Associate Executive Director, Business Development & Strategic Partnerships, AACRAO
Request Dr. Mike Simmons as a speaker
About
Dr. Mike Simmons leads the Strategic Partnership and Business Development initiatives for the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers where he manages AACRAO’s portfolio of external grants and special projects, with a particular focus on comprehensive learner records.
He is recently retired from the University of North Texas where he served as the Assistant Vice President of Academic Affairs in the Provost’s Office of Curricular Innovation and Academic Partnerships. He led a number of academic innovation projects, including the development of the Career Connect Comprehensive Learner Record (CLR/LER) and creation of the Access Day One program (inclusive access for textbook affordability). He previously led the university’s NextGen course redesign project, supporting hundreds of faculty to impact thousands of students in courses, with a focus on general education large courses. The Connect and NextGen initiatives were also the university’s SACSCOC Quality Enhancement Plans for accreditation.
Before joining the UNT team, he was the Assistant Vice President for Lifelong Learning at Texas Woman’s University where he led a team that built over 10 online programs, increasing TWU’s enrollment by 30%. He also led the university’s continuing education division with programs and events generating an average of over $1m in revenue per year.
At Marshall University, Dr. Simmons was the founding director of the Marshall Technology Institute, which served to coordinated technology resources and partnerships with private sector and non-profit organizations and encouraged technology initiatives at the University in cooperation with state and local governments.
After an initial career spanning 10 years of public policy, government, and political work, Dr. Simmons led a statewide education non-profit agency targeting at-risk students in West Virginia high schools, which was an effort supported by significant grants and fundraising initiatives.
With over 25 years of higher education leadership, innovation, and entrepreneurship, Dr. Simmons provides valuable insights for organizations as they plan and implement new programs, processes, and strategics. He also provides expertise in establishing and maintained proactive partner relationships with learning technology and education technology vendors – ranging from publishers to learning management systems to assessment and many other types of systems that are necessary for successful higher education institutions.
Government, public policy, and public administration remain his academic field and area of interest. Dr. Simmons has maintained a teaching portfolio in addition to his administrative and leadership roles. He has taught at least one graduate or undergraduate course each semester as an adjunct for 22 years.
A published scholar and frequent presenter, Dr. Simmons provides strong communication and messaging to each project. Frequent topics include high impact educational practices, civic engagement, workforce development, marketable skills, and digital credentials/comprehensive learner records.
He holds a Ph.D. in Public Administration and Urban Affairs from the University of Texas at Arlington and a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His Bachelor of Arts degree in History is from King College in Bristol, Tennessee.
Dr. Simmons is responsible for leading the consulting, corporate partnerships and grants teams in creating and maintaining valuable strategic relationships and creating resource opportunities that allow AACRAO to meet strategic goals and serve our members.
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