Kenneth Gonzalez, Phd
Professor & Director of Doctoral Programs, Indiana Tech
Founder, AI Campus Solutions"Accreditation and curriculum are the same problem, seen twice. Both ask an institution to say clearly what it intends, to show evidence that its practices match that intention."
about me
Twenty-five years guiding colleges and universities through accreditation, curriculum design, and the institutional self-study that makes both defensible. Former campus president, SACSCOC accreditation liaison, and Lumina Foundation methodology author.
26 states
With colleges coached on student success and institutional improvement
100+ College
Network using a methodology guide authored for Lumina Foundation
25 Years
In higher education leadership, research, and improvement coaching
A career spent on institutional improvement.
2025 – Present
Professor & Director of Doctoral Programs
Indiana Tech
Direct the Ph.D. in Global Leadership and the Doctor of Business Administration, leading recruitment, retention, curriculum, faculty assignment, and accreditation across in-person and online programs.
2023 – 2025
Founding Executive Director, The Collective & Project ACCESS
National University
Designed and evaluated innovations to increase student success in early undergraduate courses at a Hispanic-Serving Institution, and delivered a faculty development course reaching more than 150 faculty.
2021 – 2023
Campus President
Dallas College – Mountain View
Lead administrator for an urban community college campus of 8,000+ students. Led the accreditation self-study in preparation for SACS peer review and built workforce partnerships with corporate and city government partners.
2017 – 2021
Vice President for Student & Enrollment Services
El Paso Community College
Senior cabinet officer at a 30,000-student HSI across five campuses. Built an enrollment partnership with 28 regional high schools yielding a 10% increase in new matriculation, and transitioned all student services to online delivery during the pandemic.
2012 – 2014
Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs
Our Lady of the Lake University
Served as Accreditation Liaison Officer to SACS and led learning-outcome assessment training for academic department lead faculty at this Hispanic-Serving Institution.
2004 – 2018
Pathways & Data Coach
Achieving the Dream / National Pathways Initiative
Coached colleges across 27 states on using institutional data to advance student success, synthesizing organizational improvement learning across more than twenty engagements. Authored the network's Lumina Foundation methodology guide.
THE APPROACH
Accreditation and curriculum are the same problem, seen twice.
Both ask an institution to say clearly what it intends, to show evidence that its practices match that intention, and to demonstrate that it knows whether the intention is being met. Most accreditation strain and most curriculum drift trace back to the same root: an institution that has not built the habit of understanding itself with enough precision to act.
My work begins there. Whether the immediate need is a self-study, a substantive change proposal, a program review, or a curriculum redesign, the underlying engagement is the same, helping faculty and leadership build a clear, evidence-grounded account of what the institution is doing and why. That account is what satisfies reviewers; more importantly, it is what makes genuine improvement possible.
I have sat on every side of this table: as a campus president leading a regional self-study, as an accreditation liaison officer to SACSCOC, as a doctoral program director responsible for curriculum and assessment, and as an external coach to more than twenty colleges across the country.
THE RECORD
Experience on every side of the table.
ALO
Served as Accreditation Liaison Officer to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and led a campus self-study in preparation for SACS peer review.
8,000
Students at the urban community college campus where I served as President, building workforce partnerships and certificate programs.
30,000
Students across five campuses at a Hispanic-Serving Institution where I served as Vice President for Student and Enrollment Services.
20+
College coaching engagements on student success and institutional improvement, synthesized through the Achieving the Dream network.
4
Doctoral and Ed.D. programs directed across three universities, with responsibility for curriculum, assessment, and accreditation.
2009
Lumina Foundation methodology guide on diagnostic improvement, still in active use across the Achieving the Dream network.
SERVICES
Two practices, one discipline.
Engagements are scoped to the institution's actual moment (a looming review, a stalled program, a self-study that has lost momentum) and grounded in evidence the institution can defend.
PRACTICE ONE
Accreditation
Support across the full accreditation lifecycle, for regional and specialized review. Built on direct experience as a SACSCOC Accreditation Liaison Officer and as a campus president who led a regional self-study through to peer review.
Self-study design, coordination, and narrative development
Accreditation liaison strategy and reviewer-readiness
Substantive change proposals and reporting
Evidence systems and compliance documentation
Quality enhancement and improvement plan design
Mock review and pre-visit preparation
PRACTICE TWO
Curriculum
Curriculum design, revision, and review at the program and institutional level, from individual program redesign to system-wide pathways. Grounded in two decades directing doctoral and professional programs and coaching colleges on academic redesign.
Program design, revision, and teach-out planning
Learning outcomes and assessment architecture
Program review processes and self-evaluation
Guided pathways and developmental education redesign
Faculty development for curriculum and assessment work
Doctoral and professional program structures