Bio

Dr. Alexa Lee Arndt serves the Appalachian College Association as the Project Manager for an ADVANCE Partnership project titled Appalachian Colleges Collaborating for Equity (ACCE). She manages the $921,168 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant, which aims to address the significant challenge of hiring and retaining women and underrepresented minorities in STEM faculty positions, particularly at small rural institutions in the Appalachian region. 

She defended her dissertation concerning gendered labor exploitation in higher education and graduated from the McBee Institute of Higher Education at the University of Georgia in 2023. She was the recipient of Zell and Shirley Miller Fellowship, the Louise McBee Scholarship, the Sisson Community Leadership Development Award, and Libby V. Morris Leadership Award. Alexa served the J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development as a graduate research assistant where she supported departmental impact assessment efforts. 

Most recently, Alexa was recruited as a consultant to support the fraternal community at the University of Massachusetts. Throughout the execution of her extended contract, she conducted extensive community stakeholder interviews and reviewed departmental practices/materials, which culminated in the production of a departmental transition guide for incoming leadership. She was also a part of team responsible for the department's search.

Formerly, Alexa served as the Interim Director of both Fraternity & Sorority Life and the Office of Leadership & Advocacy where her responsibilities included advising the Associated Student Body, Panhellenic Association, and Interfraternity Council, managing risk management and recruitment efforts for the fraternal community, improving the event registration process for all student organizations, co-chairing the fraternal facilities committee, and serving as the liaison to both Greek Life and student organizations for the student organization conduct process. She worked to develop and implement a new revenue stream, process and procedures, and assessment for both departments at the University of Mississippi.

Prior to her time in Oxford, MS, Alexa worked at Indiana University where she managed the organizational conduct process for student organizations and advised several fraternal chapters across all governing councils. Alexa also worked for the National Panhellenic Conference in Indianapolis during this time.

Originally from Youngstown, Ohio, Alexa graduated from The Ohio State University with a B.A. in both Public Affairs and International Studies with two minors in Leadership Studies and Political Science. Throughout her undergraduate work, she worked with the Honors & Scholars program, Greek Life, and First Year Experience. She is an active volunteer with Delta Delta Delta, the National Panhellenic Conference, the Junior League, and a number of fraternal organizations. 

In the News