Karen Paulson

Associate Professor and Coordinator of Online Programs, Higher Education Program, Penn State

Dr. Karen Paulson is an associate professor and coordinator of online programs for the higher education program. She came to Penn State after 19 years of working with state and institutional policymakers at the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS) in Boulder, Colorado. Her areas of expertise include assessment, evaluation, accreditation, and the use of data. She has worked at nearly 60 postsecondary institutions and in 45 states. Most recently Paulson has authored several book chapters including “Progress towards transparency in higher education,” a chapter in Assuring Quality in Online Education: Practices and Processes at the Teaching, Resource, and Program Levels, with Cali Morrison and Russ Poulin (2013); “Faculty Perceptions of General Education and the Use of High-Impact Practices” in Peer Review (2012); and a paper titled Down and In: Assessment Practices at the Program Level with Peter Ewell and Jillian Kinzie (2011). Dr.  Paulson holds engineering degrees in addition to her higher education study. She has a doctorate in higher education with a minor in policy analysis from Penn State.