Thad Nodine, a novelist and writer specializing in education policy, is working with the Network to help document, share, and support innovative efforts to improve student readiness for and success in higher education. For 20 years, Thad has partnered with researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to advance policies and practices that can help more students, particularly low-income students, attain higher levels of education. He has published extensively about K-12 efforts to improve readiness for college and careers, and college efforts to increase student completion and success. Thad has direct experience with federal, state, and local government—as a speech writer for former U.S. Senator Lawton Chiles, a journalist covering education issues in the Colorado General Assembly, and a trustee of Santa Cruz City Schools in California. He has been communications director of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education; vice president of the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education; and managing editor of online and print publications, including Measuring Up: The State-by-State Report Card for Higher Education. He has taught writing in community colleges and universities. His debut novel, Touch and Go, won the Dana Award for Fiction. Thad has a Ph.D. in literature from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a B.A. in government from Oberlin College.