05/19/2022
Join us in welcoming Dr. Diana Sims-Harris to the SCIHE KC Leadership team! Dr. Sims-Harris will be one of our Conference Co-Coordinators.
As the Director of Student Affairs and Academic Advising in the Purdue School of Science at IUPUI, Diana Sims-Harris (she/her/hers) leads student success programs. Diana directs science student engagement and retention strategies, which includes overseeing science academic advising, coordinating the science first-year seminar course, managing STEM residential-based learning communities, coordinating programs to support underserved populations, managing school-based orientation activities, and advising the School of Science Undergraduate Student Council. Diana also serves as an adjunct faculty member in Organization Leadership and Supervision in the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology and Higher Education and Student Affairs at Indiana State University.
Diana has worked in higher education for eighteen years. Prior to this position, she served as the Associate Director of the Office of Student Involvement at IUPUI, supervising leadership, fraternity and sorority life, and student activities. Diana has previously held positions working with social justice and diversity, student programming, and student organizations. Diana holds a Ph.D. from Indiana State University in Higher Education Leadership, an M.S. in Educational Administration and Foundations from Illinois State University, and a B.A. in Political Science from Western Illinois University.
As a first-generation college student from a working-class family and as someone who experienced significant financial stress at the beginning of her professional journey in student affairs, Diana connects with the Socioeconomic and Class Issues in Higher Education Knowledge Community mission. Diana previously served as the SCIHE KC’s Professionals from the Poor and Working Class Subcommunity Co-chair. Diana is excited about the KC’s goals of intersectional social class programming and advocacy for student affairs professionals. She is also enthusiastic about taking on the new role as the conference coordinator and helping the KC provide an engaging, relevant, and supportive conference experience.
Welcome Diana!