Staff

Kris Tolman – Interim Associate Director, NISOD

(she/her)

Kris Tolman is the Interim Associate Director for the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD), where she brings a deep commitment to student success, faculty development, and inclusive educational practices.

Before joining NISOD, Kris held roles in faculty development and served as an adjunct professor at Austin Community College (ACC). She earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Brigham Young University and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Adult Education at Texas State University.

Kris has led a variety of service learning and community outreach programs, including an Elementary School Health Education Outreach initiative for underserved elementary students and the nationally recognized Tiny Earth program, a student-sourced antibiotic discovery project affiliated with the University of Wisconsin.

Her current research interests focus on critical issues in higher education, including barriers to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training, the relationship between adult development and adult learning, and fostering psychological safety in the classroom. She is an advocate for active and engaged learning and has completed the Summer Institute on Active and Engaged Teaching, the Teaching and Learning Academy, and earned Quality Matters Certification. She has also facilitated numerous workshops for faculty and student development, including presentations at the Association for Adult and Continuing Education (AACE) and the National Organization for Student Success (NOSS) annual conferences.

Through her work, Kris continues to champion empowering educational environments that support all learners.