Dr. Robert Flaherty
Associate Dean for the Center of Educational Innovation
Bio
Dr. Flaherty has worked in higher education for over 20 years. His career path began as a faculty member at Baker University, a small, private, religiously-affiliated institution in Kansas. He has also held positions at the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences and at the University of Denver. Throughout his career, Dr. Flaherty has taught a wide variety of courses to traditional, adult and online students, and has served in many positions in higher education institutions, including service as a tenured faculty member, a department chair, a peer reviewer, and an academic administrator.
Dr. Flaherty is a past President of the Association for Psychological and Educational Research in Kansas and a served as co-chair of the Kansas City Professional Development Council board. He is also a peer reviewer and team chair for the Higher Learning Commission. He has presented and conducted workshops on a wide variety of topics including assessment, general education reform, experiential learning, and effective teaching. Currently, Dr. Flaherty is the Associate Dean for Educational Innovation at the U.S. Air Force Academy, where he is responsible for programs in assessment, faculty development, instructional design, the scholarship of teaching and learning, and educational technology.
Education
PhD, M.A. Social Psychology, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
MBA, Baker University, Baldwin City, Kan.
Bachelor of Science, Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, Wash.
Professional Experience
Professor of Psychology, tenured Chair, Department of Psychology; Associate Dean; Special Assistant to the President for Planning and Accreditation, Baker University, Baldwin City, Kan.
Professor of Psychology; Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness, Kansas City University of Medicine and Bioscience, Kansas City, Mo.
Director of Academic Assessment, University of Denver, Denver, Colo.
Research and Scholarly Interests
Effective educational practice
Publications
Flaherty, R. W. (2016). Abandoning the assessment diet: A lifestyle approach to program improvement. Assessment Update 28(1), p. 7.
Flaherty, R. W. (February 2019). Faculty Development for the 21st Century. Presented at the Learning Professionals Consortium, JBSA, TX.
Jones, S.K., Flaherty R.W., Brewster, E.W., and Horner, M.I. (February 2019). A Systems Approach to Education and Training. Presented at the Learning Professionals Consortium, JBSA, TX.
Flaherty, R.W., Jones, S.K., Brewster, E.W., and Horner M.I., (2018, February). Developing Structures and Processes to Foster Integration Between Curricular and Co-Curricular Experiences. Paper presented at the AAC&U General Education and Assessment conference, Philadelphia, PA.
Flaherty, R. W., (2016, October). A process model for culture change in assessment. Paper presented at the Assessment Institute annual meeting, Indianapolis, IN.
Flaherty, R. W. (2016, September). Abandoning the assessment diet: A lifestyle approach to program improvement. Invited address presented at the annual meeting of the Arkansas Association for the Assessment of Collegiate Learning, Searcy, AR.
Flaherty, R.W. (2016, April). Beyond compliance: Designing assessment reporting processes to improve faculty engagement. Paper presented at the Higher Learning Commission annual meeting, Chicago, IL.