Dr. Heather D. Shea (she/her) is committed to fostering critical hope and creating equitable, inclusive environments that support student success. With over 20 years of experience across five campuses, she currently serves as Director of Pathways Persistence Programs in Undergraduate Education at Michigan State University, overseeing cohort-based initiatives that promote retention, belonging, and student persistence. Previously, she was the inaugural Director of Women*s Student Services at MSU, a graduate fellow working with the Spartan Experience Record and New Student Orientation, and prior to that was the Assistant Director of RISE. A past president of ACPA–College Student Educators International, she has held multiple leadership roles, including co-leading the NextGen Institute, planning two national conventions, and currently serves as an ACPA Foundation Trustee. She co-hosts the Student Affairs NOW podcast, offering accessible professional development for higher education professionals. She also directs a 6-credit education abroad program in Europe for teacher education students. Originally from Colorado, she earned her PhD from MSU in 2019 and is a single mother of two.
What I love most about working in Pathways is the energy that comes from collaborating with passionate staff and students, identifying resources to make innovative ideas possible, and witnessing achievement grow when students are given intentional space to thrive.
My favorite spot on campus is walking along the Red Cedar River in the summer and fall—especially near the Beal Botanical Garden. The changing leaves, the water, and the calm energy of that space remind me why this campus feels so alive.
Seek out opportunities to connect with people beyond your immediate circle of friends, classes, or residence hall. It wasn’t until I became an RA that I realized how wide the range of perspectives truly is—and how much I still had to learn (and unlearn). Study abroad, especially in art history, because building my curiosity for international travel at that age would have been transformational. Find a way to serve as an Orientation Leader—while housing and res life became my foundation in student affairs, the students working with orientation always looked like they were having so much fun. And did I need a second major in Business Marketing? Absolutely not—I would have been better off finishing my degree a year earlier and jumping into meaningful experiences (grad school in Student Affairs) sooner.
I completed my BFA in Graphic Design and BS in Business Marketing at Colorado State University, then went straight into my MS in Student Affairs in Higher Education—so I spent seven years at CSU in Fort Collins. The experience that stands out the most is the relationships I built as a resident assistant and later an assistant hall director. Those roles fundamentally changed the trajectory of my life. I originally imagined myself as an art director at an ad agency (very Mad Men energy), but I discovered that what I really loved was working with people and building community.
