Dr. Nancy Shankle was named Associate Vice Chancellor and Provost of the RELLIS Academic Alliance in August 2019. As Provost, she has strengthened partnerships with Academic Alliance university partners and Blinn College District, expanded degree offerings and student support services, and brought in a new university partner, Stephen F. Austin State University.

Dr. Shankle earned a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in English from Texas A&M University-Commerce. She received a Doctor of Philosophy degree in English from Texas A&M University, College Station. Her previous academic administration positions include serving as Chair of the Department of English, Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Executive Director of the Adams Center for Teaching Excellence, and Assistant Provost for General Education at Abilene Christian University; Associate Provost and Interim Dean of Graduate Studies and Research at Texas A&M-University-Texarkana; and Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at LSU-Shreveport.
In addition to numerous awards for teaching excellence, Dr. Shankle has published on linguistics and grammar anxiety and edited The Transforming Word. She has also presented at international, national, and regional conferences on accreditation, assessment, and American literature. In 2011, Dr. Shankle was awarded the Frances Hernandez Award for Excellence in Teaching, Scholarship, and Service by the Conference of College Teachers of English. Dr. Shankle was named Administrator of the Year at Texas A&M University-Texarkana in 2016.

In 2018, Dr. Shankle was appointed to the national board for Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE). She has also served on reaffirmation committees for Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC).