Kristine Barnett, EdD

Dr. Barnett is an experienced leader in higher education, both as a faculty member and as an academic administrator.  She is the Provost at Columbia College (July 2022), in Columbia, South Carolina, overseeing all aspects of undergraduate and graduate education.

Dr. Barnett joined Bay Path College in 2008 as an adjunct instructor, designing and teaching courses in the Masters in Higher Education online program. In 2010, she became a full-time administrator at Bay Path as the Assistant Dean of the Graduate School, overseeing graduate programs in Higher Education Administration, Non-Profit Management and Strategic Fundraising and Philanthropy. As a graduate of a women’s college and as an advocate for women’s empowerment, Dr. Barnett’s position evolved as she co-led the design and development of the Women as Empowered Learners and Leaders (WELL) program. Since 2011, she has held a variety of administrative leadership positions at Bay Path, serving as a leader in both Academic Affairs and Student Life. Until 2021, she was the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Dean of Liberal Studies. Her responsibilities included oversight of the Communications and Liberal Studies programs, including the Performing Arts, the Honors program, WELL, and Academic Advising. As Vice Provost, she oversaw issues of compliance, accreditation, and assessment. She also served as the University’s Title IX Coordinator.

Previously, Dr. Barnett coordinated all aspects of the campus-wide writing portfolio program at the University of Saint Joseph. In this role, she trained faculty to assess and monitor portfolios and other assessment activities, counseled and advised students regarding their portfolios and program progress, tutored undergraduate and graduate students, served as a writing associate for many courses across the curriculum and developed and taught composition and professional communications courses.

Dr. Barnett has worked at Johnson and Wales University where she managed the Graduate School’s Professional Communication Center and served as an adjunct faculty member and graduate school tutor. She also developed and implemented programs within the Graduate School’s Professional Communications Center. Dr. Barnett also has extensive business experience having worked within the marketing communications area for Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Connecticut and HealthRight, Inc.

Dr. Barnett is a frequent conference presenter on a variety of topics related to higher education leadership and is the co-author of Unlocking the Doors to College and Career Success and author of Leading College Writing Centers into the Future: Strategies for Survival and Sustainability. She received her bachelor of arts in English from Russell Sage College; master of arts in English from Central Connecticut State University; and her doctorate in Leadership in Higher Education from Johnson & Wales University.