Ashley Finley

Ashley Finley is the vice president for research and senior advisor to the president at the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U). She was previously associate vice president for academic affairs and founding dean of the Dominican Experience at Dominican University of California and national evaluator for Bringing Theory to Practice. Currently, Finley oversees AAC&U’s research agenda through the coordination of projects and reports on pressing issues in higher education. She also advises on strategic initiatives to support member campuses. Finley’s campus engagements focus on aligning learning outcomes, vocational exploration, and assessment with students’ holistic development and equity goals. Her publications include The Career-Ready Graduate: What Employers Say About the Difference College Makes; A Comprehensive Approach to Assessment of High-Impact Practices; and The Effects of Community-Based and Civic Engagement in Higher Education: What We Know and the Questions That Remain. Finley received a B.A. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and an M.A. and Ph.D., both in sociology, from the University of Iowa.