About William Kirkwood

Bill Kirkwood is Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs and Executive Director of the Office of Planning and Analysis at East Tennessee State University. He earned the Ph.D., M.S. and B.S. degrees from Northwestern University.

Dr. Kirkwood directs ETSU’s efforts to assess and improve the quality of academic programs, including the university’s Quality Enhancement Plan, an initiative to improve student learning and success, and the Planning and Institutional Effectiveness ("PIE") Project, in which all academic and service units define their purposes and learn about how they are being fulfilled.  Dr. Kirkwood also oversees curricula and assessment of ETSU's general education program and across-the-curriculum programs in oral communication, writing and information technology.

As a Professor in ETSU's Department of Communication Dr. Kirkwood has taught courses in group problem solving, communication ethics, and applied storytelling.  His research has appeared in journals including Business Communication Quarterly, the Journal of Business Communication, Communication Education, the Journal of Communication, the Journal of Applied Communication Research, the Journal of Communication and Religion, Communication Monographs, Text and Performance Quarterly, the Quarterly Journal of Speech, and the Journal of Creative Behavior.

Dr. Kirkwood speaks and leads workshops on critical thinking, problem solving and creativity, planning and institutional effectiveness processes, assessment of general education, and teaching as spiritual practice.

You may contact him at kirkwood@etsu.edu or 423-439-5049.

Office of Academic Affairs
East Tennessee State University
Box 70733
Johnson City, TN 37614-0054