Longtime Adult Learning Expert To Lead CAEL Member Engagement and Strategic Networks

One of the advantages of a membership community is delivering greater impact together than is possible individually. At the same time, these communities become stronger with each individual member.

Longtime CAEL member Tracy Robinson is a prime example of that. She has been a regular at CAEL conferences since 2013. In 2020, she became a CAEL Ambassador. Last year, the University of Memphis won CAEL’s Adult Learner Impact Award in no small part thanks to her work, which has contributed to the University for more than two decades.

This week, she adds a new dimension to her capacity to support CAEL members and their mission. Robinson is CAEL’s new vice president of member engagement and strategic networks.

In this role, Robinson will drive closer integration of CAEL's membership and overall strategic initiatives. In addition to leading CAEL’s exclusive member programs, such as communities of practice, the CAEL Member Hub, and special events, she will oversee grant-funded projects and broader engagement with higher education, workforce, and employer partners.

Building such partnerships has been a hallmark of Robinson’s career. She has delivered hundreds of presentations for CAEL, AACRAO, UPCEA, APLU, and state higher education agencies. She currently serves as Secretary of the Greater Memphis Workforce Development Board and on the Tennessee Higher Education Commission's Technical Transfer Pathways Subcommittee.

Policy will also be a priority as Robinson focuses on membership growth and engagement. CAEL members consistently cite access to industry updates, research, and best practices for implementing adult learner-focused CPL pathways as key benefits.

CPL and other critical adult learning success factors were priorities for Robinson during her 25 years at the University of Memphis. Most recently, she was executive director at the University’s Center for Regional Economic Enrichment. There, she led a staff of 40, overseeing more than $35 million in externally funded programs across West Tennessee and the Delta. The programs included credit for prior learning, the Finish Line degree-completion program, professional and continuing education, and GROWWTH, a $25 million Tennessee Opportunity Pilot serving low-income families across 21 counties.

Robinson helped grow Finish Line from a 2013 pilot into a lasting model that has produced more than 1,200 graduates and, with CAEL technical assistance, developed the university's first CPL portfolio course.

Robinson was also a Complete College America Fellow and served on Tennessee's Prior Learning Assessment Task Force. Her earlier roles at the University of Memphis include instructor, distance education academic advisor, director of online education, director of innovative academic initiatives, and director of professional and continuing education.

Tracy Robinson, CAEL’s new vice president of member engagement and strategic networks