Biography

Jennifer M. Harrison has worked in higher education for almost 30 years and is currently UMBC’s Associate Director for Assessment in the Faculty Development Center. She has expertise in accreditation, institutional effectiveness, student learning assessment, critical pedagogy, curriculum development, educational technology, and online and face-to-face active learning. She currently specializes in interdisciplinary educational development. An experienced speaker, she has created hundreds of workshops, programs, and presentations for a range of higher education audiences, including national, regional, and local conferences. At UMBC, she consults with faculty and staff to strengthen learning assessment practices and offers programs and workshops to support faculty development. She was key contributor to UMBC’s successful re-accreditation efforts and continues to work with faculty, staff, and leaders to support authentic assessment.

Before joining UMBC, she served the labor movement for 15 years at the National Labor College, crafting interdisciplinary writing, research, and critical thinking curricula; leading faculty development, prior learning assessment, and educational technology processes; cultivating strategic, institutional effectiveness, and learning assessment plans, and successfully contributing to re-accreditation as Associate Professor of Writing and Director of Assessment. After earning tenure, she chaired the admissions committee, brokering a FIPSE grant into a redesigned student-success oriented matriculation process designed to integrate with prior learning assessment and improve graduation rates; redesigned the capstone program; crafted key policy documents; and contributed to continuous improvement initiatives by founding and chairing the Assessment Committee.

Dr. Harrison holds an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Language, Literacy, and Culture from UMBC, a master’s degree in English Language and Literature from University of Maryland, College Park, and a bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in art from Washington College. Her current research focuses on authentic assessment, including inclusive curriculum mapping and design; graduate, co-curricular, and interdisciplinary assessment; assessment technologies; and the benefits of contextualizing learning analytics with direct learning evidence.

https://fdc.umbc.edu/learning-assessment-at-umbc/