Ph.D.
University of Oklahoma
Educational Studies
M.Ed.
University of Oklahoma
Educational Studies
B.A. in Letters
University of Oklahoma
Letters and Religious Studies
Areas
- Graduate Studies Administration
- Online Education Oversight
- Valpo Virtual
- Acadeum
About
Stefanie Heinrich, Ph.D. serves as the Assistant Provost of Graduate and Online Education, providing leadership for graduate education and supporting the continued development of Valpo’s online and alternative learning opportunities. Her work spans academic program development and review, accreditation and continuous improvement, graduate policy and governance, enrollment strategy, and student success. She works closely with faculty, program directors, academic leaders, and colleagues across the University to strengthen graduate and online education and support thoughtful, sustainable approaches to academic innovation.
Stefanie’s professional interests include academic leadership, organizational strategy, educational access, and the changing dynamics of higher education. She is particularly interested in how colleges and universities adapt to changing student needs while maintaining a strong sense of academic purpose and institutional identity. Across her work, she is drawn to questions about how institutional structures, policies, and practices shape educational opportunity and the experiences of students whose pathways through higher education may not follow traditional assumptions.
Stefanie is a first-generation college student with a background in Letters and Religious Studies and graduate degrees in Educational Studies, an interdisciplinary field grounded in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. Her academic background shapes both her scholarship and her approach to higher education leadership, particularly her interest in how institutional structures, policies, and cultures influence educational access, opportunity, and belonging.
Stefanie’s scholarly work is centered in critical inquiry into the ways educational systems and spaces can perpetuate, reinforce, and resist oppressive ideologies. Her work often examines the intersections of politics, religion, and education and their implications for individual freedom, personal rights, and belonging. Her current research focuses on interscholastic and intercollegiate athletics as educational spaces, including how sport tied to educational institutions can reproduce ideologies related to gender, sexuality, race, and religion.
Before joining Valpo, Stefanie held roles focused on graduate education, student success, research, and educational access at Appalachian State University and the University of Oklahoma.
Department Members
No faculty members found.