Teresa Rivenes

Teresa R. Rivenes, EdD, Senior Vice President, most recently served as the Vice President at Umpqua Community College in Oregon. Before this, she served as the Vice President of Academic and Student Services at Tillamook Bay Community College, also in Oregon. She focused on systemic change at both institutions, taking institutions struggling with assessment to shining examples of assessment and accreditation success. Dr. Rivenes worked with faculty to disaggregate student learning outcomes, utilizing signature assignments, by multiple variables to improve student learning. She also led the first faculty teams in Oregon to remove developmental education classes and implement guided self-placement for all students. Prior to this work, Dr. Rivenes served as the Dean of Instruction at Rogue Community College, where she was the first administrator nominated by faculty for The League for Innovation Excellence Award for excellence in leadership in cross-campus first-year experience work. Prior work included serving as the Director of Academic Success for Great Falls College- Montana State University, Campus Center Director and Faculty for Park University, and Academic Director and Faculty for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Dr. Rivenes has also served as the co-chair of the statewide Transfer Council, working to develop Common Course Numbering and Transfer Degree Maps across all state institutions.

Dr. Rivenes is a proud community college graduate and first-generation student. She then graduated from Weber State University. She eventually earned her Masters and PhD in Psychology, focusing her research on the impact of self-esteem in cross-cultural adoption with a focus on Native American self-esteem and cultural identification. She then went on to earn her EdD from Montana State University, where she earned two proud distinctions. The first was earning the Land Grant Student of the Year award, and the second was earning the Distinguished Scholar Award for her research in community college governance and unfunded mandates.

Dr. Rivenes has continued to teach psychology and sociology classes because she is passionate about student success. She is also passionate about relationship-based management, curriculum outcomes design, strategic planning for long-term success, innovative educational solutions, and building community partnerships that support student success and economic mobility. She has served as an NWCCU peer accreditor and chair since 2013. Dr. Rivenes is a 2020-2021 NWCCU Assessment fellow and a 2023-2024 John Gardiner Innovation Institute Fellow.