Author Details

Dr. Katie Sprute is an educator and higher education leader with more than 20 years of experience spanning K–12 education, teacher preparation and online higher education. She currently serves as Executive Faculty Chair in the Department of Online Teaching and Learning and Assistant Professor in the College of Education at Grand Canyon University, where she provides strategic leadership for faculty performance, instructional quality and initiatives that support student success and continuous improvement.

Throughout her career, Dr. Sprute has taught general and special education from preschool through sixth grade, prepared future educators, led curriculum development and program review, and championed evidence-based, data-informed decision making. She is recognized for fostering collaborative learning environments, empowering faculty and building strong partnerships that enhance teaching and learning.

Dr. Sprute earned her Ph.D. in General Psychology with an emphasis in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Grand Canyon University. Her research explored the relationship between structural empowerment and job embeddedness among online faculty across generations. She also holds a master's degree in Special Education from Gonzaga University and maintains multiple teaching certifications and endorsements in elementary education, special education, early childhood education, psychology and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL).

Beyond the university, Dr. Sprute is committed to advancing early childhood education and serves as Chair of the Phoenix North Regional Council for First Things First, Arizona's early childhood agency. Her leadership has been recognized through the Grand Canyon University Provost Excellence Award, as well as membership in Alpha Chi National College Honor Society and Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology.