Dr. Kathy Stitts elected to serve as Chair of the Academic Resilience Consortium
Dr. Kathy Stitts was selected to chair the Academic Resilience Consortium. The consortium is an association of over 600 faculty, staff, and higher education students dedicated to understanding and promoting student resilience. Its members include representatives from more than 360 schools in 45 U.S. states and 17 countries, supporting one another in the effort to improve programming and pedagogy and remove systemic barriers to student success.
Stitts is Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education and Dean of University College at Winston-Salem State University (WSSU). The A.S.P.I.R.E. (Academic Scholars Prepared for Impact Retention and Engagement) Program is housed in University College where Resilience Coaches work intentionally with students from unique populations that face these systemic barriers and life stressors. The Resilience Coaches are trained to understand the culture of their respective populations and work to integrate academic success plans focus on goal setting, accountability, empowerment, and self-efficacy with academic and co-curricular interventions and programming to assist students in succeeding.
“I am honored to be afforded the opportunity to engage with like-minded colleagues across a spectrum of higher education organizations committed to reducing the systemic and structural barriers that impact students’ academic, personal and professional journeys,” Stitts said. “I look forward to learning from diverse perspectives about ways to integrate a culture of academic resiliency in our institutions.”
Dr. Stitts has been at WSSU since 2003. She holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and an MBA from Florida A&M University and a Ph.D. from Florida State University.
