Institutional Research, Planning and Effectiveness Staff

404-270-5027
mburnett@spelman.edu
Full Biography

As an expert in program evaluation and institutional effectiveness, Dr. Burnett will lead the office. She has led faculty in developing student learning outcomes in her roles as chair of the Psychology Department, and later, as Vice Provost.For over 10 years, Dr. Burnett has promoted adoption of practices that promote institutional effectiveness throughout the College, with particular attention to Academic Affairs.

In her new role as vice president for Institutional Research, Planning and Effectiveness, she will be to continue this work through her service as the Spelman College Accreditation Liaison for our regional accreditor, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC).

404-270-5674
jsande14@spelman.edu

James Sanders served as interim director of institutional research and was appointed to the director position permanently after a national search in Fall 2018. Institutional Research is responsible for data collection, analysis, and reporting in support of strategic planning and data-informed decision-making.  Sanders and his team report official institutional data to the US Department of Education, oversee the College’s operational planning and reporting process, conduct student course evaluations each semester.

Sanders directs the work of the Institutional Research office, coordinating the completion of over 40 Institutional Surveys, including those for US News and World Report Best Colleges, The Princeton Review, Kiplinger’s Best Colleges, and Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges Annual Profile. He is responsible for creating the Fact Book, as well as the Digital Fact Book, a resource for finding frequently-requested information.
 
Sanders has a B.S. in electrical engineering from Mississippi State University.

404-270-5887
vcolema2@spelman.edu

In her new role as director of the next Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), Dr. Coleman is responsible for implementing the College’s next project for improving the quality of the educational experience and related outcomes.  A required element of the regional accreditation process, the QEP is evaluated as part of the decennial review by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.

Dr. Coleman continues her responsibility to foster a culture of effective data governance and informed decision-making, specifically related to departmental performance, student performance, and student learning outcomes. She serves as a key team member to implement and promote campus-wide business institutional effectiveness, and has the leadership role in the collaborative functional effort to develop, deploy and maintain a repository and reporting system for student learning outcomes. In this capacity, she consults with and provides subject expertise to department chairs, and other academic leadership, regarding the development and assessment of student performance and learning outcomes to ensure that they are aligned with the goals and objectives of the Spelman College strategic plan.

A Spelman alumna (Class of 1988), Dr. Coleman earned a doctorate in Industrial Organizational Psychology from the University of South Florida.

404-270-5819
jjohn134@spelman.edu

After three years as associate director, Jennifer Johnson was appointed Director of the Student Success Program on July 1, 2019.  She is the campus leader on the Spelman Arch advising platform, having led implementation activities since 2016.  Johnson is committed to student success through innovative and timely academic support services to improve student engagement, achievement, retention, and graduation.

Prior to joining Spelman, she worked both as an independent consultant to software and engineering organizations and an electrical engineer at Lockheed Martin providing design and test support for military platforms.

Johnson was named a 2016 Women in Technology Awards Honoree and one of the Empowering Women Who Empower Girls. She serves on the Executive Committee of the Georgia Tech Women Alumnae Network Board of Directors and the Steering Committee of Georgia’s chapter of Million Women Mentors.
Jennifer holds a BS in Electrical Engineering, a MS in Electrical & Computer Engineering, and a MS in Analytics from The Georgia Institute of Technology.

404-270-5582
fjackso8@spelman.edu

Dr. Jackson assumed leadership of the College’s Student Success initiatives in 2014. With a background as a professor of education, Dr. Jackson brings a history of involvement in student performance enhancement. She also brings a depth of administrative experience in academia. Dr. Jackson served as Associate or Assistant Dean in Schools of Education at North Carolina Central University and Clark Atlanta University and Interim Director of Teacher Education at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. She also monitored and advised teacher education programs regarding the approval/accreditation process at the Georgia Professional Standards Commission.

Dr. Jackson has been the principal investigator for several funded projects such as a UNCF Teaching/Learning Institute, Fulbright-Hays Group Study Abroad Grants, and a NASA grant designed to prepare math and science teachers for urban schools. She has reviewed NSF grants and served on SACS COC and NCATE/PSC reviews. 

She currently serves as principal investigator on the First in the World Project, which studies the impact of metacognitive training on student performance.

404-270-5025
diannew@spelman.edu

Dianne Whyte is a 10-year veteran in administrative support at Spelman. In her current role as senior administrative assistant in the Office of the Provost, she is responsible for budget tracking, event planning, requisition processing, and supervision of student workers, among other duties.

In her new role, she will provide support to the Office of Institutional Effectiveness by coordinating programmatic activities among constituent groups, monitoring the College Achievements database and serving as liaison with the Communications regarding publication initiatives; preparing pre-publication documents for review; and other responsibilities related to effective functioning of the office.