Biography

Janice Nahra Friedel, Ph.D., is Associate professor in the School of Education, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, where she teaches in the doctoral community college leadership program. Prior to joining the ISU faculty, Dr. Friedel was Professor, Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, California State University (CSUN) (2008-2011), where she assisted in the design, curriculum development, and instructional delivery of CSUN’s first doctoral program: Community College Leadership. Her professional experience includes almost 30 years of community college service in Iowa and Kentucky, including the community college presidency, and the state administrator for a system of community colleges and the state director for career and technical (vocational) education for secondary and post-secondary education. Other administrative experience at the community college includes vice chancellor of academic affairs and planning for a multi-college community college district, director of curriculum development and program evaluation, and dean of community and continuing education. Dr. Friedel is past chair of the National Council of State Directors of Community Colleges, and past Member of the Executive Board of the National State Directors for Career and Technical Education. She is active in the Rural Community College Alliance, and was invited to present at the 2012 and 2013 White House Summits on Rural Communities. Dr. Friedel, a native of Iowa, earned her Doctorate of Philosophy, masters and bachelor’s degrees all from the University of Iowa. She has had post- graduate fellowships in women’s studies at Stanford University, women’s studies at the University of Michigan through the Great Lakes Colleges Association, and economics education at the University of Scranton. Dr. Friedel’s research is focused on higher education public policy, community colleges, community college finance and access, and workforce and economic development. Publications include over forty articles, books and chapters on program evaluation, labor market assessments, environmental scanning, strategic planning, the community college mission, workforce development, the role of community colleges in high school reform, and the economic benefits of attending the community college. In 2006, she edited the book Forty Years of Growth and Achievement; a History of Iowa’s Community Colleges, in celebration of the 40th anniversary of Iowa’s community colleges. Dr. Friedel is currently serving on the board of the National Council for Family Literacy (Louisville, KY), and in April 2010 she was elected to serve a three–year term on the board of the national Council for the Study of Community Colleges, an affiliate council of the American Association of Community Colleges. Her current research interests center on higher education public policy, community college leadership development, the community college mission and governance, career and technical education, the economic benefits of community college attendance, and dual/concurrent enrollment.