Matt Imboden

Chief Student and Academic Services Officer

OFFICE: Farrell 219

Biography

Matt Imboden serves as Chief Student and Academic Services Officer at the Wake Forest University School of Business, providing strategic leadership for academic and student services across the School's undergraduate and graduate degree programs, including in-person, hybrid, and online learning environments. His work brings together academic advising, student development and engagement, academic policy, registrar and enrollment operations, and institutional planning to support a cohesive and effective student experience.

Having held progressively senior leadership roles within the School of Business since 2012, Imboden works closely with faculty, academic leaders, and administrative colleagues to align institutional strategy, organizational structures, and student support practices. With a professional foundation in student affairs, his approach emphasizes the essential relationship between students' academic and broader educational experiences. He maintains a particular interest in how academic organizations evolve to serve changing student populations, educational pathways, and institutional missions, and how thoughtful organizational design can help institutions respond to these changes while remaining grounded in their distinctive values and communities.

Beyond Wake Forest, Imboden is active in higher education professional associations, scholarship, and collaborative research. He served as national chair of NASPA's Administrators in Graduate and Professional Student Services Knowledge Community from 2020 to 2024 and has contributed to professional publications and educational programs focused on graduate student success, academic administration, and the evolving relationship between academic and student affairs.

Honors

2025 Outstanding Professional in Graduate and Professional Student Services Award, NASPA
2025 Research and Assessment Grant Recipient, NASPA Region III, Working Adult Graduate Student Well-Being and Success
2023-2024 Grant Recipient, Lilly Endowment Inc., through the Wake Forest University Program for Leadership and Character
2023 Promising Practices in Graduate and Professional Student Services Award, NASPA
2008 Graduate Assistant of the Year Award, Wake Forest University Residence Life and Housing
2006 John Allen Easley Award, Wake Forest University
2006 Joseph B. Currin Award, Wake Forest University
2005 Carswell Scholar Summer Research Grant, Wake Forest University
Academic and Leadership Honor Societies: Phi Beta Kappa, Omicron Delta Kappa, Sigma Tau Delta, Theta Alpha Kappa.

Research Interests

Holistic Student Experience and Institutional Integration
Graduate, Professional, and Post-Traditional Learner Success
Higher Education Organizational Design and Strategy
Student Needs Assessment and Experience Design
Academic Innovation and Evolving Educational Pathways
Academic Policy, Governance, and Institutional Effectiveness

Education

Master of Education (M.Ed.), University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Master of Arts (M.A.), Wake Forest University
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Wake Forest University

Publications

NASPA Leadership Exchange

Supporting Graduate and Professional Student Success

Imboden, M. , & Brandes, L. (2023)

A Practitioner's Guide to Supporting Graduate and Professional Students, Routledge

Graduate & Professional Students: Brief History, Background, and Definitions

Imboden, M. , & Kloepfer, M. (2022)

EvoLLLution

What Did COVID-19 Change About the Registrar's Role?

Imboden, M. (2022)

Advancing the Profession and Fostering Student Success in Accelerated Graduate Programs

Imboden, M. , & Horton, A. (2018)

New Directions for Student Leadership, Wiley

Building Moral Strength: Bridging the Moral Judgment-Action Gap

Sweeney, P. , Imboden, M. , & Hannah, S. (2015)