Shawna Herwick

Associate Vice President, Accreditation and Strategic Initiatives

Shawna Herwick serves as Associate Vice President for Accreditation and Strategic Initiatives at Southeast Community College, where she provides leadership for institutional accreditation, strategic and operational planning, and strategic initiatives that advance the College’s mission and priorities. She also serves as SCC’s Accreditation Liaison Officer to the Higher Learning Commission and works collaboratively across the College to strengthen institutional effectiveness, continuous improvement, and student success. 

Shawna has played a central role in the development and implementation of SCC’s strategic plans, including the College’s current 2025–2030 Strategic Plan, Empowering Excellence. Her work brings together people from across the institution to turn long-term priorities into action, strengthen the use of data in decision making, and connect planning with the day-to-day work of the College.  

Shawna is an active contributor to the higher education accreditation and planning community. She serves as a peer reviewer for the Higher Learning Commission and regularly presents and facilitates workshops on accreditation, strategic planning, and institutional improvement. 

As a first-generation college graduate, Shawna has a deep commitment to the mission of community colleges. She began her career at SCC as an intern in the TRIO/Student Support Services program and served in several roles before leaving SCC for a faculty position. During her time away, she discovered a passion for accreditation, planning, and institutional improvement. She returned to SCC in 2016, bringing those experiences back to the institution where her career began and finding great fulfillment in advancing SCC’s open access mission and strengthening its impact on students and communities. 

Shawna holds a master’s degree in Social Work with an emphasis in administration from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. She and her husband, Caleb, live on an acreage outside Lincoln with their two dogs.