Tara P. Nicola is a doctoral candidate at Harvard University. Her research focuses on issues concerning access, choice, and equity in higher education, especially in relation to the college admissions process.
It’s Time that Colleges Invest in their Undergraduate Admissions Staff
Rethinking Recommendation Letters: A Critical Tool in Holistic Admission
Rocky Christensen, Ph.D., is the Director of Financial Aid at Johnson University in Knoxville, TN. Christensen has been in higher education for almost twelve years. He previously served as the executive director of Admissions and then director of financial aid at Central Christian College of the Bible where he began to see the importance of working collaboratively within a SEM framework. Christensen completed his Ph.D. in higher education leadership from the University of Missouri. He earned his masters of arts from Biola University, his masters in public affairs from the University of Missouri, his graduate certificate in educational policy, his graduate certificate in clinical bioethics from the Medical College of Wisconsin, his bachelor’s in theology from Ozark Christian College, and his bachelor’s of biblical leadership from Ozark Christian College. Christensen earned the SEM Endorsement Badge through AACRAO and is a Certified Financial Aid Administrator through NASFAA. His current research interests are centered around the role of financial aid in SEM, college pricing, and tuition discounting implications for greater net revenue and enrollment. In his current role, he is passionate about partnering with students and families to promote access to and afford the educational training each student is passionate about.
The Financial Aid Office as an Essential Strategic Partner in SEM
Luca Lantero is the Director General of CIMEA, the Italian Information Center on Academic Mobility and Equivalence. He is one of the leading experts at the Italian and international levels on higher education, bogus diplomas, and accreditation mills, foreign higher education systems degrees, TNE institutions and accreditation, digitalization of processes and blockchain technology applied to recognition. From 2018 and 2020 he was the Head of the Bologna Follow-Up Group (BFUG) Secretariat of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). Since 2019 he has been the President of the Lisbon Recognition Convention Committee and the current Head of the ASEM Education Secretariat. In 2022 he was elected member of the Bureau of the Ethics, Transparency, and Integrity (ETINED) platform of the Council of Europe.
Jelger de Boer has been active in the Groningen Declaration Network since 2016. He was chair of the GDN taskforce on cross border enrollment verification before becoming a director of the board in 2019. He started his tenure as President of the Board of Directors in October 2022.
Jelger has been working for DUO since 2005. DUO is the Dutch executive agency for the department of education and handles government funding of both students and institutions in the Netherlands. He is currently the account manager of the national student database that holds record of every student in the Netherlands from primary education to Higher education. DUO is one of the founders of GDN and very much focused on learner centricity by giving students access to their own data.
Jelger has studied Law at the Hanze university of Applied Science in Groningen, the Netherlands with a specialization in Government Law and policy, graduating in 2015.
Dr. Cristobal Salinas Jr. is an associate professor in the College of Education at Florida Atlantic University. He is also the founder and editor-in-chief of the Journal Committed to Social Change on Race and Ethnicity. He’s published more than 70 manuscripts in print, including 6 books, and has delivered over 250 presentations and lectures. His prolific writing and research has illuminated the importance of understanding and addressing Latino/a/x student identity and development, and made Salinas sought after by media outlets such as CNN, NBC News, NPR, Telemundo, National Review, Chemistry World, Good Morning America, and the Chronicle in Higher Education. The New York Times said his research is “futuristic,” and Diverse Issues in Higher Education said, “Salinas’ a rising star in academe, [and] An expert on Latinx students in college,” in their special issue where he was named one of the top 15 scholars of the year. A distinguished scholar and advocate, Salinas has been awarded over 30 international and national awards for his commitment to social justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Renise serves as the assistant director of systems innovation for the CWDC Office. Serving as an active leader for the CWDC Office, Renise represents the CWDC Office at state and national conferences and continues to innovate and be a thought leader in the talent development landscape in Colorado and nationally. She is responsible for critical relationship development with external partners and provides management and alignment of CWDC's efforts to lead and support industry-led networks, develop and strengthen career pathway systems, and implement stimulus-funded initiatives in support of Colorado's economic recovery.
Prior to joining the CWDC in 2015, Renise led the backbone efforts of a collective impact initiative working to advance affordable housing, workforce development, and economic mobility for underserved populations in the nation’s capital. Walker believes strongly that enacting large-scale social challenges requires a willingness to innovate, break down silos, and collaborate across traditional boundaries. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Colorado College and a master’s in public administration from the University of Colorado Denver School of Public Affairs. As a proud third-generation Coloradan, Renise cares deeply about the future of Colorado and creating and sustaining opportunities for Colorado residents.
Sean Murphy is a Director on the Opportunity team at Walmart.org, where he supports Walmart’s philanthropic efforts in developing the infrastructure needed to empower the development of a skill-based workforce system, which will enable all learning to count. In doing so, his work has led to Walmart investments in efforts such as the U.S. Chambers T3 Network, AACRAO, WGU’s Open Skills Network, among others. Before joining Walmart.org in 2019, Mr. Murphy gained experience in the workforce space as an associate director at a workforce board in Washington state, leading projects that focused on populations such as veterans, justice involved youth, and others, as well as having worked within public policy/community engagement for U.S. Senator Patty Murray, and other congressional and statewide elected leaders in Washington state. He holds an AA from Highline Community College, BA in Government from Eastern Washington University, and an MBA from both Queens University and Cornell University. He now resides in Rogers, Arkansas.
Dr. David Dufault-Hunter is the Vice President of Strategic Enrollment Management and Marketing at California State University San Bernadino.
Candice Wilson-Stykes, Ph.D., engages in independent research projects to support institutions of higher education and their students. Her research interests are the intersection of institutional culture and student success, cultural capital in higher education, and academic course failure. She has also worked as a K-12 and higher education practitioner, primarily focusing on the high school to college transition and first-year success. Dr. Wilson-Stykes received her doctorate in higher education leadership and policy studies from the University of Houston.
Understanding an Institution’s Culture
How Students Experience Failing a Course
Steven D. Roper, Ph.D., is a Professor of Political Science at Florida Atlantic University. Dr. Roper has extensive experience in international education and has served as a consultant on the Bologna process and models of national accreditation. He previously served as dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan working with faculty to design quality assurance programs for undergraduate and graduate recruitment and retention. He is the author of four books and more than 50 articles and book chapters.
Recruitment and Retention at the Department-Level: What Measures Can Departments Implement to Positively Impact Student Enrollment?
Rema Reynolds Vassar, Ph.D., is a Professor in the College of Education at Wayne State University. Dr. Vassar earned her doctorate from UCLA in Urban Schooling and is the author of many scholarly journal articles. Her research interests include parent-school partnerships; race, gender, and class implications in schools; implications of policy and practice on student achievement and outcomes; and equity, justice, access, and inclusion for minoritized communities. She was recently elected to the Board of Trustees for Michigan State University and appointed to the state of Michigan’s MiSTEM Advisory Council to promote STEM engagement across the state.
Attracting and Retaining Transformative Leaders in Enrollment Management
Lisa Emery, Ph.D., serves as the Senior Associate Registrar at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. She is the chair of the Michigan Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (MACRAO) Enrollment Management committee and a member of AACRAO’s Information Systems and Technology Committee. Emery holds a doctorate in educational leadership from Eastern Michigan University, where her dissertation examined factors impacting job satisfaction and retention of chief enrollment management officers.
Boyd Bradshaw, Ed.D., is Vice President for Enrollment Management at Towson University. Dr. Bradshaw is a nationally recognized leader in higher education, with more than 25 years of strategic enrollment management experience
Previously, he served as associate vice chancellor for enrollment management and chief enrollment officer at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) and prior to that, as the vice president for enrollment management at Logan University in St. Louis, MO. His experience in enrollment management also includes leadership positions at Valparaiso University, Saint Louis University, the University of Louisville, and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
Bradshaw earned his doctorate in education, with a focus on higher education administration, from Saint Louis University. He has a M.S. in education and a B.S. in business, both from Eastern Illinois University.
Building A Foundational Approach for Strategic Enrollment Management
Rebecca Mathern, Ph.D., is Associate Vice Provost- Academic Affairs and University Registrar at Oregon State University where she leads both the Office of the Registrar and the Curriculum Management team. Mathern has worked in higher education for more than 25 years at both two- and four-year institutions. Her interests are in shared governance and policy implementation.
Putting on our Reality Glasses: Policy Review and Project Management through an Equity Lens
Autumn Landis is Senior Assistant Registrar – Projects and Communications at Oregon State University. Landis has worked at OSU in the Office of the Registrar for seven years. She has experience in records and registration, athletic and veteran compliance, and currently oversees the registrar’s office project portfolio and communications. Since stepping into the project world, she has helped to streamline projects that the registrar’s office manages. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are at the forefront of her work.
Kristin Benson is Deputy University Registrar – Compliance at Oregon State University. Benson has worked in higher education for 21 years and in registrars' offices for more than seventeen years. In her current role, she oversees degree completion, veterans and athletic compliance, projects and communications, and the office's technology team. She's committed to bringing equity, inclusion, and anti-racist concepts into registrars' offices by focusing on policy review, embedding equity analysis in project management and finding ways to remove barriers for students, staff, and faculty.
Adrienne McDay has been a part of AACRAO for more than 30 years. Within her time in higher education she has carved out a career serving in multiple roles within academic and enrollment services for AACRAO and for the institutions for which she worked. Before retiring from William Rainey Harper College as Coordinator of Enrollment Services she served in nearly every position in the registrar’s office. Adrienne’s varied expertise was lent to various program committees and caucuses with AACRAO and her regional Illinois AACRAO. She made a particular and outstanding mark in ACRAO with regards to diversity, and access and equity; serving on the Diversity Task Force and later serving a three year term as Vice President for Access and Equity on the Board of Directors, a position which she helped to develop. Adrienne’s natural leadership and dedication to service helped her to rise to the position of AACRAO President in 2014 when she helped to establish AACRAO’s Core Competencies and sought to engage students and young professionals in the organization. Having also served as President with IACRAO Adrienne’s competency as a leader is unflagging. She is a role model to those in the profession and a distinguished colleague to us all.
Whitney N. West has been in higher education for 15+ years and is currently Director of Student Records at LSU Law. She has worked at universities in DC, Maryland, and Louisiana. Whitney is a two time graduate of The George Washington University and has a graduate certificate from University of Maryland Baltimore County. She is also an DEI/Disability awareness advocate and speaker who was diagnosed with a chronic illness in 2014 that almost took her life. From there Whitney set out to make the most out of life and live her best and most authentic life. Whitney is now a doctoral student at University of Southern Mississippi who studies the intersection of race, gender, and disability specifically focusing on Black women with chronic illnesses in Higher education. She uses her platform and her position in HE to help people appreciate their lives and advocate for themselves even when unexpected and uncomfortable things happen. Whitney wants people to know there are always options.
Higher Education Has a Problem: Holistic Disability Inclusion and Belonging