Bio

Dr. Melvin “Jai” Jackson is the Assistant Vice Provost for Outreach and Engagement at NC State University, where he leads institutional efforts around community-engaged scholarship. He holds a faculty appointment in the Department of Educational Leadership, Policy, and Human Development at NC State, as well as adjunct appointments at UNC-Chapel Hill and Delaware State University. His scholarly work centers on faculty development, community-engaged scholarship, and humanizing pedagogy. Dr. Jackson holds a Ph.D. from Louisiana State University, an MBA from Fayetteville State University, and an M.A. from Appalachian State University.

Area(s) of Expertise

Dr. Melvin (Jai) Jackson is a senior higher education strategist and academic leader with more than 15 years of progressive experience guiding institutional strategy, faculty affairs, and organizational change at large public research universities and international institutions. He currently serves as Assistant Vice Provost for Outreach and Engagement at North Carolina State University, where he provides strategic and operational leadership for university-wide community engagement priorities, leads development of the office's five-year strategic plan, and directs staffing growth to build long-term operational capacity.

Prior to this role, Dr. Jackson served as Assistant Vice Provost for Academic Administration in NC State's Office for Faculty Excellence, where he led university-wide faculty affairs, academic policy, and instructional excellence initiatives in partnership with the Provost, Senior Vice Provosts, and Deans. His earlier leadership roles at NC State include Interim Associate Vice Provost for Inclusive Excellence and Strategic Practice and Assistant Vice Provost for Faculty Engagement, where he co-chaired the Provost's Task Force on Faculty Retention and Success. His career also spans international higher education leadership as Department Chair at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Dr. Jackson's research and scholarship focus on organizational leadership and change, faculty diversity and retention, and equity in higher education access and pathways, including the effects of anti-DEI legislation on pedagogy and the identity development of rural Black students. He serves as Co-PI on the National Science Foundation-funded AGEP North Carolina Alliance, a $930,000 institutional transformation initiative to increase minority STEM doctoral student and faculty success.

Publications

• The Impact of Anti-DEI Legislation on Higher Education Pedagogy , Journal of College and Character (2025)
• Embracing Diversity in Higher Education: Teaching a Driven and Embracing Diversity in Higher Education: Teaching a Driven and Determined Approach , Journal of Research Initiatives (2023)
• Embracing diversity in higher education: Teaching a driven and determined approach , Journal of Research Initiatives (2023)
• Declining Black student belonging at a PWI: Climate surveys and the constraints of social capital at NC State , Association for the Study of Higher Education (2022)
• Advising 101: The Art of Laughing at Yourself , Advise Your Students With a Sense of Humor: Why (and How to) Be a Funnier and More Effective Academic Advisor and Laugh All the Way to Your Classroom (2021)
• Factors that Influence Emirati Male Achievement in Higher Education , Journal of Research Initiatives (2020)
• The Cultural Inability of Me A Conceptual Framework for Accommodating the Roadblock of the Mirror , Taboo: The Journal of Culture and Education (2020)
• The Cultural Inability of Me A Conceptual Framework for Accommodating the Roadblock of the Mirror , Taboo: The Journal of Culture and Education (2020)
• Escape, Adapt, and Thrive: In Search of the Promised Land , No Ways Tired: The Journey for Professionals of Color in Student Affairs (2019)
• The International Struggle for Equality , No Ways Tired: The Journey for Professionals of Color in Student Affairs (2019)

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