As Associate Provost for Curriculum, Assessment, and Accreditation, Dr. Hager provides strategic leadership for the undergraduate and graduate academic programs. She is responsible for oversight of the general education program, academic integrity, and the Honors Program. Dr. Hager serves as the Academic Liaison Officer to the New England Commission on Higher Education (NECHE), and she works with the academic units to ensure compliance with all disciplinary accrediting bodies. She coordinates with the Center for Faculty Excellence and the academic units to develop and implement assessment strategies, and she oversees the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment and the University’s regulatory data filings and submissions. She works closely with the Registrar, Student Affairs, General Counsel, the Center for Student Success, the Center for Faculty Excellence, Enrollment Management, and Admissions.
Dr. Hager previously served as the Interim Dean of the Undergraduate Program, the Director of General Education, the chair of the English and of the Women's and Gender Studies departments, and the director of the graduate program in Gender/Cultural Studies. Her research and teaching interests focus on Victorian literature, children's literature, reading practices, and gender history. She is the author of Dickens and the Rise of Divorce: The Failed-Marriage Plot and the Novel Tradition (2010, pb 2017), which was chosen by CHOICE as a highly recommended book. Dr. Hager has also contributed invited pieces to the Oxford Encyclopedia of Children's Literature, the Oxford Handbook of Children's Literature, BRANCH (Britain, Representation and Nineteenth-Century History), and The Encyclopedia of Victorian Literature (Wiley-Blackwell).
Dr. Hager has been at Simmons since 2001, teaching in the departments of English (now Literature and Writing) and Women's and Gender Studies (now Race, Gender, and Sexuality Studies), in the undergraduate Honors Program, and in the graduate programs in English, Children's Literature, and Gender/Cultural Studies. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Rice University and a PhD in English from the University of California, Irvine.
Education
- PhD in English, University of California, Irvine
- Bachelor of Arts in English, Rice University
Kelly Hager in the News
Lost & Found in Literature for Young People at Simmons’ Summer Institute
The Summer Institute in Children's Literature returned to Simmons University in July 2022. The Institute theme “Lost & Found” shaped reflections from authors, librarians, educators, publishers, and critics of children’s literature from across the country in this two-day gathering of inspiration and restoration.
Getting to Know Simmons: Key Takeaways from the "What to Expect this Fall!" Panel
This panel discussed what incoming first-year students can expect this summer and during their first semester at Simmons.
Shout-outs from Students and Alums
Lola Getz '21 Seeks to Carry on Gwen Ifill's Legacy
Congratulations to Lola Getz '21, recipient of the Ifill Scholarship!