Meet Our Staff
 |
Sandi Gillilan, Ed.D. Dr. Sandi Gillilan serves as Associate Vice Provost for Institutional Effectiveness and provides leadership for accreditation, planning, assessment, program review, and accountability initiatives. She is the Chair of the IT Governance Council and co-chair of the Institutional Effectiveness Council (IEC). She joined LSU in 2014 after spending seven years at Northern Kentucky University and four years at the Illinois Board of Higher Education. Overall, Sandi has over 20 years of experience in higher education spanning a wide array of areas, including accreditation, institutional effectiveness, accountability, change management, budget, performance, and policy. |
 |
Tara Rose, Ph.D. Dr. Tara Rose serves as Director of Assessment. She leads academic quality efforts including strategies for direct, performance-based assessment of student learning at the course, program and university levels. Tara has over 20 years of experience in assessment, evaluation, and outcomes analysis. Prior to joining LSU in 2018, she served nine years at the University of Kentucky, has over ten years of teaching experience at Eastern Kentucky University in the Department of Homeland Security, and spent time at the state level with the Kentucky Legislative Research Commission and the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education. Tara was a founding member of the Association for the Assessment of Learning in Higher Education (AALHE), and participated as a Board Member from 2014-2022, previously holding the position of President in AY 2015-16. In 2019, Dr. Rose was appointed as Senior Fellow with the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U). |
 |
Coral Bender, Ph.D. Dr. Coral Bender serves as Associate Director of Assessment. She provides assistance with student learning outcomes assessment for academic and administrative units and oversees the Certificate of Achievement in Student Learning Assessment (CASLA) sessions. She has worked at the program level as the Manager of Partnerships for the Sports Management program at Columbia University where she engaged in backward course design to integrate partnerships with industry leaders into the classroom. At the University of Alabama, she held the position of Instructor of Sports Communication for the College of Communication and Information Sciences and was the Assessment Chair for the department of Advertising and Public Relations. She served as the Assessment Analyst at Tulane University where she provided feedback on assessment plans. Coral is member of the Association for the Assessment of Learning in Higher Education and Vice Chair of the Infrastructure Committee. |
 |
Rachel May Rachel May serves as Assessment Specialist. She coordinates the Academic Program Review process, provides support to the Faculty Senate Integrative Learning Committee, and is the primary resource for training and technical assistance for Planning & Self-Study, LSU’s institutional effectiveness reporting system used in support of SACSCOC expectations for degree programs, stand-alone certificates, and integrative learning core course assessment. Prior to joining the Office of Institutional Effectiveness in 2021, she served six years in LSU’s Department of Geology & Geophysics as the External Relations Coordinator and Assistant Business Manager, working directly with departmental faculty, students, and staff to impact departmental continuous improvement efforts. She has experience creating curriculum pathways for undergraduate students entering the degree programs. |
 |
Claire Sassic Young Claire Sassic Young serves as Project Coordinator for the Office of Institutional Effectiveness. She assists in SACSCOC activities and providing support to the Institutional Effective Council (IEC). Additionally, she is the Business Manager, HR Analyst, and Student Employment Partner for the Office of Institutional Effectiveness. Claire serves on the SACSCOC Reaffirmation of Accreditation QEP Committee and ex officio on the Reaffirmation Steering Committee. She earned her Master in Public Administration from LSU. Claire began her career as Operations Manager at a local museum before joining LSU’s National Center for Biomedical Research and Training in 2013. |
 |
Lillian Sims |