Tara Sprehe

Photograph of Tara Sprehe.

Role: Dean of Academic Foundations and Connections

Tara Sprehe serves as the Dean of Academic Foundations and Connections at Clackamas Community College in Oregon. This unique division blends all functional areas of student affairs (including athletics and counseling) and includes the academic areas of math, English, adult basic skills, and English for Speakers of Other Languages. Sprehe has 30 years of experience working in higher education with 20 of those years in the community college environment. Prior to her role as dean, Sprehe was the associate dean for enrollment and student services, which included the following functional areas: admissions and recruitment, academic advising, disability resources, financial aid, registration and records, and testing services. She served as the college registrar for nine years at Clackamas.

Prior to her work in community colleges, Sprehe worked in admissions, academic advising, residence life, and career services for several four-year public universities. She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Oregon and a master’s degree in student affairs in higher education from Miami University (Ohio). Sprehe served as president of Oregon ACRAO (OrACRAO), the local arrangements committee chair for PACRAO 2013, was an editor for the 2016 edition of the AACRAO Academic Record and Transcript Guide, and a member of the AACRAO Disciplinary Notations on Transcripts Work Group. She regularly presents at the annual Strategic Enrollment Management Conference and feels incredibly lucky to do this challenging and rewarding work.

Managing Enrollment during the “Unprecedented”