Lesley Wirt

Bio

Dr. Wirt serves as the Associate Director of Principal Preparation at NC State University. She earned her undergraduate degrees in psychology and early childhood education from James Madison University in VA. She taught elementary school for two years in VA. She then decided to work in higher education and received both her master and doctoral degrees in Higher Education Administration from NC State University. She has worked at NC State University and Edgecombe Community College recruiting prospective students, advising new and current students, tracking student achievement, planning programs, and enhancing student retention and success. She also assists with grant writing and managing budgets. She greatly enjoys working with the Master of School Administration (MSA) Leadership Academies’ students, faculty, staff, and stakeholders.

Selected Scholarly Publications

• Fusarelli, B.C., Fusarelli, L., & Wirt, L.G. (2019). NC State University’s Leadership Academies. A $3,750,000 million five-year grant awarded by NC Principal Fellows Program, Raleigh, NC.
• Fusarelli, B.C., Fusarelli, L., & Wirt, L.G. (2019). NC State University’s NC Principal Fellows Program (NCPFP/TP3) Grants Renewal Application . A $2,369,767 million two-year grant awarded by NC Alliance for School Leadership Development (NCASLD), Transforming Principal Preparation in North Carolina (TP3) and the NC Principal Fellows Program, Raleigh, NC.
• Fusarelli, B., Fusarelli, L., & Wirt, L. (2018). Developing and sustaining school-university-community collaborative partnerships to develop school leaders in rural areas. In R. M. Reardon and J. Leonard (Eds.), *Innovation and implementation in rural places; School-university-community collaboration in education* (pp. 3-28). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, Inc.
• Fusarelli, B., Wirt, L., Smith, B., & Fusarelli, L. (2017, January). School leadership development for digital leaders in high-need rural schools. Presented at the 15th Annual Hawaii International Conference on Education, Honolulu, Hawaii.
• Fusarelli, B.C., Fusarelli, L., & Wirt, L.G. (2016). NC State University’s The Innovation Project (TIP) Leadership Academy [renamed North Carolina Leadership Academy (NCLA)]. A $3,771,725 million four-year grant awarded by NC Alliance for School Leadership Development: Supporting Excellence in Leadership, Raleigh, NC.
• Fusarelli, B.C., Fusarelli, L., & Wirt, L.G. (2016). NC State University’s Durham Leadership Academy (DPLA). A $1 million two-year grant awarded by NC Alliance for School Leadership Development: Supporting Excellence in Leadership, Raleigh, NC.
• Fusarelli, B.C., Fusarelli, L., & Wirt, L.G. (2016). NC State University’s Proposal for The Wallace Foundation University Principal Preparation Initiative. A $5.6 million four-year grant awarded by The Wallace Foundation, New York City, NY.
• Fusarelli, B.C., Fusarelli, L., & Wirt, L.G. (2014). The Northeast Leadership Academy-District and School Transformation’s (NELA-DST) Pipeline for Developing, Incentivizing, and Sustaining Effective Turnaround Leaders for Rural High-Need Schools. A $2 million three-year grant awarded by Turnaround School Leaders Program, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC.
• Fusarelli, B.C., Militello, M.C., & Wirt, L.G. (2014). Winning Proposal for the University Council of Educational Administration Exemplary Program Award, Charlottesville, VA.
• Wirt, L.G. & Jaeger, A.J. (2014). Seeking to understand faculty-student interaction at community colleges. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 38(10), 980-994.
• Fusarelli, B.C., Fusarelli, L., & Wirt, L.G. (2013). The Northeast Leadership Academy 2.0: Developing and sustaining effective leaders for high-­‐need rural schools. A $4.7 million five-year grant awarded by School Leadership Program, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC.
• Militello, M.C., Fusarelli, B.C., & Wirt, L.G. (2013). Proposal for the University Council of Educational Administration Exemplary Program Award, Charlottesville, VA.
• Wirt, L.G. (2012). Reviewer for Association for the Study of Higher Education annual meeting, Las Vegas, NV.
• Wirt, L.G. (2011, November). Exploring predictors of faculty-student interaction for community college students. Paper presented at the meeting of the Association for the Study of Higher Education, Charlotte, NC.
• Wirt, L.G. (2010). Exploring predictors of faculty-student interaction for community college students (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/resolver/1840.16/6228
• Jaeger, A.J., Eagan, M.K., & Wirt, L.G. (2008). Retaining students in science, math, and engineering majors: Rediscovering cooperative education. Journal of Cooperative Education and Internships, 42, 20-32.
• Grieco, L. F. (2004). Cooperative education and retention: A study among science, math, and engineering students (Master’s thesis). Retrieved from http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/resolver/1840.16/2036
• Venditti, R., Grieco, L., Jameel, H., Byrd, M. (2001). Performing inquiry based exploration: An example in using agricultural waste & wastepaper to produce new products. A $66,600 three-year grant awarded by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, Research Triangle Park, NC.
• Research team member – worked closely with a developmental psychologist and a graduate student. Conducted and coded the quality of parent-child interactions, 1997 – 1998

Honors and Awards

• NCSU Award for Excellence Winner, 2017
• NCSU College of Education Award for Excellence Winner, 2017
• NCSU College of Education Pride of the Wolfpack Award Winner, 2014, 2015
• NCSU College of Education Award for Excellence Nominee, 2013, 2015