Lee Rakes, PhD

Position Responsibilities

As Senior Director of Educational Affairs at Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine (VTCSOM), Dr. Lee Rakes facilitates collaboration and drives operational improvements across diverse, cross-functional teams. He assesses strategic and operational needs for ongoing educational initiatives, provides direction and planning support, and helps shape the long-term strategy for VTCSOM’s education mission. Dr. Rakes serves on the Medical Education Leadership Team and the Accreditation Leadership Team, and advises both Phase Integration Committee 1 and Phase Integration Committee 2/3.

Professional Background

Dr. Rakes served for more than a decade as Director of Institutional Effectiveness and SACSCOC accreditation liaison at the Virginia Military Institute, where he led the Office of Assessment and Institutional Research. In this role, he oversaw state and federal reporting, managed institutional data systems, coordinated strategic planning, and advised senior leadership on policy and resource allocation. He also represented VMI on the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia’s Policy Implementation Group, contributing to statewide assessment and accountability initiatives.

A seasoned higher education administrator, Dr. Rakes has extensive experience in accreditation management, institutional planning, data governance, and organizational improvement, advancing transparency, effectiveness, and innovation across academic and administrative units. He is also a Past President of the Virginia Assessment Group.

Dr. Rakes has presented at numerous professional conferences, including those hosted by the Virginia Assessment Group, the American Educational Research Association, the Society for the Study of Motivation, and the Conference on Higher Education Pedagogy. His research has been published in Frontiers in Psychology, the Journal of Teaching and Learning with Technology, and the International Journal of Psychology.

Research Interests

• Student motivation and cognition
• Professional development
• Survey design and data analysis in higher education

Education and Training

• PhD, Curriculum and Instruction (Educational Psychology), Virginia Tech
• MSEd., Health Promotion, Virginia Tech
• Bachelor’s, Psychology, Virginia Tech