Director of Institutional Assessment
Dr. Nathan Anderson
Office: Administration Building 368
Email: nathan.c.anderson@minotstateu.edu
Phone: (701) 858-3064
Dr. Nathan Anderson is the Director of Institutional Assessment. He holds a Ph.D. in Education with an emphasis on Institutional Analysis, a M.S. in Management, and a B.A. in Psychology. His work focuses on helping ensure that decisions are evidence-based and that appropriate data are collected and utilized for their intended purposes. In his current role, he coordinates and provides support to academic and co-curricular programs on completing their yearly program assessment reports and plans. Furthermore, he is MSU’s Higher Learning Commission Accreditation Liaison Officer; co-chair of the Co-Curricular Committee, Student Learning Assessment Committee, and Academic Assessment Liaisons; and member of the Academic Assessment Committee, General Education Committee, Strategic Planning Sub-Group, Strategic Planning and Budget Council, University Cabinet, and the North Dakota University System Info and Data Executive Governance Committee. He also teaches a capstone course as an alternative to thesis writing for Master of Education students.
Nathan has an affinity for creating conceptual frameworks that facilitate insightful reflection and intentional decision-making. He is a developer of A+ Inquiry for navigating disciplined inquiry processes, CP2R for interpreting holistic fitness for a role, CORCE for generating meaningful insights from resonant thoughts, ALTMAP for planning and implementing purposeful initiatives, and The ABCs of a Dose of God for connecting with goodness in everyday experiences.
In his personal life, Nathan cherishes time with his family and friends. He enjoys the lake, pickleball, tennis, longboarding, and writing. Regardless of his role, he strives to consistently carry himself in a manner that allows him to consciously do what he can do well and wants to do in ways that promote the well-being of others as well as himself. One of his lifelong aims is to maintain an ongoing state of presence that is conducive to regularly identifying and appreciating what’s good among common occurrences in life.
Selected publications:
- Anderson, N. (2022). Synthesizing frameworks and tools to develop a plan for evaluating an online data utilization curriculum for teachers. Evaluation and Program Planning, 94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2022.102148
- Anderson, N. C., Brockel, M. R., & Kana, T. E. (2014). Disciplined inquiry: Using the A+ Inquiry framework as a tool for eliminating data hoarding, mindless decision-making, and other barriers to effective ESA programming. Perspectives: A Journal of Research and Opinion About Educational Service Agencies, 20(3).
- Anderson, N. C., Conn, D. R., Gamas, K. C., Borkhuis, B., & Lantto, J. (2018). Capacity, passion, relevance, and presence: A conceptual framework for the interpretation and study of success. Journal of Research Initiatives, 4(1), 11. https://digitalcommons.uncfsu.edu/jri/vol4/iss1/11
- Anderson, N., Conn, D. R., & Tenam-Zemach, M. (2022). CP2R overview, origin, and evolution. Author. http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.29524.78720
- Anderson, N. C., Conn, D. R., Tenam-Zemach, M., Clemente, I., Schaefer, L., & Zemach, J. (2020). Are schools “robbing” students? Resuscitating the purpose of school through CPR. Curriculum and Teaching Dialogue, 22(1-2), 183-196.
- Anderson, N. C., Conn, D. R., & Weigel, K. D. (2025). Cultivating graduate-level assessment skills through an A+ Inquiry Thesis Alternative. Assessment Update: Progress, Trends, and Practices in Higher Education, 37(3), 1-2, 15-16. https://doi.org/10.1002/au.30438
- Anderson, N., & Olson, D. (2024). Thought mining: Constructing transformative insights by noticing and contemplating resonant manifestations of the mind. Journal of Transformative Learning, 11(1), 93-103. https://jotl.uco.edu/index.php/jotl/article/view/529/397
- Anderson, N. C., Williams, A., & Ringrose, D. (2026). Evaluating solutions for improving program assessment. Research & Practice in Assessment, 21(1), 39-64. https://www.rpajournal.com/evaluating-solutions-improving-program-assessment/
- Pontenila, S., Stephens, E., & Anderson, N. C. (2025). Using A+ Inquiry as a framework for exploring faculty needs related to program assessment workload. Intersection: A Journal at the Intersection of Assessment and Learning, 6(1), 21–50. https://doi.org/10.61669/001c.126752
- Tenam-Zemach, M., Conn, D., Anderson, N. C., & Alstad, E. D. (2024). Utilizing an inquiry-agnostic framework to advance the development of a holistic teacher evaluation tool. Holistic Education Review, 4(2). https://her.journals.publicknowledgeproject.org/index.php/her/article/view/3214
