American Dream Achiever: Meet Karla Moore, Senior Director of Institutional Effectiveness

While we often celebrate the remarkable journeys of our Galen students, it’s important to remember that our dedicated faculty and staff also navigate and conquer personal challenges to realize their own goals and dreams.

The journey of Galen College of Nursing’s Senior Director of Institutional Effectiveness, Karla Moore, is truly inspiring. Arriving in the United States from Venezuela in 2002, she faced significant challenges—no local family, minimal English proficiency, and limited funds. Undeterred, she forged a new life, eventually leading her to a dream position at Galen. Now, she helps shape crucial institutional decisions to support student success on an enterprise scale, helping Galen continue to grow in every market and nationally.

“Karla is an integral member of Galen and has done an excellent job building the IE team,” Galen President and Chief Academic Officer Tracy Ortelli, PhD, RN, CNE, ANEF, FAAN said. “What I enjoy most about working with her is—everything! She is collaborative, smart, thoughtful, patient, persistent, responsive, and an effective problem solver.  Best of all, she’s a great culture fit with Galen and someone I enjoy knowing as a person.”

Moore grew up the oldest of three siblings to mom Rosa and dad Felix in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. Rosa was a surgeon and Jose was a veterinarian, so from a young age, Karla was already familiar with medical terminology. As she went through high school, she realized her future wasn’t in medicine, but something that could help within the healthcare industry – an engineering degree. Moore earned her bachelor’s degree from UNEXPO in Caracas, Venezuela before betting on herself and migrating to the U.S in March 2002.

Moore dedicated herself to mastering the English language, deliberately spending time with American students and peers from non-English, non-Spanish-speaking countries to improve her English-language skills.

“I can’t tell you how many headaches I’d have,” Moore said of trying to pick up English. “I knew how to read English, but if you talked to me or even asked me what my name was, I didn’t know what you were saying. When I first got in that class, everyone was talking but I didn’t know what they were saying. I was trying to translate for weeks. When you’re trying to translate word by word, if you are trying to translate a sentence and miss one word, you are lost.”

“But I was committed. I had a goal and when I have a goal, I go for it.”

After finishing her course, Moore decided to pursue graduate studies in the U.S. She took the GMAT, thinking she might go into an MBA program, but her results led her right into the computer science and engineering program at the University of Central Florida. She went on to earn a Master’s Degree in Industrial Engineering in 2004. UCF then sponsored the majority of her doctorate in Industrial Engineering, which she successfully completed in 2008.

When UCF faced budget cuts in 2010 due to the financial crisis recovery, Moore joined Daytona State College. She steadily climbed the ranks, becoming an associate professor, then Academic Assessment and Planning Dean, and finally Institutional Effectiveness and Assessment Dean in 2017.

With her two kids growing older, Moore was looking for a new opportunity that could provide better company values, culture, and work-life balance. At the same time, Galen was looking for an expert in the field who could help make the college more efficient and improve student outcomes.

“I started looking and the first job that came up was this position,” Moore said. “It was remote, it was about Institutional Effectiveness (IE), and I applied right away. Two days later, I get an email with an invitation for an interview. I did the first round, I think I did two more rounds, and was even interviewed by Mark [Vogt, CEO].

“Talking to him, I got everything I wanted to hear because I wanted to make sure what I did was meaningful, if I was going to be able to provide insights and see actions taken after that. I wanted to be part of something bigger. He assured me of that.”

Since joining Galen in 2022, Moore has expanded the Institutional Effectiveness (IE) team to nine full-time staff members. This team supports all 23 campuses and online programs by collecting and analyzing data through surveys and other research. The insights gleaned from this data are then presented to school leaders, providing evidence-based practices to inform institutional planning and academic decision-making.

One key area the IE team examines is NCLEX pass rates. While many of Galen’s campuses already surpass national and state averages, the team’s data and student feedback are crucial for further improvement. This can lead to enhanced student support or adjustments to course instruction, ultimately aiming to boost scores even higher.

Moore’s leadership on the IE team has had huge impact on her employees. “Karla is an absolute reflection of our iCare values,” Galen Data and Assessments Coordinator Joshua Hunt said. “Her compassion and support are big reasons why I feel so successful in my role. Karla creates an environment of value and respect, which directly correlates to my personal growth and strong intrateam relationships. Her ability to balance professionalism with genuine care that is unmatched, making her not only a strong leader, but a mentor and my friend.”

Moving forward, the IE team’s goal is to continually streamline processes to lead to the best result for students. This can include everything from the admissions process, through graduation and preparing students for the NCLEX.

Like her IE team, Moore addresses every challenge with the same mentality that she had when she first arrived in the U.S. 23 years ago.

“I had the opportunity to come to this country and learn English,” Moore said. “I can come for three months with the hopes to get a better job here, and well, you don’t just learn (English) in three months, I’m still learning 20 years later. This country gave me all the opportunities and opened doors, and I’m still here.”