Aisha Jackson, who for the past decade has successfully bridged the worlds of academia and technology at CU Boulder, will become the university’s first assistant vice chancellor and assistant vice provost for academic and learning technologies.
In her new role, Jackson will build on relationships she has forged to advance the university’s student success goals in schools and colleges across the campus, working to more closely align the university’s academic and technology capabilities through a unique partnership between the Office of Information Technology (OIT) and University Libraries.
Aisha Jackson
Jackson will step into the role beginning this week, and will continue reporting to Marin Stanek, senior associate vice chancellor for information technology and chief information officer, with a new dotted line to University Libraries Dean Robert McDonald, who leads the university’s online and distance learning priorities as senior vice provost of online education.
“Aisha has established a strong reputation at CU Boulder as a leader in her field, understanding emerging trends and communicating clearly and with a level of transparency that builds trust,” Stanek said. “She has garnered the respect of her OIT colleagues and with faculty and staff in our academic departments, schools and colleges.”
Stanek said Jackson would provide “strategic academic technology leadership and direction to implement policies and innovative support services, lead campus wide initiatives and build strategic partnerships.”
Going forward, Jackson will work as a strategic adviser in support of the university’s online education goals, working closely with McDonald, Continuing Education Dean and Vice Provost Sara Thompson, and other campus and CU System academic and administrative leaders.
McDonald said Jackson possessed a “unique and refreshing ability to authentically build trusted relationships with academic leadership.”
“Aisha understands the priorities and needs of our academic partners, and has done this through excellent communication and service, all while articulating the risks and trade-offs of implementing academic technologies and understanding the nuances of the targeted goals of our schools and colleges,” McDonald said.
Previously, Jackson served as director of academic technology applications and design, and successfully planned and launched learning management systems Desire2Learn (D2L, now retired), Canvas, accessible technology initiatives, and other emerging technologies to create a digital learning ecosystem for CU Boulder.
In 2010, she joined OIT as an academic technology consultant and was responsible for providing consultations, training and support to faculty on instructional technologies.
Jackson holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education/exceptional child education from Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida; a master’s degree in education, curriculum and instruction from the University of Florida; and a doctoral degree in education, leadership for educational equity from CU Denver.
