Dr. Michelle A. Lane serves as the executive director of institutional effectiveness and research at Coastal Bend College in rural south Texas. Within this role, she performs analytical and administrative tasks in support of a system of college effectiveness, research, planning, and assessment with special emphasis on institutional research, planning, and development of information needed for effective college operations. Dr. Lane supervises departments such as Institutional Systems & Analytics, Institutional Reporting, Assessment, and IT Services to ensure the student information systems and other data bases used in research, planning, and assessment are secure, accurate, relevant, and appropriate. She and her team work to provide college employees approved access to timely and accurate data to support data-informed decision-making across the institution. Serving as the institution’s SACSCOC accreditation liaison, Dr. Lane also serves as a peer evaluator for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
Dr. Lane has over 15 years of experience in higher education, having worked in various capacities in Missouri and Texas that include advancement, advising, student life, external locations, continuing education, institutional effectiveness, institutional reporting, and IT services, with the longest amount of time spent working in the area of assessment and data analytics. She has also been an adjunct instructor since 2013 and continues to teach courses in the areas of education, learning frameworks, and academic support when possible.
Education:
E.d.D. (Higher Education Administration) | Lindenwood University
M.A. (Higher Education Administration) | Southeast Missouri State University
B.S. (Psychology) | Central Methodist University
A.A. (Psychology) | Three Rivers College
Past Experience:
Executive Director of Institutional Effectiveness and Research | Coastal Bend College
Assessment Coordinator| Three Rivers College
How has education changed your life/your family?
Growing up in the Bootheel of rural southeast Missouri, I gained unique insights as a “teacher’s kid” and observed my mother educate students from kindergarten to senior learners in the most magical ways through some of the most difficult environments and circumstances. I was fortunate to grow up with a community of educators who set the gold standard for our profession, but I did not appreciate it until much later. As a new college student, a lack of advising and student support contributed to me becoming a reverse transfer student to my local community college. It was there I discovered my passion for education as I became a student ambassador and later, an employee of the institution. I had excellent mentors and supporters — including a few ATD coaches along the way — who taught me the power of a student-focused approach and the power of community colleges. Without my excellent advisors, who turned into mentors and colleagues, I would have never graduated — let alone found my purpose and passion for community colleges.