Purdue University Northwest has appointed Tara Sullivan executive director of Academic Success and Transition.
Sullivan comes to PNW with 15 years of leadership experience in higher education and deep personal interest in contributing to the success of PNW students. Most recently, she served as assistant dean of students at Northwestern (Ill.) University.
At Purdue Northwest, Sullivan will direct the operations of the Academic Center for Excellence and Student Academic Support while working closely with academic advisors, athletics, and several other groups on campus. She will have a key role in enhancing academic advising, supplemental instruction, tutoring and other initiatives that will enhance PNW student success.
Student-focused leadership “Tara brings an excellent depth of knowledge and leadership experience to help students at PNW,” Interim Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Michael Lynn said. “She will have an enormously positive impact on student success.”
A career dedicated to student success Sullivan said, “I am thrilled to join the Purdue University Northwest community. The recent unification makes this an exciting time to become a member of the staff at PNW. I am looking forward to working collaboratively with faculty, staff and students across the university to ensure the success of PNW students.”
While at Northwestern, Sullivan led a redesign and implementation of a new, university-wide student conduct system and Title IX complaint resolution process. Prior to that, she served Loyola University of Chicago where she led a redesign of an academic, residential learning community program focused on increasing success among students transitioning to college, persisting from freshman to sophomore year and graduation.
Sullivan holds a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University and a master’s degree and PhD from the University of Michigan.
Purdue University Northwest Purdue University Northwest (PNW), a comprehensive regional university within the Purdue University system, has two Northwest Indiana campuses in Hammond and Westville. The university was established by the unification in early 2016 of the former Purdue University Calumet and Purdue University North Central. With more than 15,000 students and nearly 70 undergraduate and graduate degree programs, Purdue Northwest is Indiana’s fifth largest public university. For more information about PNW, visit www.pnw.edu.
