight for annual and long-term strategic assessment efforts for the Division of Student Affairs. She will align Student Affairs and Dietrich College assessment efforts with university-wide efforts to promote holistic learning, persistence and overall student success. Dickert will play a key role in ensuring consistent planning, implementation and reporting of progress on strategic priorities, and she will serve as a resource and a representative on campus-wide assessment efforts.

Dickert will continue to report to Hippensteel in the Division of Student Affairs. She will build and sustain partnerships across campus, including close work with Marsha Lovett, associate vice provost for teaching innovation and learning analytics, to contribute to the University Core Competencies Initiative, and with Sharon Carver, the Dietrich College’s associate dean for educational affairs, on the data-driven revision and assessment of Dietrich College’s general education.

Dickert’s previous work has included program development and student engagement related to undergraduate research, national fellowship advising, academic integrity, student conduct and women’s leadership. In addition to her work at CMU, Dickert is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Evaluation and Measurement at Kent State University. Through the alignment of a student-centered process with an evidence-based approach to decision making, she is interested in exploring how assessment and evaluation can optimize student learning, particularly in metacurricular experiences – those educational experiences that transcend the classroom.