LEON KELLEY305 Buckingham Drive

Algonquin, IL 60102www.linkedin.com/in/leonkelley

847.337.4097 lkelley365@comcast.netSUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS

Driven senior leader with demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional and diverse teams of academics and professionals to higher levels of success in highly competitive, regulated, and fast-paced environments. Proven to drive continuous improvement and streamline business processes through use of industry best practice research and analysis, optimizing resources, and improving quality while increasing productivity. Experienced distance education leader serving needs of diverse student populations including non-traditional adult learners and military students.

Strong leadership, strategic direction, and management expertise with proven success in:• Strategic Planning • Student Retention • Policy Development• New Program Implementation • Project Management • Team Building• Budget & Expense Control • Regulatory Compliance • Staff Recruitment• Relationship Management • P&L Management • Operations Management

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

WORLD EDUCATION UNIVERSITY (WEU), Rancho Mirage, CA 2013 – PresentConsultantWork on a contractual basis to develop online business courses offered to students of the WEU College of Business.•Develop syllabus, 15 unit course structure, course content, assignments, and rubrics.•Apply Quality Matters best practices for online course development.

AMERICAN INTERCONTINENTAL UNIVERSITY (AIU), Schaumburg, IL 2004 – 2012

Vice President and Associate Provost 2009 – 2012Reported to Provost/Chief Academic Officer for multi-campus, multi-state university. Responsible for development and implementation of University student retention strategy. Under Student Affairs umbrella provide strategic leadership for Student Advising, Career Services, academic support teams focused on faculty / classroom quality, student initiated grade appeals, review of student academic integrity issues, blended learning program operations, University Learning Center, and Library services.• Researched drivers of retention issues and collaborated with Provost, Campus Presidents, and Academic Affairs

leaders to develop cross-functional solutions across multiple campuses.• Identified and implemented retention and cross-functional communication best practices across online and

ground based campuses.• Led cross-functional team in developing and implementing Online campus’ student orientation, resulting in 5-

percentage point reduction of cancels and 8-percentage point improvement in retention.• Improved new student show rate by 5% and 1st year retention by 8% through development and implementation

of Alumni mentoring program.• Revised and implemented University policies addressing DOE “Program Integrity” issues.

Vice President of Student Affairs 2006 – 2009Reported to CEO.Responsible for AIU’s Student Affairs and Student Retention strategy for Online campus. Provided senior leadership for Student Advising, Prior Learning Assessment, Registrar, and Career Services including over 160 employees. Responsible for budget of $7M. Partner with campus Presidents, VPs of Academic Affairs, VPs of Student Affairs, University Program Deans, Programs Chairs, Admissions leadership, technical resources, and support department Directors to improve operations.• Led collaborative development and implementation of University strategy for student retention, resulting in

overall retention rates in top 20 percentile within peer group competitors.

LEON KELLEY PAGE TWO

AMERICAN INTERCONTINENTAL UNIVERSITY (AIU) (Continued)• Managed cross-functional team that reduced failure rate by 13% and improved retention rate by 8% in first year

Algebra course.• Coordinated cross-functional student retention initiative with University leadership team, Academic Affairs

leaders, departmental staff and faculty, driving revision of curriculum sequence and improving first year retention by 5 percentage points.

• Restructured Student Advising department, aligning resources to student attrition and operational concerns by lowering student to advisor ratio from 325:1 to 150:1 for first year students with zero budgetary impact.

• Led the development of specialized and automated daily reporting of at-risk students streamlining the workflow process to improve productivity for Student Advising team.

• Achieved budgeted goals for student retention on monthly and year to date basis by implementing and training managers and staff on proactive student coaching methodology.

• Improved transfer-credit approval process by restructuring roles within Prior Learning Assessment department.• Revised the following University policies, enhancing support to students and improving operational outcomes:

Leave of Absence, Full and Partial Course Withdrawal, graduated GPA and Rate of Progress related to Satisfactory Academic Process, and transition to a plus / minus grading scale for the university.

Admissions Advisor, Student Manager and Director of Admissions 2004 – 2006• Promoted to Director of Admissions within 9 months.• Awarded “The Vince Lombardi Award for Leadership” by achieving new student start budget, show rate goal,

and top first term student retention.• Recognized as Team Leader on Admissions team for delivering highest number of new student enrollments and

ranking as top performer in new student start excellence.

FRY, INC., Westmont, IL 2000 – 2003Web development, hosting, and consulting organization serving clients such as Crate & Barrel, Coach, 800 Flowers, and Godiva with e-commerce solutions.

Managing Director 2001 – 2003Reported to CEO.Directed business operations in Chicago market including P&L, program management, business development, application development, and deployment, and consulting services to successful internet retail clients including Crate & Barrel, The Spiegel Group, Successories, and Personal Creations.• Returned Chicago Business Unit to profitability within 3 months through implementation of program

management structure and improved client relationship management strategy.• Directed team's account strategy, increasing client revenues from $200K to $2M over 3 years.• Implemented strategic plan with account teams, resulting in retention of all Chicago clients.• Implemented service delivery methodology through program, project, and account managers, resulting in

increased profitability.• Led negotiations of annual service contract for guaranteed minimum of $8M in 2001; actual revenues exceeded

$9M and guaranteed minimum of $7M in 2002; actual revenues near $8M.

National Account Manager 2000• Resolved largest client's issues with quality, project delivery, and invoices, collecting $3M in outstanding

revenue with responsibility for over $10M in revenue.

EDUCATION• DBA (ABD), Social Impact Management, Walden University, Minneapolis, MN, • MBA, Information Management, Kellogg Graduate School Of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston,

IL• BA with Honors, English, Roosevelt University, Chicago, IL