Christopher Shults, PhD

Christopher Shults, Ph.D. is the Dean of Institutional Effectiveness and Strategic Planning at the Borough of Manhattan Community College. As a Cabinet member, Chief Planning Officer, and Middle States Commission for Higher Education (MSCHE) Liaison, Christopher is responsible for oversight of all institutional effectiveness, planning, assessment, institutional research, analytics, and accreditation activities and serves in leadership roles on college, educational, and industry groups. In addition to his leadership roles and responsibilities at the College, he has helped co-create and co-lead an accreditation task force that has partnered with MSCHE, supported MSCHE regional programming and annual self-study institutes, and consulted with both two and four year colleges on issues of leadership, compliance, planning, institutional effectiveness, organizational management, and assessment.

Previously, he served as the Executive Director for Planning and Institutional Effectiveness at Suffolk County Community College as well as the Acting Associate Provost for Academic Programs, Innovation, and Strategy and the Assistant Provost for Institutional Effectiveness, Assessment, Research, and Strategic Planning at Mississippi Valley State University (MVSU). In these previous roles he not only managed the assessment, institutional and educational research, and planning activities and functions, but also worked with community and governmental organizations in official liaison roles, supported accreditation efforts (including service as a SACS liaison), and provided institutional effectiveness leadership to regional, state, and national organizations. He has been the lead compliance officer in three institutions that have been removed from regional accreditation monitoring.

He earned both a M.A. and Ph.D in Higher Education Administration with an Organizational and Behavior Management Concentration at the University of Michigan. Before commencing with graduate study, he spent four years as a research associate at the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) where he worked directly with more than 100 community college presidents and other senior leaders. Over his career, he has authored or co-authored more than one dozen books and journal articles, presented nationally over 50 times, assisted in the development of a national leadership development program for aspiring presidents, co-developed and co-led leadership development institutes for faculty and staff, conducted professional development at multiple community colleges and for regional accrediting bodies, consulted for national agencies and associations, keynoted educational conferences, lectured in multiple universities, taught as an adjunct instructor, and worked with national leaders on an African-American Male initiative. His most recent publication: Reinventing the Community College Business Model: Designing for Organizational Success challenges community colleges to abandon the traditional, de-facto business models in favor of models intentionally designed to enhance student success through developing an optimized value proposition. developing and leveraging non-financial resources, optimizing the educational experience, and pursuing mission-focused fiscal management practices. He has recently served as the Vice-President of the Association for Higher Education Effectiveness (AHEE) and is currently an Advisory Board Member for the Ed.D Program in Community College Leadership at New Jersey City University.

Born to two United States Navy veterans, he has been honored to serve as a lay minister in the United Methodist Church, a lead chef for a single mom’s ministry, and as a big brother and mentor to dozens of young men. Finally, and most importantly, he has been married to his bride and best friend Keiva for 22 years and thoroughly enjoys the company of their three wonderful children.