Speaker’s Bureau
Featured Speaker

Teri Cannon
Chief Student Officer and
Chief Accreditation Officer

Teri Cannon oversees three areas at Minerva: Students Affairs, Operations and Accreditation. As Accreditation Liaison Officer for KGI and Minerva, she is the primary liaison with the Western Senior College and University Commission of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).  In Student Affairs and Operations, she is responsible for housing in all locations and everything related to student health, safety and wellbeing, from emergency management to insurance to residential life. Cannon brings more than 35 years of experience in higher education — in both undergraduate and graduate settings — and is deeply knowledgeable in the areas of accreditation, student achievement, and institutional excellence. As a higher education consultant, Cannon has worked closely with various institutions in higher education on accreditation, student success, diversity, and organizational change.

She is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California. Licensed to practice law in the state of California, Cannon wrote Ethics and Professional Responsibility for Paralegals, which is now in its seventh edition. Cannon earned a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a JD at Loyola Law School.

Teri Cannon
Biographical Highlights /
  • Chief Student Officer and Chief Accreditation Officer
  • Former Executive Vice President at Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC)
  • Former Educational Standards Consultant at State Bar of California

Photo: Martin Klimek/Getty

Topic One

Credentialing and Accreditation in the Digital Future

Credentialing and accreditation are critical components of our higher education system. Employers have long recognized college degrees as standards that certain skills and knowledge have been acquired by job applicants. Today, the current credentialing system in the U.S. is challenged by the emerging popularity of MOOCs, online education, badges, and coding camps.

Topic Two

Changes in Higher Education

Many educational institutions still adhere to the structures of an educational model developed in 18th century by the New York Public School Society. With the accelerating costs of higher education and rising demands of practical knowledge, our educational model needs an update. Teri Cannon has worked extensively with many of the innovative new entrants in higher education and with traditional institutions seeking to position themselves for the future.

Past Engagements

  • California Higher Education Innovation Council
  • Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) on The End of the Degree
  • Consortium on the Assessment of Experiential Learning (CAEL) on Competency-Based Education
  • California Association of Institutional Research (CIR) on Regional Accreditation in the 20th Century
  • Stanford University School of Education/Series on Education's Digital Future/on College Credentials in the Digital Future and on Accreditation.  
  • Bar Association of San Francisco on Legal Ethics.

Contact Minerva if you are interested in booking Teri Cannon for an upcoming speaking engagement.