Diane Waryas Hughey, Ph.D., joined Rice University in December 2023 as Executive Director of Institutional Effectiveness. She previously served as Director of Assessment and Accreditation and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Communication at the University of Texas at Arlington and has been a higher education consultant specializing in accreditation, assessment, and strategic and integrated planning since 2005. Dr. Waryas Hughey’s experience as faculty and administrator spans 25 years in higher education across a variety of institutional settings. She has served in a variety of instructional and institutional effectiveness capacities and possesses an extensive background which includes assessment and accreditation, strategic planning, institutional research, program development and evaluation, designing and implementing initiatives to promote student learning and development, and grant writing. Diane is a published author and has served as an invited and keynote speaker at numerous conferences. She recently served as a four-year institution representative on the LEAP Texas Board of Directors and has held leader and member positions on several state, regional and national boards. Previously she has served as a WASC Accreditation Liaison Officer, WASC and NWCCU evaluator, national co-chair and Region V Chair of the NASPA Assessment, Evaluation and Research Knowledge Community and member of the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP) Institutional Direction Planning Academy.