Holly Smith

Dr. Holly Smith is the Executive Director and Vice President of Apprenticeship Degree Design at the National Center for the Apprenticeship Degree (NCAD), an initiative of Reach University. She is a dedicated higher education and workforce leader who believes community colleges are where transformation happens — not just for students but for entire communities.

At NCAD, Dr. Smith leads the design and national expansion of Apprenticeship Degree pathways — degree programs intentionally built with work as part of the curriculum, co-designed with employers so that workplace learning and academic instruction function as a single, integrated system. She partners with colleges, employers, and state agencies across multiple states and sectors to advance programs that are affordable, based in the workplace, and render credit for on-the-job learning.

Prior to NCAD, Dr. Smith built nearly two decades of progressive community college leadership across Arkansas. She served as Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville and at Arkansas State University–Newport, as Vice President for Learning at South Arkansas Community College, and as Division Chair at Ozarka College. Across these roles, she served as accreditation liaison, led the addition of new campuses and programs to expand degree and workforce training access in rural communities, and aligned offerings to build and strengthen high-demand workforce pipelines. She led her colleges in the design and implementation of compressed four- and eight-week scheduling models that increased course completion and persistence for working adults and first-generation learners, and expanded access through flexible instructional design, work-based learning, and in the expansion of correctional education as a federal Second Chance Pell pilot site, strengthening reentry employment and reducing recidivism.

Dr. Smith earned a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership and an Educational Specialist degree in Community College Teaching & Administration, from Arkansas State University. A product of rural Arkansas, she remains driven by the conviction that education should open doors for those navigating the steepest barriers. She resides in Cave City, Arkansas.