Sara Sander is senior vice provost for student success at Purdue Global. Sander provides leadership and strategic direction to foster student engagement, retention and graduation. She oversees key student areas including student success teams, the Center for Career Advancement, curriculum operations and technology, the library, the Center for Teaching and Learning, and strategic student success initiatives. Sander’s experience includes over 30 years of teaching adult learners, with a focus over the last 25 years on online education and administration. Her research interests include emotional intelligence, faculty performance and behaviors, and communication in the online classroom.
Since 2013 Sander has served as dean and vice president of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. During her time as dean, the college has seen a continued increase in college-industry partnerships, with thirty percent of the partners having hired a graduate from the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. Sander increased the number of alumni participation through webinars, classroom visits, and motivational stories for current students, and oversaw the development and launch of numerous student success initiatives based on revising procedures to current best practices in higher education. She joined the university in 1997 and served in a variety of positions, including professor of communications and languages and dean for the School of Arts and Sciences, now known as the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.
She was awarded the Purdue Global Great Leaders Award in 2020 and the Accomplished Learner Award in 2023.
Sander earned her PhD in adult education at Capella University, completing this work in an online educational environment, similar to the students she works with. She obtained her bachelor’s and master’s degrees, both in communication, at the University of Arkansas.
Contact Info: SSander@purdueglobal.edu
