Kristine Barnett

Provost & Vice President for Academic Affairs, Columbia College (SC), Professor of Higher Education

Kristine is an experienced leader in higher education, both as a faculty member and as an academic administrator. Specializing in the innovative, strategic administrative leadership of small, private institutions, Kristine has worked in diverse organizations, including multiple women’s colleges. At Columbia College in Columbia, South Carolina, which went co-ed in 2020, she oversees all aspects of faculty affairs, student support services, and the curriculum for traditional day and evening college students, as well as a growing online program. Kristine also serves as a dissertation chair and faculty member in Bay Path University’s Higher Education Leadership and Organizational Studies (HELOS) online doctoral program, teaching a variety of courses that include research methods, communities of practice, and dissertation completion support.

Prior to joining Columbia College in 2022, she served in roles of increasing influence, including as a consultant in Academic Affairs at Bristol Community College in Fall River, Massachusetts. At Bristol, her focus was on developing departmental infrastructure, designing program review protocols as well as tools and training to support senior-level leaders. From 2010 through 2021, Kristine had several administrative roles at Bay Path University in Longmeadow, Massachusetts, serving as a leader in both Academic Affairs and Student Life.

She joined Bay Path College in 2010 as the Assistant Dean of the Graduate School, overseeing graduate programs in Higher Education Administration, Non-Profit Management and Strategic Fundraising and Philanthropy. As a graduate of a women’s college and as an advocate for women’s empowerment, Kristine co-led the design and development of the Women as Empowered Learners and Leaders (WELL) program. Additional responsibilities as Dean of Liberal Studies at Bay Path included oversight of the Communications and Liberal Studies programs, including the Performing Arts, the Honors program, WELL, and Academic Advising. As Vice Provost, she oversaw issues of compliance, accreditation, and assessment and was the University’s Title IX Coordinator.

Previously, Kristine coordinated all aspects of the campus-wide writing portfolio program at the University of Saint Joseph in West Hartford, Connecticut. In this role, she trained faculty to assess and monitor portfolios and other assessment activities, counseled and advised students regarding their portfolios and program progress, tutored undergraduate and graduate students, served as a writing associate across the curriculum, and developed and taught composition and professional communications courses.

Kristine has worked at Johnson and Wales University, where she managed the Graduate School’s Professional Communication Center and served as an adjunct faculty member and graduate school tutor. She also developed and implemented programs within the Graduate School’s Professional Communications Center. Kristine also has extensive business experience, having worked within the marketing communications area for Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Connecticut and HealthRight, Inc.

Kristine is a frequent conference presenter on a variety of topics and is the co-author of Unlocking the Doors to College and Career Success and the author of Leading College Writing Centers into the Future: Strategies for Survival and Sustainability. She received her Bachelor of Arts in English from Russell Sage College; her Master of Arts in English from Central Connecticut State University; and her doctorate in Leadership in Higher Education from Johnson & Wales University.