When Fall semester begins, the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (ELPS) in the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences will have new leadership. Please join us in welcoming Robert Kelchen to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, as the newly appointed department head of ELPS beginning August 1.
Kelchen comes to us from Seton Hall University where he was an associate professor of Higher Education and chair of the Department of Education Leadership, Management and Policy. His research interests include higher education finance, accountability policies, and student financial aid. He is the author of Higher Education Accountability (John Hopkins University Press) and is published regularly in top education journals. He received the Robert P. Huff Golden Quill Award for excellence in financial aid research from the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators in 2019 and has been recognized as one of the 50 most influential faculty members in education by Education Week. He is also the data editor for Washington Monthly magazine’s annual college guide and rankings.
“I am excited to bring my connections in the education community to support the wonderful things already happening in the department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies. The faculty, staff, and students are leaders in their fields and there is a real sense of community across the department,” said Kelchen. Excited to make the move to Big Orange Country, Kelchen is a lover of early morning runs on back roads and trails and an avid gardener. “With my love of cooking and baking, I am excited to come to a hotbed of barbecue!”
“I am thrilled to have Robert join the CEHHS leadership team,” said Dean Ellen McIntyre. “I have read his work published in the Chronicle of Higher Education and have already learned from him. With his incredible record in teaching and scholarship, I know he will have a positive influence on all of us. Maybe I will get to taste one his pies as well.”
Kelchen holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and finance from Truman State university, a master’s degree in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a PhD in educational policy studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.