Dr. Loleta D. Sartin

Education

• Ph.D., Higher Education Administration, Saint Louis University
• M.Ed., Elementary Education with Gifted Education concentration, Drury University
• B.A., Elementary Education (Grades 1–8) – Southern University at New Orleans

Dr. Loleta D. Sartin is a professor in the College of Professional Advancement at Mercer University, where she brings more than 25 years of experience in faculty and administrative roles across public and private higher education institutions. Her expertise includes interdisciplinary curriculum development, educator preparation, strategic planning, accreditation, enrollment growth, institutional effectiveness, and adult learner success. She has taught undergraduate and graduate courses, mentored students through theses and dissertations.

Dr. Sartin most recently served as Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives in Mercer’s Tift College of Education. In this role, she oversaw accreditation processes, assessment initiatives, strategic enrollment partnerships, and efforts to advance institutional effectiveness and student success, areas that remain central to her current work in COPA.

Prior to joining Mercer, Dr. Sartin served as Associate Dean of the School of Education and Behavioral Sciences and Chair of the Department of Teacher Education and Social Work at Middle Georgia State University (MGA), a multi-campus institution within the University System of Georgia. A founding faculty member of the School of Education at Macon State College (now MGA), she played a pivotal role in designing and launching its educator preparation programs with an emphasis on community partnership and access.

Her career in education began as a fourth-grade teacher in New Orleans Public Schools. She later served as Director of the Developmental School Program at Drury University in Springfield, Missouri, where she coordinated a nationally recognized partnership between the university, local school district, and the Yale University Child Study Center, merging academic research with applied teaching and community support.

Dr. Sartin has extensive experience securing and managing federal, state, and philanthropic grants. She recently served as Principal Investigator on a $9.1 million U.S. Department of Education SEED Grant, focusing on strengthening teacher and leader recruitment, preparation, and retention in high-need areas. Her work led to a 49% year-over-year increase in enrollment in targeted programs and has informed best practices for expanding workforce-ready academic pathways.

A core strength of Dr. Sartin’s leadership is her ability to build and sustain strategic partnerships across sectors, including school districts, universities, nonprofits, and industry. These collaborations have expanded access to education, improved student outcomes, and helped shape programs that align with evolving workforce demands, making her contributions especially relevant to COPA’s mission of serving adult and professional learners through flexible, interdisciplinary programs.

She serves as a SACSCOC reviewer and currently chairs site visit teams for the Georgia Professional Standards Commission, helping ensure that educator preparation programs meet and exceed state and institutional standards. She was also appointed to the Commission’s Evaluation Review Panel, a ten-member advisory group that reviews program quality and makes formal recommendations to the Educator Preparation and Certification Committee. She is a frequent presenter at national conferences, where she shares scholarship on university-community partnerships, inclusive academic pathways, interdisciplinary leadership, and applied strategies that strengthen curriculum design, faculty development, and adult learner success. Her research and leadership consistently focus on expanding educational opportunity, strengthening applied learning models, and developing programs that help learners succeed in professional settings.

Beyond her institutional roles, Dr. Sartin is a trustee of an independent 6 through 12 school and serves on advisory committees for public school districts. Her board service also includes state, regional, and national organizations such as the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE), where she currently serves on the Executive Committee and contributes to national conversations on educator preparation, policy advocacy, and applied innovation.
In addition to her academic work, Dr. Sartin is active in faith-based and community service.

Licensure

Elementary Education (Georgia)

Courses taught

• Dissertation
• The Home, School, and Community
• Designing Interdisciplinary Curriculum
• Teaching Effective Literacy Methods
• Advanced Assessment

Areas of specialization

• Higher Education Leadership & Institutional Effectiveness
• Interdisciplinary Curriculum Development
• Accreditation and Assessment Systems
• Strategic Planning
• Innovation in Educator and Workforce Pathways
• Community-Engaged and Access-Focused Program Design

Leadership positions in the profession/discipline

• American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education
  Board of Directors (2022-present)
  Executive Committee (2024-present)
• Southeastern Association of School-University Partnerships
  Board of Directors (2023-present)
• Georgia Association of Colleges for Teacher Education
  External Relations and Outreach Co-Chair
  Board of Directors (2019-present)
• Mount de Sales Academy
  Marketing Development and Outreach Committee Chair
  Board of Directors (2022-present)
• Georgia Professional Standards Commission
  Education Review Panel
• Georgia Professional Standards Commission
  Site Reviewer (Chair)
• Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges
  Academic Peer Evaluator

Research or professional interests

• Strengthening post-traditional student success frameworks
• Building sustainable educator pipelines through district-university partnerships
• Blended and braided funding strategies to expand access
• Data-informed leadership practices for continuous improvement
• Developing cross-sector partnerships across higher education, nonprofits, and workforce systems

Recent publications

Sartin, L.D. & Hixon, S. L. (Eds.). (2024). Minority-serving teacher preparation programs working effectively with minority-serving school districts: How do innovations facilitate a more diverse teacher pipeline and success for all P-12 students? (Special issue). School University Partnerships Journal.

Hixon, S., Sartin, L.D., Fisher-Ari, T.R., & Martin, A.E. (2024). Disruptive disposition: attitudes for justice-seeking partnerships. School University Partnership Journal.

Hixon, S.L., Sartin, L.D., Fisher-Ari, T.R. & Martin, A.E., Feinberg, J., Hill-Jackson, V., Snider, K., Rivers, J., Warner, S., & Casale, C. (2024). Voices for change. School University Partnership Journal.

Moore, D.D. & Sartin, L.D. (2021). WOW them and show them how exciting social studies can be: Exploring a self-sustaining social studies summer camp for young learners led by teacher candidates, The Social Studies, 112:6, 322-331.

Sartin, L.D. (2016). University-school partnerships: Voices from the field. GATEways to teacher education, 27(1), 39-46.

Awards or recognitions

Sartin, L.D., Mitchell, S.N., Hixon, S.L., Yerby, J., Walker, N.J., Anderson, C., & Wofford, T. (2022). Georgia educators networking to revolutionize and transform education. U.S. Department of Education: Supporting Effective Educator Development. Award amount: $9,146,060.00

Contact Dr. Sartin

478.301.5398
sartin_ld@mercer.edu
Stetson 160
Macon Campus