Rachel Rogers

Bio

Rachel Rogers currently serves as the Academic Director for the Healthcare Programs and the Interim Assistant Dean of Curricular Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at DU’s University College. She has more than two decades of clinical experience in speech-language pathology, bedside nursing, health informatics, and frontline leadership.

As a healthcare leader, Rachel leveraged her diverse clinical background to advance issues of healthcare access and quality for marginalized populations. She is deeply passionate about recognizing healthcare as a fundamental human right. She has focused her efforts on using innovations in health information technology and population health tools to help address persistent, systemic barriers to high-quality healthcare for all.

In her dual roles as Academic Director and Interim Assistant Dean of Curricular DEI, Rachel champions health justice by shaping the next generation of healthcare leaders. Drawing directly from her dissertation research and academic studies concentrated in principles of inclusive learning, she embraces initiatives to create welcoming, supportive learning environments that foster diverse perspectives and ways of knowing. She firmly believes students are able to learn best when recognized for their identities and intersections thereof. This drives Rachel to continually learn about and implement inclusive pedagogical approaches and invite each individual learner’s background and experience into their education.

Education

Rachel holds an Ed.D. in Higher Education from the University of Denver, an M.S.Sp Masters in Speech-Language Pathology from Emerson College, a BSN from University of Colorado College of Nursing, and an MA in Communication Disorders from the University of Connecticut, Storrs.

Helping Students Be Successful

As an instructor in the healthcare management and health informatics programs, Rachel firmly believes in cultivating inclusive classroom environments where both students and instructors are able to learn from one another through sharing their experiences and perspectives. Rather than embracing the outdated “sage on stage” model where the instructor imparts their knowledge upon passive students, Rachel prefers to be an active guide focused on community-building, student empowerment, and the co-creation of knowledge. She recognizes that graduate students arrive with professional and personal insights that contribute to a vibrant learning community. One of Rachel’s favorite classes to teach is the Capstone Seminar where students put their coursework and independent research skills into action to grapple with a complex healthcare issue.