Jenny Schanker

She began her career as an English professor, teaching developmental writing and reading along with introductory college composition and literature courses in Illinois and Michigan. Along the way, she developed a passion for postsecondary education as a vehicle for advancing social justice, belonging, and equitable opportunities for students. As a faculty member and administrator at Lake Michigan College, she led the College’s Achieving the Dream initiative, co-chaired the Student Learning Outcomes Committee, and founded the Student Success Committee. For the past 13 years, Jenny has worked in the Center for Student Success at the Michigan Community College Association where she has led the Center’s work to advance guided pathways, mathematics pathways, developmental education reform, dual enrollment, transfer, and alignment of noncredit and credit career education. Jenny has served as a peer reviewer at the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) and is currently an HLC Scholar supporting the assessment of student learning and student success academies. She earned a B.A. from Kalamazoo College, an M.A. from DePaul University, and an Ed.D. in Community College Leadership from National Louis University. She lives and works on the ancestral land of the Pokagon Band of the Potawatomi people in Southwest Michigan.