Dr. Susan Colby, Executive Director , Professor
(828) 262-6150
Dr. Susan Colby is the Executive Director of the Center of Excellence in Teaching and Learning for Student Success and professor and former chair in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. As Executive Director, she leads the CETLSS team in strategic planning and aligning faculty and academic development with student success. In her prior role, Susan served as Director of Faculty Development in the Center for Academic Excellence providing professional development for faculty and administrators across campus. She is a member of the American Council on Education (ACE) Fellows Class of 2020-2021 and completed a residency at Arizona State University spring of 2022.
At Appalachian, Susan co-leads the Aspire Alliance with the aim of developing institutional capacity to promote a more inclusive and diverse STEM faculty and equitable outcomes and co-leads the Transforming STEM Initiative with the aim of increasing student success in gateway STEM courses through faculty development. In addition, she co-leads the Appalachian Women in Leadership Council (AWLC) supporting emerging and practicing campus leaders.
Susan serves on the North Carolina ACE Women’s Network Executive Board and is Associate Executive Director for the Women in Educational Leadership Symposium which reaches hundreds of educational leaders each year at its annual symposium. Prior to academia, she served in the public schools of Florida and Colorado as a principal, teacher, clinical professor, and Title I Director. Susan earned her doctorate in Educational Leadership from East Carolina University; her MA in Administration, Supervision, and Curriculum Development from the University of Colorado, Denver; and her BS in Elementary Education with Distinction from the University of Minnesota.