Dana C. Gierdowski is a Researcher for the EDUCAUSE Center for Analysis & Research (ECAR). In this role she serves as a principal/co-principal investigator and supports ECAR research initiatives, including the Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, the IT Workforce in Higher Education study, and the biannual Study of Faculty and Information Technology.
Before joining EDUCAUSE, Dana was a Teaching Assistant Professor at North Carolina State University, where she taught writing-intensive courses and conducted qualitative and mixed-method research on the impact of innovative learning spaces on teaching and learning. Her work has been published in the journals Library Hi Tech and Computers and Composition, and in the edited collections Writing Studio Pedagogy: Space, Place, and Rhetoric in Collaborative Environments (2017), Making Space: Writing Instruction, Infrastructure, and Multiliteracies (2016), Sustainable Learning Spaces (2014), and Cases on Higher Education Spaces (2012).
Dana received her Ph.D. in Communication, Rhetoric, and Digital Media from North Carolina State University in 2013. She has held faculty and administrative positions at the University of Arizona, Elon University, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, and Massachusetts Maritime Academy.
EDUCAUSE conducted a special Fall 2020 study to gain insights on the student experience during what has been an exceptional time of disruption. In these reports, we share our results from the study related to online learning and connectivity.
Institutions are largely maintaining their core research functions in the midst of the pandemic, though future successes will rely on key technological innovations and effective cross-unit collaborations and investments.
Although some colleges and universities have made great strides in accessibility, progress is uneven across higher education. Our survey of college students shows the gaps and points toward solutions that institutions can pursue to enable equitable opportunities for all students.