I am writing to express my interest in the position of AACRAO Nominations and Elections Committee member, and I am grateful for being nominated by Scott Campbell. I am inspired by AACRAO's vision of a community centered on learner success driven by professional excellence and leadership in enrollment and academic services. I am committed to advancing the mission of AACRAO to support a richly diverse, globally interconnected community of higher education professionals.
I am eager to contribute to the advancement of AACRAO's goals, including fostering a culture of innovation and scholarship, reimagining engagement and community, and leading strong advocacy coalitions. I share AACRAO's values of collaboration, innovation, inclusivity, inquiry, and integrity.
I highly value the importance of good governance for any organization and especially AACRAO. As a past president of NEACRAO, I understand the challenge and necessity of developing the next generations of leaders. The Nominations and Elections Committee not only ensures continuity of organizational leadership, it strives to make sure AACRAO leadership is representative of its members and accessible to anyone with the commitment and talent to make an impact in our field and our organization.
After another inspiring and rejuvenating annual meeting, I am eager to contribute to the continued success of this wonderful association. I consider my AACRAO colleagues, and all that the association has to offer, to be our greatest resource in this professional career. I want to serve the organization that has served me so well for nearly 20 years. I am ready to work on behalf of AACRAO, our profession, and our wonderful colleagues. Thank you for considering my nomination.
As an active member of AACRAO and state/regional associations, I am honored to accept my nomination for Vice President for Finance on the AACRAO Board.
My service has focused on fiduciary compliance and well-being. My experience and understanding of legal responsibilities ensure compliance with state and federal laws, preparing me well for the role of Vice President for Finance.
Currently, I am Treasurer-Elect for PACRAO and entering my third year as chair of the AACRAO Student Access & Equity Committee. I also serve on the College & University editorial board, reviewing submissions. Additionally, I have presented at the past two annual meetings on LGBTQIA+ issues and am a member of the LGBTQIA+ and Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Caucuses. I established the Hawai’i AACRAO (HIACRAO) and am eager to contribute to AACRAO's strategic goals.
Previously, I served as treasurer for CAPACRAO from 2015-2017, managing funds, ensuring timely bill payments, and preparing financial reports. I addressed missing tax filings and secured 501(c) non-profit status, recognized with the Emerging Leaders Award in 2016.
From Fall 2020 to Fall 2023, I served on PACRAO’s audit committee. Although this role was a two-year term, I extended my service for a third year. Initially serving as the committee’s secretary, I later reviewed financial practices and prepared audit reports with recommendations for the Executive Board, presenting them at annual meetings.
As Treasurer-Elect for PACRAO, I work closely with the treasurer during their final year, gaining insights into the role's responsibilities. I also developed and proposed the 2024-2025 fiscal year budget to the executive board.
Thank you for considering my nomination. I am humbled by the possibility of representing our AAPI and LGBTQIA+ members on the AACRAO Board.
Elijah Hopkins is a member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate from the Lake Traverse Reservation in South Dakota. He lives with his wife Samantha in Poplar, Montana on the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Reservation where he raises his eight-year-old daughter, six-year-old son, and four-year-old daughter. For the past ten years, Elijah has worked at Fort Peck Community College as the Vice President for Student Services. His passions include the cultural arts of the Nakoda/Dakota people. Elijah is also a part-time Dakota Language instructor at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Campus.
After receiving an AA in Business Administration from Fort Peck Community College, Elijah transferred to the University of Montana-Northern where he received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. He later received an MBA from the University of Mary, ND. Elijah is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Montana for Educational Leadership with a concentration in Higher Education.
Tyler Guenette, Ed.D., worked at the University of Michigan-Dearborn for more than eight years supporting the 100 percent-commuter population through his work in the areas of student success, student life, and student basic needs support. After finishing his doctoral work at Johns Hopkins University, he started a new role as Chief of Staff with the Michigan College Access Network, a statewide nonprofit dedicated to facilitating systems-level change to increase college attainment rates for Michiganders, particularly for low-income students, first-generation college students, and students of color.
Factors Affecting Transfer Commuter Student Persistence: A Literature Review
Barry Pollack is a former federal prosecutor and has practiced law since 1992, primarily in New York and Boston, and at his firm, Pollack Solomon Duffy LLP since 2013. He received a master’s in public health degree from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in August 2024, and is enrolled in a Ph.D. program at the University of Kentucky in studies in higher education, with a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Inclusive Opportunities in Medical School Admissions Can Benefit Medically Underserved Areas
Joe Vainner is Director of Admissions at the University of Michigan-Flint. He has previously served in admissions positions at Eastern Michigan University and Cleveland State University, with additional experience at Sarah Lawrence College and Concordia College (New York). He holds a B.A. in English from Cleveland State University, an M.A. in educational leadership from Eastern Michigan University, and an M.F.A. in creative writing from Sarah Lawrence College.
Champions for Access: How Ten Michigan Public Universities United to Assure Admissions
Mia Murphy is Chief Policy Officer of the Michigan Association of State Universities and Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Educational Administration at Michigan State University (MSU). Her research focuses on state governance of public universities and how constitutional autonomy for universities affects higher education policymaking. She earned a B.A. in political science and in history from MSU and an M.A. in international relations from the University of Chicago.
Shane Lewis is the Director of Admissions at Oakland University (OU) in Rochester, Michigan. Prior to his time at OU, he also served in the Office of Admissions at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio. Lewis received his Bachelor of Science in journalism from Bowling Green State University, and his Master of Education in higher education leadership from Oakland University.
Janna L. Oakes, M.A., Ph.D., is Vice President of Institutional Effectiveness at Rocky Vista University. An experienced, versatile higher education practitioner with an in-depth understanding of faculty and student needs, Dr. Oakes has proven expertise in instruction, leadership, team building, fiscal and strategic planning, budget management, personnel supervision, accreditation, federal compliance, and higher education administration. She is a values-oriented educator with 29 years’ experience working with college populations including undergraduate, graduate, and executive-level professional students. Her background includes experience as a faculty member, department chair, dean, executive leader.
Her experience as a Peer Reviewer and Federal Compliance Reviewer for the Higher Learning Commission and as an experienced Accreditation Liaison Officer have informed her success as a higher education consultant in instructional quality, funded research, shared governance, assessment, curriculum development, educational innovation, institutional sustainability, and collaboration. She has a solid track record of excellence in instruction, including curricular review and development, professional training, academic programs, executive leadership programs, student learning assessment, various instructional delivery modes and as a consultant in the areas of leadership development and strategic planning. Her diverse skills, experience, and MBTI® certification offer a well-rounded perspective to daily challenges and difficult decisions.
Dr. Oakes has a proven background in instruction, including curricular review and development, professional training, academic programs, executive leadership programs, student learning assessment, institutional effectiveness assessment, online learning, blended delivery models, and traditional instruction. As an instructor, she consistently earns exemplary student evaluations.
Sarah K. Croucher, Ph.D., is Assistant Vice Provost for Academic Affairs at the University of Connecticut. Croucher drives a number of key policy initiatives on behalf of the provost and provost’s leadership team. She is the institutional Accreditation Liaison Officer and serves as the lead on academic policy and by-law interpretation. Croucher manages the Faculty Consulting Office, manages and coordinates the university accreditation cycle, and supports activities such as faculty development and retention initiatives, assessment of learning outcomes, use of student success data, academic travel, and issues relating to policy revisions and audit and compliance within academic affairs. She is a member of the core leadership team for the Life Transformative Education (LTE) initiative and works on a range of projects in this capacity.
Croucher’s roles prior to UConn span public policy and academia, including several years as executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Connecticut and eight years as an assistant professor of anthropology, archaeology, and feminist, gender, and sexuality studies at Wesleyan University. She is the author of several books, book chapters, and journal articles; these include Capitalism and Cloves: An Archaeology of Plantation Life on Nineteenth-Century Zanzibar (2015, Springer / Society for Historical Archaeology) and The Alderley Sandhills Project: An Archaeology of Community Life in (Post)-Industrial England (with Eleanor Casella, 2010, Manchester University Press).
Sarah received her BA, MA, and PhD in archaeology from the University of Manchester (UK) and is completing an MPA at UConn.
aci Casazza, M.A., is Northwestern University’s Assistant Provost and University Registrar. Casazza has served in similar roles at decentralized, research-intensive universities for more than 20 years and is an active member of AACRAO and the AAU registrar’s board of directors. Under her leadership, the Northwestern registrars’ offices have become a network of trusted campus partners, developing the deep institutional collaborations necessary to solve student and faculty problems and facilitate change. Casazza earned a B.A. in English as a first-generation, lower-income college student, an experience that inspires her work on college affordability, access, and inclusion beyond the point of admission. She and her teams strive to identify and remove institutional barriers impeding the success of all students, particularly those for whom university life is new or traditionally unwelcoming.
Adamski is the Registrar/Director of Enrollment Services at Macomb Community College. During her 11 years at Macomb, she has also served as both the Director and the Manager of Admissions & Outreach. She has worked in higher education for over nineteen years in Alumni Relations, as well as Admissions and Advising areas at her previous institutions - Adrian College, Davenport University and Siena Heights University. Adamski holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from Adrian College and a Master of Science in Communication from Illinois State University.
2024 SEM-EP Graduate
Capstone:
Literature Review on the impact of new student orientation on student persistence and recommendations to improve student persistence
Deb Hether serves as the Director of Enrollment Services at Western Technical College in La Crosse, WI. In this role, she is instrumental in the development of enrollment strategies and processes that support both recruitment and retention. Areas of oversight include Admissions and Recruitment, Financial Aid and Emergency Funding, Welcome Center, K-12 Partnerships and Dual Credit, Credit for Prior Learning, Transfer Credit Evaluation, Records and Registration, Regional Locations, and the Customer Relationship Management System.
Capstone: SEM Plan for Western Technical College
Capstone: Literature Review on Student Retention and Strategic Enrollment Management
Lorie Coachman is a first-generation higher education administrator and strategic leader. As Associate Vice President of Admissions and Enrollment Services at Seminole State College of Florida, she offers visionary leadership and oversees multiple key units including Enrollment management intake strategies, Admissions, Recruitment, Orientation, and International Student Services. With nearly fifteen years of extensive experience in post-secondary education, Mrs. Coachman excels in developing and implementing educational programs and support services. Her professional journey includes pivotal roles in admissions, enrollment services, student affairs, and academic support services at Valencia College, the University of South Carolina, Texas A&M University, the University of Texas-Arlington, and Florida International University.
Lorie earned her bachelor's degree and a master’s degree in Higher Education Administration with a graduate certification in Conflict Resolution and Consensus Building from Florida International University. She is currently pursuing a Doctor of Education degree in Education Systems Improvement at the University of South Carolina (2024 Undefeated NCAA Women’s Basketball National Champions- Go Gamecocks!)
Lorie is a passionate advocate for higher education and believes in its ability to change lives. As a first-generation college graduate, she has experienced firsthand the transformative power of education she is committed to breaking down barriers and creating space for others to experience educational access. She is driven by a desire to make a positive impact on the world and empower others to do the same.
In her free time, Lorie enjoys spending time with her husband, daughter, and two cockapoo pups exploring festivals, Disney/theme parks, sporting events, food truck rallies, and engaging with their local church.