Ajita Talwalker Menon served in the Obama White House as special assistant to the president for higher education and also served as a senior policy adviser for higher education in the U.S. Department of Higher Education. Before her appointment as Calbright’s interim president in February, Talwalker Menon was a principal in EX3 LLC, where she provided strategic advice and expertise to build “innovative, high-quality, and equity-centered solutions for higher education institutions, foundations, nonprofits, and other enterprises,” according to Calbright.
Talwalker Menon succeeds the online college’s first president, Heather Hiles, who abruptly resigned in January after less than a year on the job.
Talwalker Menon earned a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Political Science from the University of Wisconsin. In her new role, she has a three-year contract paying $285,000 per year with an available performance bonus of up to $10,000, according to a report in EdSource.
“She’s done an outstanding job as interim since February, and we expect that to accelerate,” said Tom Epstein, president of the college board, as quoted in EdSource. “We’re thrilled to have her permanently onboard and look forward to great progress.”
Calbright was created in June 2018 and was officially named Calbright College in June 2019. Pilot courses began in October, beginning with concentrations in medical coding, cybersecurity and career-readiness training. The college’s goal is “to provide economic mobility for working adults who lack easy access to traditional forms of higher education” through online classes, mobile apps and in-person apprenticeships.
Calbright was in danger of being defunded last month when some state lawmakers sought to eliminate its budget as part of cuts resulting from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Techwire republished a commentary that Talwalker Menon posted on LinkedIn, urging continued state funding for the college.
