Dr. Tracy Dryden currently serves as Western Technical College’s chief of staff and excellence and provides oversight to the Institutional Effectiveness Unit. A native of La Crosse, Wisconsin, she has been with the Wisconsin Technical College System since 2002. As a member of the Senior Leadership Team, she leads Western’s strategic planning process, organizational analysis and performance excellence efforts, and project and change management strategy. She provides oversight for centralized scheduling, curriculum information integrity, grant development, college accreditation, policy development, and program and service evaluation.
Dr. Dryden was part of grassroots efforts to bring ATD to Western in 2014 and led the development of institutional research and the use of data to drive action to eliminate equity gaps. She currently serves as the liaison to the Department of Education for Western’s Title III Strengthening Institutions grant focused on reducing equity gaps in student success by democratizing data and fostering systems excellence.
Dr. Dryden is a Prosci certified change management train-the-trainer and holds a Foresight Essentials credential through the Institute for the Future (IFTF).
Education:
Doctor of Education (Educational Leadership) | St. Mary’s University, Minnesota
Master of Science (Career and Technical Education) |University of Wisconsin–Stout
Bachelor of Science (Art in Business and minor in Spanish) | Viterbo University, Wisconsin
Past Experience:
- Chief of Staff and Excellence | Technical College (current)
- Associate Vice President, Institutional Effectiveness | Western Technical College
- Learning Design Coordinator | The Alliance for Innovation and Transformation (AFIT)
- Executive Director, Planning and Organizational Excellence | Western Technical College
- Dean of Academic Excellence and Development | Western Technical College
How has education changed your life/your family?
As a first-generation college student, education opened doors to futures I never imagined. When faced with devastating circumstances in 2002, education was a bright path forward and the beginning of my career as an educator. Through persistence and the help of others, I demonstrated to my family that futures can be changed — adversity can be overcome. My own experiences and conversations about how education changed the lives of my students have opened the eyes of my three children and extended family to the power of education. As a result, they are pursuing their dreams with grit and determination.