Jan Abushakrah

Jan Abushakrah, Ph.D., serves on the AGEC Board of Directors as the Associate Degree representative. She previously participated in the Accreditation Taskforce Competencies Working Group, which developed the 2014 AGHE Gerontology Education Competencies over a three-year period.  Jan has directed the Portland Community College Gerontology Program since its inception in 1998, and soon transitioned it into an online format with an applied focus. The Program was just getting started at about the time “Learning Outcomes Assessment” became a priority for PCC’s regional accreditation. She served on the college committee that developed the process PCC would implement, through “bottom up,” department-based and faculty-driven initiatives, and she participated in the first cohort of faculty trained in developing Learning Outcomes Assessment strategies for courses, disciplines and programs aligned with the college’s six core outcomes or competencies for all graduating students. She used that model to develop the Gerontology Program’s 30 courses and AAS Degree, including five embedded Career Pathways Certificates. She later designed an audit and mapping approach to learning outcomes assessment that aligned with the Gerontology Competencies and integrated them into the curriculum, student learning, and program assessment. Jan chaired or co-chaired the AGHE Community College Taskforce/Standing Committee/Interest Group for several years, organized five AGHE Pre-Conference workshops on workforce development, and serves as an AGHE Program of Merit Reviewer. In 2016, Jan received the AGHE Hiram Friedsam Mentorship Award, and in 2020, the Clark Tibbitts Award for her outstanding contribution to the advancement of gerontology.