Karri Holley

Ph.D.	Higher Education	University of Southern California
MEd	Higher Education	University of Southern California
B.A.	Communication Studies and English	The University of Alabama

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Year	Award
2019	UA College of Education Nellie Rose McCrory Faculty Excellence in Research Award
2020	UA Bama By Distance Research Fellow

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• National Science Foundation – NSF Research Traineeship Program (NRT)
  • Alabama Collaborative for Contemporary Education in Precision Timing (ACCEPT)
  • (2023-2028)
  • Focus: Evaluation
  • Over one-third of the U.S. economy ($11 Trillion annually) directly depends on precision timing. Precision timing (PT) is an integral part of our national security. Incredibly, there is no degree program in the US dedicated to training young talent in the timekeeping technologies that underpin our society. In response, the University of Alabama (UA) has created the first MS and PhD concentrations in precision timing, incorporating courses in physics, engineering, and mathematics, developed through direct conversation with corporate and government partners. These conversations made clear that the field of precision time and frequency requires talent that can apply large-scale communication and negotiation skills across multiple STEM disciplines while considering business and national security interests as well. This National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT) award, the Alabama Collaborative for Contemporary Education in Precision Timing (ACCEPT), will develop an innovative graduate (MS, PhD) education model responsive to the unique needs for precision timing workforce development. ACCEPT will provide a comprehensive training and educational opportunity for one hundred and sixty (160) MS and PhD students, including twenty-four (24) funded trainees from physics, mathematics, and electrical and computer engineering. Trainees will combine coursework across these three departments with professional development in critical areas identified by precision timing experts (teamwork, leadership, ethics, communication), and put their training into practice via research experiences with ACCEPT partners, student-led initiatives, and networking at conferences and workshops.
• National Science Foundation – NSF Research Traineeship Program (NRT)
  • Research to Operations in Data-driven Hydrologic Forecasting and Decision-making (R2O)
  • (2022-2027)
  • Focus: Lead Evaluation
  • This NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) project will address the multifaceted and integrated needs of researchers, forecasters, and users of forecasts, by launching a unique hydrologic science program focusing on the critical linkage of research to operations, or “R2O.” The program of study will be co-produced with those working in the water prediction community to generate a pipeline of interdisciplinary scientists and engineers capable of diagnosing water-hazard forecasting needs. This co-production effort will result in the design of prediction tools and techniques using the latest advances in AI, ML, and data science, and the dissemination of the forecast products in actionable forms for a wide array of decision-makers. The project anticipates training a diverse set of 115 master’s and Ph.D. students, including 28 funded trainees from civil engineering, geography, and computer science. Student recruitment efforts will focus on groups traditionally underrepresented in their participation in academia and water industries. This project will expose students to a variety of professional and simulated professional contexts and strengthen student competencies to be facilitators, innovators, and leaders. This project is jointly funded by the NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) program and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).
• United States Agency for International Development – Higher Education System Strengthening Activity (HESSA)
  • USAID HESSA, University of Utah 
  • (2021-2026)
  • Focus: Faculty Development
  • The USAID-funded Higher Education System Strengthening Activity focuses on raising the capacity of Pakistan’s colleges and universities to address the country’s need for a match between graduate skills and modern workplace needs. Government, industry, academia, and international education experts will work together to undertake sustainable policy development, technical skill-building, and the establishment of student support systems. The team will work closely with the Government of Pakistan to prepare fifteen institutions to be best-practice leaders in the country, thereby creating a ripple effect through the Pakistan higher education ecosystem and, in turn, the country’s economic potential.  The project is especially committed to supporting the success of both Pakistani women and disadvantaged students and will work to create pathways of success for these underserved populations.
• National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institutes of Health – Innovative Programs to Enhance Research Training (IPERT)
  • UMass Chan Medical School (UMMS): pd|hub (Twitter, program website)
  • (2020-2025)
  • Focus: pd|hub Collections, Working Group member, Evaluation
  • The grant will support development of peer-reviewed collections of evidence-based practices in graduate/postdoctoral education, specifically in the area of professional skills development.  Each collection will include annotated lesson plans and materials and will be paired with training and mentoring to assist educators in customizing and implementing practices for their own graduate student/postdoctoral populations. We will also develop assessment protocols for each collection, to support the graduate/postdoctoral education community in testing and evolving educational practices.  Educators whose models are featured in the collections will take a lead in dissemination, attain support as they do so, and be recognized as leaders in the field.
• Completed Grants and Projects – National Science Foundation
  • Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Program (S-STEM)
  • University of Alabama Huntsville: MAE Assistance for Transfer Improvement and Excellence (MATRIX) (program website)
  • (2018-2023)
  • Focus: STEM Researcher, Evaluation
  • The goal of the MATRIX program is to improve the performance, retention, and graduation rate for financially disadvantaged transfer students in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department at UAH. MATRIX scholars will be fully supported financially for up to two consecutive years beginning with their first fall semester at UAH. During the first week of their first semester, the students will participate in an “Enter the MATRIX” orientation program. The first MATRIX year focuses on community building and undergraduate research. The second MATRIX year focuses on professional development, networking, and internships. Specific objectives of the program include improving academic performance, retention, and graduation rates of MATRIX students, improving the use of campus academic support services, creating specific transfer student cohorts to assist with campus acclimation, and providing research opportunities and professional development activities for students. One of the major aspects of this program is the partnership with local engineering companies to provide professional development, networking, and internship opportunities for the MATRIX scholars. The internships will provide hands-on experience in engineering to help students obtain employment post-graduation. Once students are accepted to the MATRIX program, they must demonstrate continued satisfactory progress in their degree program, research activities, and attend program activities to retain their scholarships.
• National Science Foundation – NSF National Research Traineeship Program (NRT)
  • Utah State University: NRT: Graduate Climate Adaptation Research that Enhances Education and Responsiveness of science at the management-policy interface (Grad-CAREER) (Twitter, program website)
  • (2016-2022)
  • Focus: External Evaluation
  • This project will create a Climate Adaptation Science specialization within nine MS and eight PhD degrees, offered in eight departments and five colleges. The training program emphasizes interdisciplinary research and integrates training in informatics, modeling, communication, leadership, project management, risk assessment, decision-making under uncertainty, and interdisciplinary teamwork. Project research will advance understanding of changing hydroclimate (drought and flood), fire regimes (frequency, area burned, and severity), land cover (range shifts and invasions), social and economic effects, and potential adaptations. The project closely integrates research, instruction, and real-world experience and will foster collaborations among scientists, federal, state, and local land managers, policy-makers, trainees, and citizen stakeholders. Trainees will complete a novel two-part internship with a government, industry, or NGO partner that brackets a year-long research studio and embeds trainees in a cycle of creating actionable science. Other novel elements are an individualized communication plan and research-based curriculum supported with short-courses. The project team will test models for educational elements to better prepare the future STEM workforce for an increasing variety of interdisciplinary research, management, educational, and policy-related careers, including application of data-intensive techniques, cloud-based collaboration, communication with diverse audiences, and project management. Comprehensive assessments of the program and its elements will inform best practices in graduate STEM education.
• University of Alabama – Bama By Distance Faculty Research Fellows Program
  • Role: PI
  • (2020-2021)
  • Online graduate certificates can serve as an important resource for students, by providing information and learning opportunities not available in their academic departments and also enhancing disciplinary foundations. While online graduate certificates have grown in popularity over the last two decades, questions of their effectiveness remain unanswered, in particular, how certificates operate amidst institutional and national conversations about transferable skills and alternative career pathways for graduate students. Through a basic qualitative research approach, the study will address the gap in the research related to online graduate certificates. Data collection will include interviews with students, faculty, and administrators affiliated with four online graduate certificate programs. The study’s goal is to understand experiences in online graduate certificate programs, especially in relation to student learning and socialization in their academic degree program as well as how faculty and administrators view the effectiveness of online graduate certificate programs. The findings from this study will: 1) benefit educational practices, by exploring the relationship between online graduate certificates and degree programs; 2) inform students and faculty, as to ways in which disciplinary learning can be enhanced through online graduate certificates; and 3) help academic institutions understand how the development and offering of online graduate certificates relates to achieving goals such as degree completion and job placement for graduate students.

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Holley, K.A. (Forthcoming, 2024). Interdisciplinary career paths. In R. Szostak (Ed.), Handbook of Interdisciplinary Teaching and Administration. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing. 

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Dr. Karri Holley is Professor of Higher Education at The University of Alabama. She received her Ph.D. and M.Ed. from the University of Southern California, and a B.A. from The University of Alabama. Her research broadly examines the organizational, cultural, and economic influences on the structure and processes of the contemporary university, with an emphasis on graduate education. Holley has also written extensively on interdisciplinary work in higher education as well as narrative structure and the writing process related to qualitative inquiry.

She currently works on several grant-funded projects focused on interdisciplinary graduate education, degree completion in STEM fields, international higher education development, and education evaluation. Her previous professional experiences include a career in graduate admissions at Pepperdine University, and also service as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine. She has held several leadership roles in national associations, including chair of the AERA Graduate and Postdoctoral Education across the Disciplines SIG and a member of the program committees for both ASHE and AERA.

Holley served as editor for Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education from 2014-2022. The journal focuses on scholarship and practice related to graduate education, including master’s and doctoral level, and postdoctoral experiences. The journal publishes scholarly articles from a range of academic disciplines and research methods that represent issues of interest to the international community.