Janet Schreck appointed vice provost for academic affairs and innovation

Janet Simon Schreck, whose leadership has helped guide major universitywide efforts in undergraduate education, accreditation, and learning assessment, has been appointed vice provost for academic affairs and innovation at Johns Hopkins University, effective Feb. 1.

As vice provost, Schreck will oversee a broad portfolio that includes undergraduate education initiatives, regional accreditation, academic compliance, state authorization, institutional and learning assessment, and special projects on behalf of the provost. She will also continue to serve as the university's accreditation liaison officer. Her work will focus on strengthening academic quality while advancing innovation in curriculum, assessment, advising, and credentialing across Johns Hopkins' schools and divisions.

Image caption: Janet Schreck

A significant and growing area of focus for Schreck will be Hopkins' non-degree, non-credit, and microcreditentialing programs. In collaboration with partners across the university, she will spearhead the university's strategic efforts to expand these offerings, further enhancing access to Johns Hopkins educational opportunities and providing flexible, lifelong learning pathways for professional and personal growth.

Since joining the provost's office in 2015, Schreck has served in a series of leadership roles with an expanding scope, most recently as senior associate vice provost for academic affairs, and has played a central role in several major universitywide academic initiatives. Alongside decanal co-chairs, she co-led the Second Commission on Undergraduate Education and served as a primary author of its 2020 report, which articulated a forward-looking vision for undergraduate education at Johns Hopkins. She also led the selection, procurement, and implementation of the university's first institution-wide learning assessment platform and developed the vision for the Johns Hopkins University Comprehensive Learner Record.

More recently, Schreck served as co-chair and lead for the university's 2023-2024 Middle States Commission on Higher Education self-study and reaccreditation effort and serves as co-chair for the university's AI Teaching and Learning Governance Committee.

"Janet brings tremendous energy, deep institutional knowledge, and a collaborative ethos to this expanded role," JHU Provost Ray Jayawardhana said. "She has been instrumental in shaping academic excellence at Hopkins, and her continued leadership will be essential as we seek to further enhance the educational experience and expand access to lifelong learning."

Schreck is an associate professor in the School of Education, where she teaches and advises students in the EdD and PhD programs. A licensed and certified speech-language pathologist, Schreck's early scholarship focused on neurogenic communication disorders and cognitive-communication changes associated with aging and dementia. Her more recent scholarly work centers on innovation in higher education, including curriculum development, learning assessment, advising, and credentialing.

Schreck earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in speech-language pathology from Loyola University Maryland and her PhD in gerontology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore. She is a fellow of the Maryland Speech-Language-Hearing Association and a distinguished practitioner and fellow of the National Academy of Practice.

"Over the past decade, it has been a privilege to collaborate with talented colleagues across Johns Hopkins to continuously improve the educational experiences of our students," Schreck said. "Leading educational innovations such as the work of the Second Commission on Undergraduate Education and the Comprehensive Learner Record has allowed me to advance my scholarly interests while helping prepare students to be, in Daniel Coit Gilman's words, 'scholars, strong, bright, useful, and true.'"

She added, "I'm excited to focus on expanding non-degree, non-credit, and microcredential programs as a third access point to the Johns Hopkins educational ecosystem—one that supports lifelong learning and broadens access to the knowledge the university produces. I'm also eager to help guide the thoughtful evolution of AI in teaching and learning in ways that align with our mission and values."