Matthew Smith PhD

PhD in Higher Education, University of Toledo
MEd in Higher Education, Kent State University
BA from Baldwin Wallace University

Dr. Smith is a higher education administrator with over 25 years of experience working in student affairs. While he has worked at CIA for over 20 years, he has worked at both small private colleges and larger state schools and has experience working in and/or supervising a variety of student affairs functional areas including student life and campus engagement, student housing, new student orientation, student conduct, study abroad, leadership development, College 101, student success and retention, and co-curricular assessment.

Prior to coming to CIA, Dr. Smith began his career as a graduate Hall Director at John Carroll University before taking on the role of Residence Life Coordinator at the University of Akron after graduating from Kent State University with a Masters in Higher Education. A short time later, he went back to his Alma Mater, Baldwin Wallace University where he was an Area Coordinator before coming to CIA as the Director of Student Life + Housing. In 2020, he was promoted to Assistant Dean of Student Affairs.

Dr. Smith is a native Clevelander, a first-generation college student, and an avid believer in the power of the college experience. His dissertation titled,, "An investigation of the influence of being a Resident Assistant on college students' spiritual growth and development" sought to further the understanding that the activities and experiences that students have during their college experience drive the kind of adults they become. This, and similar lens are examples of what drives his passion for woking with students each day.