Dr. Heather McCullough is Senior Director of Academic Programs for the University of North Carolina System, where she works across the 17-institution System on academic program planning, policy, and initiatives that respond to changes in higher education, workforce needs, technology, and student learning. Her work includes supporting the development and review of academic programs and leading and contributing to systemwide initiatives related to artificial intelligence, digital learning, academic innovation, and student success.
Throughout her career, Heather has worked at the intersection of teaching and learning, academic technology, program development, and organizational change. Before moving into academic program leadership, she served as the UNC System’s Director of Learning Technology and Open Education, leading and coordinating systemwide efforts in online learning, faculty development, open education, and learning technologies. She has also held leadership roles in teaching and learning and academic libraries at UNC Charlotte, including Associate Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning and founding Head of Digital Scholarship at J. Murrey Atkins Library.
This range of experience gives Heather a perspective that spans the classroom, faculty development and academic support, program design, and system-level strategy and policy. She has taught at the university level in the United States and France and has led the design and development of online and blended learning programs. More recently, her work has focused on helping institutions navigate emerging opportunities and challenges in areas such as artificial intelligence, academic program innovation, digital learning, and evolving workforce needs.
Heather earned a Ph.D. in French Literature from Indiana University and an M.S. in Information Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is an alumna of the Leading Change Institute and has served on the faculty of several EDUCAUSE leadership programs, including the New IT Managers Institute, Learning Technology Leaders Institute, and Digital Transformation (Dx) Learning Lab.
She is a frequent speaker and contributor on higher education leadership, learning innovation, academic technology, artificial intelligence, and academic transformation.
Following a year or more of emergency remote teaching and other disruptions in higher education, now is the time for campus and technology leaders to support the digital transformation of faculty.
During the Hawkins Leadership Roundtable at the 2019 EDUCAUSE Annual Conference, higher education IT leaders discussed practical steps that CIOs and hiring committees can take to be deliberate about addressing diversity, equity, and inclusion during the hiring process.
The metaphors of jungle gyms and ladders can inform how we imagine career development. The authors suggest that the best time to work on professional development is now.
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