Elke M. Leeds, Ph.D.
Dean and Academic Vice President, College of IT | Western Governors University
Salt Lake City, UT, UNITED STATES
Dr. Elke Leeds is Dean and Academic Vice President of the College of Information Technology at Western Governors University (WGU).
Biography
Dr. Elke Leeds is Dean and Academic Vice President of the College of Information Technology at Western Governors University (WGU). She joined WGU in May of 2018, after a 20+ year career in higher education at one of Georgia’s largest public universities. Elke holds a Ph.D. in Information Systems. She provides leadership, direction, and focus to inspire innovative programs that achieve student outcomes and meet workforce needs. Her accomplished career includes leading a cybersecurity workforce development team, launching over 70 online degree programs, and improving academic outcomes through the design and implementation of a student focused educational system.
At WGU, Elke sets the strategic vision for 10 undergraduate and graduate degree programs, that currently enroll more than 20,000 students. She coordinates academic and industry partnerships, ensures program quality and relevancy, and expands student professional opportunities. WGU’s offers both graduate and undergraduate cybersecurity degrees which are designed with input from cybersecurity experts and leading IT employers to closely aligned with the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and National Security Agency (NSA) guidelines. These online cybersecurity degree programs include multiple industry-recognized certifications including ones from CompTIA, CIW, EC-Council, and ISC²
Areas of Expertise (5)
Information Technology
E-Learning
Distance Learning
Leadership
Cybersecurity
Accomplishments (5)
Distance Learning Administration Best Paper Award
2015 Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration
Sloan-C Effective Practice Award
2014 Sloan Consortium - Online Learning Consortium
Campus Technology Innovators Award
2014
Outstanding Professor
2012 Georgia WebMBA
Tommy and Beth Holder Award for Faculty Innovation
2009 Kennesaw State University
Education (3)
Walden University: Ph.D., MIS 2007
Kennesaw State University - Michael J. Coles College of Business: M.B.A., Business Administration 1998
Loyola University Chicago: B.S., Finance 1989
Affiliations (2)
- Women in Technology International: Member
- Technology Association of Georgia
Links (3)
Selected Media Appearances (1)
IT Reskilling More Important Than Ever
Information Week online
2019-01-09
New options are becoming available to help IT leaders get people up to speed quickly. For its part, Western Governors University in Salt Lake City takes a "gig-economy learning" approach, said Dr. Elke Leeds, academic vice president for the college of IT. It's an online method that allows students to demonstrate proficiency, earn industry-standard certifications as they go, and proceed up the career ladder even before completing their degree. The school offers bachelor's and higher-level degrees in areas such as IT administration, cybersecurity, and network operations. The average age of the 17,000-plus students in the IT college is 37, Leeds said. "Most are working full time, balancing family and faith and other commitments." Students are paired with a faculty member who acts as a mentor. The online approach allows working IT pros to engage in academics during lunchtime, at night after the kids are in bed, or whenever else suits them. The university works with IT experts on several levels to make sure its degrees remain relevant, and it partners with organizations, including CompTIA, to offer certifications that are meaningful to working IT pros. It's difficult in today's fast-moving tech world to train people on every single popular app or system they might need in their jobs at some point, Leeds acknowledged. "But you can prepare students to think along the lines of what technology innovation can provide for their organization. To be a good citizen at the decision-making table, they have to understand the opportunity."
Selected Articles (3)
MOOCs: Branding, Enrollment, and Multiple Measures of Success
Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration
Leeds, Elke M.; Cope, Jim
2015 KSU redefined the MOOC value proposition through collaboration of university leadership and faculty. The new proposition shifts measures of success beyond just course completion to include measures that benefit students, faculty, and the institution. Students benefitted through access to open educational resources, the acquisition of professional learning units at no cost, and the potential of college credit at a greatly reduced cost. Academic units benefited through a mechanism to attract students and future revenue while the university benefited through digital impressions, branding, institutionally leveraged scalable learning environments, streamlined credit evaluation processes and expanded digital education.
The Role of Student Characteristics in Predicting Retention in Online Courses
Research in Higher Education
Justin D. Cochran, Stacy M. Campbell, Hope M. Baker, Elke M. Leeds
2013 Given the continued issue of student retention for online classes, past research has suggested several “retention strategies” focused on engaging students as a way to reduce their withdrawal rate from these classes. However, a recent study testing the effects of these strategies on retention in online undergraduate business courses (Leeds et al., Int J Manage Educ 7(1/2), 2013) did not show empirical support for the effectiveness of such strategies. Taking an alternative approach that focuses on individual characteristics of students, this study takes a broader view and examines previous research literature on traditional face-to-face classes to determine how individual characteristics of students may be associated with the likelihood of withdrawal from online classes. Using a sample of undergraduate students (n = 2,314) from a large state university, results from this study identified prior performance in college classes (cumulative GPA) and class standing (senior vs. non-senior) as significant student characteristics related to student retention in online classes for all students. Other factors significantly related to retention rates for students with certain characteristics or within certain majors include previous withdrawal from online courses, gender, and receipt of academic loans.
Using Digital Video Technology to Reduce Communication Apprehension in Business Education
INFORMS Transactions on Education
Elke M. Leeds, Ruth A. Maurer
2009 Several studies have shown that communication apprehension (CA) plays a significant role in reducing the effectiveness of oral communication in business settings. To compound this problem, environmental needs for large classes deny students the opportunity to present in the classroom and prevent universities from adequately addressing CA. In this study, digital video was used as a multimedia replacement for in-class oral presentations. A digital video treatment was designed and tested on a sample of second year management information systems (MIS) students at a large southeastern state university to determine its impact on CA. McCroskey's [McCroskey, J. C. 1982. An Introduction to Rhetorical Communication, 4th ed. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ] Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA-24) was used to measure CA in a pretreatment/posttreatment design. Results showed that the treatment is associated with a reduction in CA. A feedback survey indicated that participants in the treatment group spent more time on average practicing oral communication skills and most felt the treatment prepared them to present again. Digital video can benefit students through reduced CA, increased practice time, and the ability to review their presentation delivery. In a large class environment digital video may be used as an alternative to in-class presentation in order to benefit students who would otherwise not have the opportunity to present.
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