(Black PR Wire) CINCINNATI, -- President Karen Schuster Webb, Ph.D., has announced the appointment of Shanda L. Gore, Ed.D., as the first Vice President of Institutional Innovation and Economic Development at Union Institute & University.  Dr. Gore will work with the leadership team to develop long-term revenue strategies for enrollment growth, new market access, and targeted funding sources.

Dr. Gore has held several roles in higher education including associate vice president, chief diversity officer, and an executive director for nearly 15 years at the former Medical College of Ohio Foundation and the University of Toledo (UT). A seasoned fundraiser, she has raised funds through events, donor relations, and grants totaling more than $2 million in the last six years. She has also taught at undergraduate and graduate levels and served on dissertation committees. As an administrator, she created and directed the regional UT Minority Business Development Center and was recently awarded additional funding to enhance its virtual capabilities worldwide.

In the private sector, Dr. Gore has been a trainer, marketing coordinator and specialist for regional and national firms and is the president and founder of Mays and Associates, LTD, a strategic planning and consulting company serving clients across the United States. She has served as the president of the Ohio Diversity Officers Collaborative, State of Ohio Coordinator of the American Association of Access, Equity, and Diversity, and currently serves as State co-chair and executive board member for the American Council of Education (ACE) Women's Ohio Network. She has published and presented at competitive conferences, including the Higher Learning Commission, the Association of American Medical Colleges, the National Diversity Council Leadership Conference, and the Annual National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education. Recognized as an African American Legacy Emerging Leader of Excellence, she is the recipient of the Toledo Urban Federal Credit Union Community Appreciation Award. She recently completed workshops for Big 10, MAC, and Mid Atlantic NFL officials on team building strategies.

Dr. Gore is a graduate of Bowling Green State University from which she earned three degrees: a Bachelor of Communications degree, a Master's of Communication with a study emphasis on minority communities in the Greater Toledo Ohio area, and a Doctor of Education in Leadership Studies. Her research area was involvement behaviors and minority medical student retention.

About Union Institute & University

Union Institute & University is a non-profit, regionally accredited university specializing in providing quality higher education degrees for adults nationwide. Founded in 1964, Union's academic programs and services are the result of more than five decades of identifying and refining ways to structure and deliver education to meet the needs of adults. Distinguished as the pioneer in adult education, Union perfected the concepts now common in higher education such as the hybrid model, a blend of online and traditional classroom instruction, interdisciplinary studies, and student centered education with socially relevant and applicable learning outcomes in its undergraduate, master's and doctoral degree programs.

The university is guided by its core mission to educate highly motivated adults who seek academic programs to engage, enlighten, and empower them to pursue professional goals and a lifetime of learning, service, and social responsibility.

Union is a national university with academic centers located in: Ohio, Florida, and California.