Baker joins Elon from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and will lead the Office of Residence Life in the continued strategic effort to transform the student experience with living and learning at Elon.
In her new role, Baker will provide visionary and instrumental leadership to a comprehensive residence life program and will work collaboratively across University departments to implement an engaged, seamless living and learning environment for more than 3,600 residential students. She will be responsible for advancing the goals and priorities of the Residential Campus Initiative, a major University strategic plan commitment to transform the residential experience at Elon and integrate the residential, academic, and social aspects of campus life.
As a member of the Student Life Vice President’s Council, she will also be part of a team that provides senior leadership to the Division of Student Life.
In her multiple previous leadership roles, Baker has launched learning community programs within residential environments, actively partnered with faculty members, facilitated departmental organization improvements, and strengthened student leadership in residential settings. She comes to Elon most recently from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, where she was responsible for leading a comprehensive residence life program within the Department of Housing and Residence Life. Her prior experience includes director of residence life at Utica College and residence life coordinator at Rutgers University.
Baker recently completed her Ph.D. in educational policy with a focus on urban education through a joint program of Rutgers University and the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Her dissertation research was titled “An Ontological and Phenomenological Model of Leadership: Igniting Individual and Collective Transformation and Catalyzing Educational Reform.” She earned an M.Ed. in counseling psychology and a B.A. in English and sociology, both from Rutgers University.
“Dr. Baker brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in residential life,” said Smith Jackson, vice president for Student Life and dean of students at Elon University. “Her passion for the power of education and her understanding of national best practices in residential education and supporting student success fit well with the values of our university. We are pleased to have her as part of our student life division and the university community.”
Baker started her new role at Elon on January 25, after relocating to Burlington with her husband, Justin, and their three children.