He was the first in his family to attend college — enrolling at Indiana University of Pennsylvania where he became an active student leader and earned a B.S. in Management Information Systems with a minor in accounting.
After two years working as an accountant in the Philadelphia suburbs, he made a deliberate turn back toward higher education. He returned to IUP for a master’s degree in Student Affairs in Higher Education, then went to Bowling Green State University for a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration with a cognate in Organizational Development.
That OD foundation shapes everything about how he consults. Bailey doesn’t just identify what’s broken — he’s trained to understand why organizations behave the way they do, and what it actually takes to change them.
He’s served students at regional public universities and Research 1 institutions. He’s been the SSAO navigating budget cycles, leadership transitions, campus crises, and the chronic pressure of doing more with less. When he reviews a division, he’s not reading the org chart from the outside — he’s been at the top of one.
Bowling Green State University
Cognate: Organizational Development
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Minor: Accounting
For the past decade or so, colleagues began calling Bailey to do what he’d been doing informally for years: take a close, honest look at a division and tell the leader what he saw.
Those early engagements were typically at the request of first-time SSAOs — capable people who needed an outsider’s read on their organizations before making changes they’d already been thinking about. BaileyK Consulting is the offer to the field: if you’re a senior student affairs leader who needs a trusted outside perspective, Bailey can provide that.
