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Dr. Tonya Troka is joining Northwestern College with nearly 15 years of experience in higher education. Throughout her career Dr. Troka has focused on student success in various roles including Director of Student Advising, Director of Learning Services, Program Chair, Program Director, and most recently she held a University Dean position where she led a General Education Department. In all of her previous roles, she has led numerous student success initiatives specifically focusing on non-traditional and under-served students. In addition to her leadership roles, Tonya has taught online courses as an Associate Professor throughout the last 11 years.

Dr. Troka is committed to thought leadership and has published articles and presented her work at conferences. These publications and presentations have focused on innovation and student success. Most recently she co-presented a session titled “Scale, Sustainability, and Success: Creating a Leadership Strategy for Innovation” at the Online Learning Consortium (OLC) Accelerate conference. In addition to her thought leadership, Tonya is a trained Peer Reviewer for the Higher Learning Commission (HLC).

Dr. Troka earned all of her degrees from Northern Illinois University (NIU). She has a Bachelor’s and Master’s of Arts in Communication Studies and an EdD in Adult and Higher Education. While she was in graduate school at NIU Tonya taught television studio production and audio editing.

Tonya will celebrate her 10 year anniversary with her husband Christopher in June, together they have two children and one French bulldog. At home she enjoys cooking and trying new recipes, playing hide and seek with her kids, reading a good book, and watching Chicago sports. GO Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks, and White Sox!