Current Award Recipient

Faculty Champion Award

Cherie Pierce Lynch, Endicott College

Cherie Pierce Lynch is an educator focused on quality, pedagogy, and innovation in work-integrated learning. She serves as Vice President for Research & Surveys with the Cooperative Education and Internship Association (CEIA) and is an Assistant Professor of
Experiential Learning at Endicott College.

With more than fifteen years of experience in higher education and organizational development, Cherie leads CEIA initiatives connecting research and practice. She led toolkit development and leveled rubrics for Phase 2 of the Professional Competencies Project and facilitates the Research-to-Practice Webinar Series, engaging the US WIL community with international researchers and data-informed practice. Her work focuses on creating standards that support program quality across the field. Cherie has served as faculty for CEIA Academy in Vail and CEIA Academy on the Road at Endicott College.

At Endicott, she teaches within the School of Social Sciences, Communication, & Humanities’ Communication Division, leading a multi-year internship curriculum. Her work emphasizes equitable, evidence-based systems linking curriculum, assessment, and technology.

Cherie explores competency-based assessment, equity, and the role of emerging
technologies—including artificial intelligence—in enhancing quality and scalability in experiential learning. She is currently working with a team to analyze datasets exploring AI’s role in early professional jobs, internships, and the search process. She has presented nationally and internationally on curriculum design, assessment, and data-informed practice, including sessions at the WACE Research Symposium in Graz, the Society for Experiential Education National Conference in St. Petersburg, and CEIA National Conferences in Boston and Tampa.

She holds an Ed.M. in Higher Education Administration from Boston University and completed professional certification programs with Kay Peterson and David Kolb at the Institute for Experiential Learning as well as with the National Career Development Association (NCDA) and the Experiential Education Academy (SEE).