Dr. Mary Ostrye, a higher education consultant-coach and former executive, excels at managing system-wide change, strategic partnerships, and curricular workforce alignment.
As the inaugural provost for a national network of career colleges, she led the integration of separate online operations into a unified institutional model; created plans to successfully remove several campuses off probationary accreditation status; and led the conversion to a blended learning modality.
Dr. Ostrye formerly served as systemwide provost and chief academic officer at Ivy Tech Community College. She was instrumental in establishing Indiana’s first general education core and co-led a government-appointed committee to establish statewide transfer pathways. She also led the development of an institutional academic advising model, a co-requisite remediation program, and a restructure of mathematics curriculum into three defined pathways to support disciplines and careers. Her higher education career spanned 37 years serving in several leadership and academic roles, including promotion to full professor at Ivy Tech.
She served as peer reviewer for the HLC, as team leader for the ACCSC, and is a trained guided pathways coach. Dr. Ostrye was selected an inaugural recipient of the Pillars of the Profession Indiana State University alumni award and is a graduate of multiple leadership programs
Education
Ph.D. (Higher Education Leadership/Administration) | Indiana State UniversityM.A. (Vocational-Technical Education) | Marshall UniversityB.S. (Dental Hygiene) | West Virginia University
Past Experience
Consultant-Coach for Jobs for the Future for Verizon-Generation, McDonald’s, and Talent of Tomorrow projects
Coach-Recruiter for Jobs for the Future for Grow with Google project
Provost, Sr. Vice President, and Chief Academic Officer | Zenith Education Group
Provost, Sr. Vice President, and Chief Academic Officer | Ivy Tech Community College
Curriculum developer and grant writer | MEOstrye Consulting, LLC
Instructor Coordinator, Geography Program | Linn-Benton Community College
How has education changed your life/your family?
Postsecondary education provided a gateway to my early career as a dental hygienist and gave me the inspiration to pursue my first faculty position. Preparing young adults and working mothers from rural communities for jobs with self-sustaining wages profoundly influenced me to continue my career with community colleges. Higher education was key to my career progression, which in turn provided opportunities for me to influence change locally, statewide, and across a national network of colleges. The professional growth and satisfaction I have enjoyed throughout my career is rooted in my pursuit of higher education.