Paula Harmer, MPP
MPP, University of California, Los Angeles
BA, Queen’s University, Canada.
Paula Harmer has a diverse array of experiences in higher education, institutional research, teaching, and leadership.
From 1999 until 2002, she worked as a research associate at UCLA’s Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies and the Chancellor’s Office. Later, she worked as a institutional researcher at Occidental College and then Western University of Health Sciences, working on a diverse array of projects on student and faculty research.
As Director of Institutional Research at Western University of Health Sciences until 2008, she led a talented team of institutional researchers, led university efforts for institutional reaccreditation as Chair of the Steering Panel for the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), designed and implemented multiple research studies, developed and implemented university survey instruments, and performed compliance reporting.
In addition, she was Director of the Center for Academic and Professional Enhancement at WesternU, where she collaboratively designed programs based on needs assessments data, developed programming to meet faculty professional development needs, and led workshops on assessment and accreditation. She facilitated a faculty learning community on the scholarship of teaching and learning which resulted in multiple poster presentations based on faculty classroom research. She initiated a University wide effort on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, and collaboratively led Interprofessional Education assessment efforts.
As a teacher, she taught English as a Second Language for three years in Japan, taught an Educational Evaluation course for a Master’s in Health Professional Education program, and taught multiple workshops on assessment for faculty professional development. She was a reviewer and presenter at the annual meetings of the Association of Institutional Research. She also was the Independent segment representative for the California Association of Institutional Research. She co-presented a poster about university assessment strategies at the Western Association of Schools and Colleges annual meeting.
Paula Harmer earned a Bachelor of Arts Honor in Sociology from Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. She then earned a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).
