Enter your keyword

Leadership Team

Tonya Troka

Chief Academic Officer

Dr. Tonya Troka has spent her entire career serving students who are pursuing a higher education.  She began her career in education as a Teaching Assistant at Northern Illinois University in 2003.  Her first position she held after finishing her master’s degree in 2004 was a Student Advisor working with Master Degree students.

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 as a University Dean overseeing General Education & Psychology.  In all 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 for over a decade.

Dr. Troka earned all 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.

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.  A few of the titles are:

“Improving performance in trigonometry and pre-calculus by incorporating adaptive learning technology into blended models on campus”

“Improving performance in college algebra using technology”

“It works: Efficacy evidence for the use of adaptive learning.”

In addition to her thought leadership, Tonya is a trained Peer Reviewer for the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) and has served in that role since 2012.

Tonya is married to her college sweetheart, and they have two children.  At home she enjoys cooking and trying new recipes, going to the pool in the summertime, reading a good book, and watching Chicago sports.  GO Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks, and White Sox!