Gillian Pierce

Assistant Provost for Academic Assessment

Gillian Pierce is Assistant Provost for Academic Assessment. She coordinates the University’s learning outcomes efforts, chairs the University Task Force on the Evaluation of Teaching, and provides support to faculty, staff, departments, schools and colleges in developing simple and effective strategies to assess student learning in face-to-face, blended and online programs, and in co-curricular and extra-curricular programs.

Reporting to the Associate Provost for Undergraduate Affairs and in close collaboration with the Associate Provost for Graduate Affairs, she works with school/college administration and staff, with faculty, and with program directors in supporting their efforts to refine student learning outcomes at all levels, using the results of assessment to improve curricula and advance effective pedagogy. She additionally leads the development of learning outcomes for the BU Hub and works with the Center for Teaching & Learning and the Digital Education Incubator to connect assessment with the efforts of those units to advance teaching and learning across multiple modes of instruction.

Prior to joining the Provost’s Office, Gillian served as a faculty member in BU’s College of General Studies, where she was instrumental in developing that college’s innovative learning outcomes assessment process. An accomplished teacher and scholar of French language and literature, she has published three books as well as numerous articles and reviews on French and comparative literature, aesthetics and editorial theory. She has also presented extensively on pedagogical reforms and the integration of electronic portfolios into undergraduate curricula. Gillian is a graduate of Harvard University and earned both her Master’s and Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the University of Michigan.

Learn more about Program Learning Outcomes Assessment at Boston University.