Nancy Gourash Bliwise Vice Provost, Academic Planning

As vice provost for academic planning, Nancy Gourash Bliwise concentrates on three areas: support for Academic Planning; responsibility for Data Governance, carried out through the Data Advisory Committee; and oversight of the offices of Institutional Effectiveness and Institutional Research and Decision Support.

She leads the development and implementation of processes that enable effective curriculum and program planning, development, review, and approval. Bliwise also works with faculty, deans, and administrators to ensure that new and continuing programs align with institutional goals, provide budget and planning guidance, and oversee accreditation compliance.

Emory's accreditation-review process is a rigorous, multistage examination required every 10 years to which Bliwise brings more than two decades of broad-based experience. A major focus of her current work is compiling the report for the 2024 reaffirmation of the university's accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC).

Prior to her current role, Bliwise worked with senior staff in the Office of Planning and Budgeting to provide data for federal agencies, accrediting bodies, and college guidebook publishers; enhance the rigor and effectiveness of assessment processes; and ensure university-wide compliance with the Principles of Accreditation of SACSCOC.

As a psychology professor, Bliwise taught statistics and research methods, receiving honors for both teaching and service at Emory.

Selected Career Milestones

• Led the 2014 reaffirmation of the regional accreditation effort as Emory’s SACSCOC liaison
• Developed the university data-governance framework
• Established central academic planning processes for the Office of the Provost
• Laura Jones Hardman Award for Excellence in Service and Crystal Apple Award—Emory University
• Center for Teaching and Curriculum and Excellence in Teaching in the Social Sciences Award—Emory University
• National Statistical Literacy Task Force, American Psychological Association

Education

BA, Cleveland State University
MA and PhD, University of Chicago
Postdoctoral fellowship, University of California–San Francisco