Barbara Orr, PhD

Barbara Orr was appointed in November 2009 as the Chair of Professor Development and Performance for Jones International University. Since 2007, she had served at JIU as the Program Chair for the MEd in Adult Education and Administration in the School of Education. In 2006 she became a professor at JIU in the MEd in Adult Education and Administration, MEd K-12 Education Leadership and the EdD K-12 Education Leadership programs. She received the 2008 JIU Faculty Excellence Award and a 2009 Gold Standard Award.

Dr. Orr has written curriculum content for JIU’s career development program, Total Professional Advantage™ exclusively for adult educators. In addition, she wrote thecourse content for EDU791, "Facilitating a Shared Vision," for EdD K-12 Educational Leadership students. She also coordinated the publication of the JIU Sponsor Workbook for the project-based model.

Barbara Orr served as a program director for the College Tech Prep program under the Perkins Act for the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. She offers extensive background in leadership training, strategic planning and establishment of explicit course learning objectives in alignment with professional standards in educational programs. Dr. Orr has been involved in large-scale projects involving the development of surveys and analysis of results at Austin Community College. Her expertise has led her to be part of the grant program funded by the U.S. Department of Education and the Fund for the Improvement of Post Secondary Education.

Dr. Orr was a Kellogg fellow in the Community College Leadership doctoral program. Her academic background includes adult education and organizational learning. Her research interests encompass the cultures of transformation and learning theory as related to implications for learning environments and the life cycles of literacy from childhood through adulthood.

Dr. Orr worked in a variety of educational and organizational contexts, including service as a professional presenter in literacy, strategic planning, and higher education project-based learning. Her professional affiliations include BookSpring for early childhood literacy, Austin Gifted, Inc., and the International Creativity Association.