Heather Schugar

Dr. Heather Schugar is a collaborative and strategic leader who balances data-informed decision making and future-oriented innovation. While at West Chester University, Dr. Schugar has served as a professor of Educational Leadership and Literacy and the Director of WCU’s EdD program where she led the program through a large growth in enrollment while remaining true to the program’s priorities of compassionate, community-centered learning. A strong advocate for shared governance, Dr. Schugar was elected president of WCU’s Faculty Senate where she facilitated strategic change and elevated the faculty voice, particularly around the issues of institutional identity, research, and equity. She played a leadership role in WCU’s most recent Middle States Self Study, where she tri-chaired a workgroup dedicated to advancing the communication of the university’s missions and goals. Additionally, she co-led the diversity and inclusion priority area within the university’s strategic planning process.

Dr. Schugar earned her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction, with a focus in Reading Education at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her research is focused at the intersection of technology and education where her current work is examining structural biases within qualitative AI-assisted analyses. Her past research on eReading comprehension has been featured in many major news outlets, including The New York Times, NPR, and Men’s Fitness.