Rate My Professor Audrey Jaeger

Audrey J. Jaeger is the W. Dallas Herring Professor of Community College Education at North Carolina State University’s College of Education, where she has served as a faculty member for over 20 years. She is the founding executive director of the Belk Center for Community College Leadership and Research, launched in 2018 with a $10.8 million grant from the John M. Belk Endowment and bolstered by a $25 million investment in 2022 to support its work over the next decade. The Belk Center equips community college leaders with tools, convenes stakeholders, and promotes social and economic mobility by addressing pressing challenges through actionable insights and collaboration. Prior to joining NC State, Jaeger held administrative positions in student and academic affairs at New York University’s Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service and at Bucknell University, and worked as an adjunct faculty member at Baruch College of the City University of New York. She earned her Ph.D. from New York University.

Jaeger’s scholarship centers on community colleges, leadership, faculty development, college transfer, gender issues in higher education, student outcomes, and institutional effectiveness, informing policies and practices to enhance postsecondary access and success. She has produced more than 80 articles and book chapters published in prominent outlets such as the Journal of Higher Education, Research in Higher Education, Educational Policy, Community College Review, Journal of College Student Development, and Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, alongside delivering over 220 presentations. Securing more than $43 million in grants, her efforts have significantly advanced support for North Carolina’s 58 community colleges. Among her honors are NC State’s Holladay Medal (2022), the university’s highest accolade; the 2019 Equity for Women Award; induction into the Academy of Community Engagement Scholarship (2017); Association for the Study of Higher Education Mentor Award; NASPA Robert H. Shaffer Award for Academic Excellence as a Graduate Faculty Member; Council of Southern Graduate Schools Outstanding Mentor Award; and Women in Higher Education Achievement Award from the National Panhellenic Conference. She is a member of NC State’s Academy of Outstanding Teachers, Academy of Outstanding Faculty Engaged in Extension and Engagement, and Research Leadership Academy. In recent years, Jaeger was named a 2024 University of North Carolina System Faculty Fellow and selected for Leadership North Carolina’s 2025-2026 class.