Executive Vice President, Dr. Pamela Goad has retired from the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) after a dozen years on staff, having enhanced the effectiveness of the Commission with expertise in numerous areas. After serving as an institutional Accreditation Liaison Officer herself at a Northwest member institution, Dr. Goad’s commitment to serving students and to continuous improvement are notable and valued by the Commission and the membership. With significant experience with substantive change, assessment, and institutional mentoring, Dr. Goad has been such a valuable resource to institutions and staff, as a guide and colleague.

Dr. Pam Goad joined NWCCU as Associate Vice President in 2009 and initially oversaw the processing and review of substantive change proposals and the Annual Report process. Dr. Goad broadened her repertoire of responsibilities to include a variety of activities supporting the accreditation of member institutions such as engaging with the Washington State’s Student Achievement Council, Oregon State’s Higher Education Coordinating Committee, and National Association of Branch Campus Administrators, assisting with training sessions and resources, partnering with other regional accrediting bodies to support national policy concerns, and supporting the revision and implementation of policies and standards of NWCCU.

Dr. Goad has nearly four decades of experience dedicated to higher education. As a first-generation student whose parents and daughter followed her to degree completion, Dr. Goad is keenly aware of the challenges that students encounter in assimilating into and maneuvering through a higher education environment regardless of the age of the student and the knowledge the family brings to the institution. Prior to joining NWCCU, Dr. Goad served as Vice President of Academic Affairs at The Art Institute of Seattle in addition to positions as a faculty member, Program Director, Associate Dean, and Dean. She has teaching experience at the undergraduate and graduate levels at other regional public institutions as well as an international institution. Dr. Goad holds a B.M.Ed. from Troy State University, an M.M. from University of Montevallo, and a Ph.D. in Systematic Musicology with an emphasis in Music Acoustics from the University of Washington. She was awarded a post-doctoral position in acoustics at Universite de Paris VI, Laboratoire d’Acoustique Musicale, France.

While we will continue to see her fingerprints on our work and feel her impacts for many years to come, we take this moment to celebrate and honor Pam as she begins this new chapter.