NJCU Administrator and Educator Named an ACE Fellow
The American Council on Education (ACE) has announced that Dr. Karen D. Morgan, Interim Assistant Provost for Undergraduate Experience and Associate Professor of Mathematics at New Jersey City University, has been named an ACE Fellow for academic year 2018-19.
Established in 1965, the ACE Fellows Program is designed to strengthen institutions and leadership in American higher education by identifying and preparing faculty and staff for senior positions in college and university administration through its distinctive and intensive nominator-driven, cohort-based mentorship model. Following nomination by the senior administration of their institutions and a rigorous application process, 45 Fellows were selected this year.
More than 2,000 higher education leaders have participated in the ACE Fellows Program over the past five decades, with more than 80 percent of Fellows having gone on to serve as senior leaders of colleges and universities.
“For more than a half-century, the ACE Fellows Program has been a powerful engine fueling the expansion of a talented and diverse higher education leadership pipeline,” said ACE President Ted Mitchell. “We are excited to welcome this new class of Fellows and look forward to each enjoying a transformative experience that will help advance individual leadership readiness while also enriching the capacity of institutions to innovate and thrive.”
Morgan manages the Academic Affairs budget process. She also leads evidence-based initiatives to support the academic success, retention, degree completion, and overall educational experience for undergraduate students. She is the campus lead for Re-Imagining the First Year (RFY), a national project supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Strada Education Network. Through her lens as administrator, mathematician, educator, and poet, she has presented and published on various leadership and academic topics.
Among her many accomplishments, Morgan was a 2014 Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Summer Institute on Undergraduate Education Scholar at Harvard University and was selected as a 2014-2015 National Academies Education Fellow in the Sciences.
“I’m honored to have been selected as an ACE Fellow. I’m looking forward to the evolutionary change as I learn and grow through my experiences as part of this eminent program,” Morgan said. “I am grateful to Dr. Sue Henderson, President, and Dr. Daniel J. Julius, Provost and Senior Vice President, for their support. I aspire to be a college president; my ACE fellowship is another position along that trajectory.”
Morgan has over 20 years of experience in higher education. She is an advocate of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) and is devoted to engaging all learners in mathematics. Her philosophical perspective of teaching centers on one ideological focus—to marry mathematics, psychology, philosophy, sociology, and pedagogy to create alternate means of assessment that are effective and produce measurable learning outcomes. She has achieved recognition for her leadership efforts in enhancing student success, innovative pedagogical approaches to teaching, ability to intellectually stimulate her students, research in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, and commitment to higher education.
Morgan earned her B.A. and M.S. in Mathematics and a Ph.D. in Higher Education/Mathematics Education from the University of Mississippi.
“I am delighted Dr. Morgan has been chosen to be a part of this prestigious program. She honors NJCU through her selection as an ACE Fellow,” said Dr. Sue Henderson, NJCU President. “I am very confident that Dr. Morgan will further enhance her already excellent leadership skills from her work in the program, and to the great benefit of our institution.”
The program combines retreats, interactive learning opportunities, visits to campuses and other higher education-related organizations, and placement at another higher education institution to condense years of on-the-job experience and skills development into a single year. During the placement, Fellows observe and work with the president and other senior officers at their host institution, attend decision-making meetings, and focus on issues of interest. Fellows also conduct projects of pressing concern for their home institution and seek to implement their findings upon completion of the fellowship placement.
At the conclusion of the fellowship year, Fellows return to their home institution with new knowledge and skills that contribute to capacity-building efforts, along with a network of peers across the country and abroad.
About ACE
Celebrating its centennial in 2018, ACE is the major coordinating body for all the nation's higher education institutions, representing nearly 1,800 college and university presidents and related associations. It provides leadership on key higher education issues and influences public policy through advocacy. For more information, please visit www.acenet.edu or follow ACE on Twitter @ACEducation.