Diane DeBacker

Diane M. DeBacker, EdD, serves as the Assistant Vice Provost for Jayhawk Flex overseeing the program development of competency-based education at the University of Kansas. Dr. DeBacker began her tenure at the University of Kansas in 2021 when she was named the Founding Director of the Center for Certification and Competency-Based Education, C3Be, a research center within the Achievement and Assessment Institute. She continues to serve in this role in addition to that of Assistant Vice Provost of Jayhawk Flex..

Dr. DeBacker’s passion for education has taken her from her first high school classroom in Manhattan, Kansas, to advising the education system in Abu Dhabi of the United Arab Emirates, to Chief Academic Officer in Seattle Public Schools, to serving as Commissioner of Education for the state of Kansas, and as Executive Director of Business and Education Innovation for the Kansas Department of Commerce. In her 38 plus years in education, DeBacker has provided clarity to complex education issues including state education governance structures, school finance, federal education legislation, education policy, and workforce development and training.