Chrissy Holliday, Ph.D., is the Senior System Liaison for Rural Education and Workforce Development Initiatives at Colorado State University Pueblo. She earned her Ph.D. in higher education leadership from Colorado State University in 2020 and holds a master’s degree in education from Capella University and a bachelor’s degree in mass communication/print media from Campbell University. Her research interests focus on college access and affordability, college-going culture, and first-generation student challenges. Her published articles to date have focused on research related to first generation college-going culture, which applies directly to her work as a university administrator focused on enrollment and access.The Deciders: Understanding the First-Generation College-Going Experience in Support of Enrollment and Diversity Efforts
Sharon K. Anderson, Ph.D., is Professor of Counseling and Career Development at Colorado State University. In 1993, Anderson earned her Ph.D. from the University of Denver in counseling psychology. She became a licensed psychologist in 1995. Her experience as a practitioner includes: private practice with adults and the elderly, supervision of master’s level students and those seeking licensure, and consultation regarding ethical issues in practice. Anderson has taught the master’s level ethics course for counseling students for more than 25 years, teaching and mentoring a multitude of students. She has co-authored or co-edited other ethics books used by psychologists (Foundations of Ethical Practice, Research and Teaching in Psychology and Counseling) and life coaches (Law and Ethics in Coaching: How to Solve and Avoid Difficult Problems in Your Practice). She has contributed to more than 50 publications including books, book chapters, and refereed articles, most of them looking at the practice of professional ethics, teaching ethics, and issues of privilege.
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AACRAO Bio
Alex Underwood is the University Registrar at The University of Arizona, since May 2019. Prior to joining Arizona, Alex served as the Executive Director of Academic Systems and Student Records for City Colleges of Chicago, the largest community colleges district in Illinois serving over eighty thousand students a year. Alex’s previous roles at City Colleges included District Director of Academic Systems and Registrar of Malcolm X College. He has over 15 years’ experience in developing and implementing policies and procedures for academic operations, student records, curriculum management, and enrollment planning. Alex is someone who values the role that technology plays in the development of processes that maximize efficiencies for both students and the wider academic community. He has also served in several roles, including Registrar, at Kendall College in Chicago. He began his professional career as an Academic Advisor and believes this has rooted his life’s work in the student experience. Alex also serves as the Vice President of Professional Development for PACRAO, the Pacific Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.
Melissa Frey currently serves as the Registrar and Dean for the Department of Student Recruitment, Enrollment, and Graduation Services at Chemeketa Community College (Salem, OR). She is also the Director for the Chemeketa Accelerated Pathways to Success Title V Developing Hispanic Serving Institutions Federal Grant Program.
As the current President-Elect for the Pacific Association of Collegiate Admissions and Registrar Officers (PACRAO), Melissa is passionate about bringing forth conferences and other professional development opportunities focused on professional issues common to PACRAO’s members. PACRAO also provides an avenue for its membership base – more than 350 regionally accredited 2-year, 4-year, and graduate schools with an individual membership of 1,500 professional admissions officers and registrars – to contribute to the general advancement of higher education, their professions, and their individual careers.
Melissa holds a Master of Education (College Student Services Administration) and a BS (Business, Management, Marketing, and related Support Services), both from Oregon State University.
Kim Medina currently serves as the Assistant Vice President of Enrollment Management at Colorado Mesa University (Grand Junction, CO). Kim brings almost 30 years of experience working to recruit students for institutions ranging from community colleges and small private institutions to large urban institutions. She has dedicated her professional life to assisting students, parents, and counselors to access post-secondary education.
A Colorado native, Kim holds an MA (Counseling) from the University of Phoenix and a BA (Social and Behavioral Sciences) from Colorado Mesa University.
Erin Hutchinson currently serves as the Assistant Vice President of Enrollment Management at Earlham College (Richmond, IN). In this role, her primary responsibilities include the day-to-day operations of the Admissions office and the supervision of 10 team members. Erin is committed to increasing access to higher education for underrepresented students and supporting her team as they strive for their professional goals.
Prior to Earlham College, Erin spent close to five years as a college advisor at Deerfield Academy (Deerfield, MA) and almost a decade at Washington and Lee University (Lexington, VA) as the Senior Associate Director of Admissions, Scholarship Coordinator, and Coordinator of Minority Recruitment.
Erin holds a Master of Education (Education Administration) from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and a BA (Archaeological Anthropology) from Harvard University.
Business Development & Strategic Partnerships Division
Director, Consulting Operations
Nicole directs all operational aspects of AACRAO Consulting's services as well as managing consultant activities, and contributing to the development of strategic department initiatives such as marketing, new business lines, and recruiting consultant expertise.
Mr. Brown is currently serving as the Curriculum Assistant Manager for Pima Community College in Tucson, Arizona. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from Arizona State University and a Master of Arts in Library and Information Science for the University of Arizona. Jason has a professional career that spans both the non-profit and higher education arenas. Jason has served as executive-level support and as a curriculum coordinator at Pima Community College for the past sixteen years.
Dr. Deike has spent over 35 years in higher education as a university administrator and faculty member. Through his experience in student life, institutional research and enrollment management at several of the nation’s top institutions, Deike has developed a broad understanding of the complex challenges facing colleges and universities in the current higher education landscape. His career spans multiple institutions from a small private liberal arts college with an enrollment of 1,100 students, to a large public flagship with a systemwide enrollment of 90,000 students on 24 campuses, to one of the world’s largest private universities with 50,000 students enrolled on three campuses and 11 academic centers around the world. Randy has been responsible for key aspects of the student experience and student success from first contact through graduation, which include admissions, financial aid, cooperative education and career development, student life, advising, registration, billing, academic information and systems, enrollment analytics, marketing and communication and finance.
Dr. Deike has a long track record of service to higher education including numerous opportunities to represent U.S. higher education nationally and internationally by partnering with the College Board, National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), International Career and College Counseling (IC3), the World Leading Schools Association (WLSA) and other U.S. higher education institutions. Recent examples include serving as a principal participant in the development of the College Board’s monograph, The Future of Enrollment Leadership, and serving as a member of the NACAC Task Force on Standardized Admissions Testing for International and U.S. Students. The breadth of Randy’s experience has led to media requests resulting in quotes or appearances in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Chronicle of Higher Education, the New York City NBC television affiliate and C-SPAN as examples.
Randy has traveled extensively in Asia, recruiting and presenting on higher education in the United States. He has also presented and served as a panelist nationally on topics related to access and affordability, international education, the future of work and the value of higher education.
Dr. Josh Hibbard has served nearly 20 years in university administration and enrollment management, including positions as Director of Student Success, Associate Vice President for Enrollment and Student Success, Associate Vice President for Admissions and Enrollment Management, and Vice President for Strategic Enrollment Management. Dr. Hibbard’s experience is at both public and private medium-sized comprehensive universities in rural and urban areas. Throughout his career, his span of care has included oversight of admissions, advising, registrar’s office, financial aid, orientation programs, and student accounts, to name a few.
Dr. Hibbard’s research interests span a wide range of student success areas, including online student retention and harnessing the power of technology to improve recruitment, retention, and graduation outcomes.
Dr. Hibbard has led through the conversions of three CRM’s and two SIS transitions. His passion is transforming recruitment, student experience flows, and developing innovative learning environments to enhance pathways to a higher education credential, from communication planning, to improving student support structures. He has led the development and multi-year efforts for university strategic enrollment management planning, from start through implementation. He has also led financial leveraging optimization enhancements, aligning strategy with mission, vision, and strategic plan.
Dr. Hibbard holds a BA in Biblical Studies, an MA in Social Sciences, and a PhD in High Education with an emphasis in Student Success.
Fred Rodriguez is a seasoned higher education administrator with over three decades of leadership experience in enrollment management and student services. He has a comprehensive knowledge of academic and student affairs through his background at a wide range of institutions, from large public to small private, and graduate and professional schools. His broad understanding of enrollment management is built upon years of data-driven decision making, a student-centered orientation, and collaboration at all levels within the university and with colleagues at peer institutions. Mr. Rodriguez’s areas of expertise include policy development, strategic planning, compliance, student information system implementation, records and registration, student success and retention, and inter-institutional partnerships. Throughout his career, he has focused on creating teams that genuinely care about students, placing their success at the center of purpose and vision.
Most recently, Mr. Rodriguez served as University Registrar at Trinity University in San Antonio where he was responsible for all operations, budgets, and staff in the Office of the Registrar. Previously, he directed enrollment services offices at Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, and the University of Houston. With a strong command of technology, he specializes in implementing innovative solutions to enhance the student experience, and support academic advising, scheduling, degree audit, and early identification of at-risk students. Leading a team of faculty, advisors, student affairs directors, and IT staff, he created Early Alerts, Trinity University’s first student success system.
Mr. Rodriguez has for many years been actively involved in professional organizations and development. In addition to serving as president of the Texas Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (TACRAO), he has conducted workshops, chaired multiple committees, and shared his knowledge with association newcomers in mentorship programs.
Dave Meredith’s 28 years of experience in higher education span both the academic and student affairs side of the house. He has been an admissions director at mid-size and large public universities and has been a part of four, one-stop shop implementations. Dave has experience helping schools assess and restructure internal processes, use data to develop recruitment plans and build targeted yield plans. He also has worked with schools to reform office culture through hiring and training of new and existing staff. In addition to his work in admissions and enrollment management, he has experience in student retention, honors programs and new student orientation.
Dave has worked in Ohio, North Carolina, Louisiana, Texas, Kentucky, Illinois, Michigan, Maryland, New Mexico, California and Georgia. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati where his research focused on FGC/low SES students and their successful navigation of the transition from high school to college. He has been an active presenter at regional and national conferences, has served on a College Board advisory committee and was elected president of the North Carolina Higher Education Advisory Board in 2018.
Dan Merian, Ph.D., is the director of enrollment management analytics and data for the Office of Enrollment Management at the University of Michigan. Merian brings a broad understanding of the student lifecycle through a data-informed lens.With a working knowledge of admissions, financial aid, and student success, he utilizes data to inform enrollment questions and identify trends related to access and affordability. Merian is skilled at developing enrollment projection models and reports, leveraging models to assess financial aid strategies, and working as a collaborative leader within and across organizations.Merian has worked at numerous institutional types, including private liberal arts, flagship research, and master's comprehensive institutions. Before his current role, Merian was the director of enrollment management strategic initiatives, research, and analytics at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, where he led the overall enrollment management applied research and analysis efforts for the regional campus. He was the project manager for UM-Dearborn's strategic enrollment management (SEM) planning process and sat on the university-wide data governance committee. In addition to Merian's data and analytics experiences, he has led a student success office, an enrollment technology team, and as an admissions representative, he successfully recruited record-breaking enrollment classes. Merian holds a doctoral degree in higher, adult, and lifelong education from Michigan State University, a master's degree in economics from Central Michigan University, and a bachelor's degree in economics and mathematics from Alma College.
Role: Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management
PJ Woolston (EdD) has over 20 years of experience in all not-for-profit sectors of higher education. He has been responsible for the development of all aspects of enrollment management systems at public and private institutions of varied sizes throughout the US. Throughout his tenure he has grown and sophisticated the admissions and enrollment operation wherever he has been, maximizing enrollment potential at all levels of the institution. He has extensive experience leading the strategic enrollment management and planning process at the institutional level. He has worked with freshman, transfer, dual credit, international, athletic, post-baccalaureate, graduate, medical school, and online/accelerated (adult and non-traditional) student populations. He has worked at institutions in both urban and rural settings.
Currently Dr. Woolston serves as Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management at IUPUI (the Indianapolis campus of Indiana University) in Indianapolis, Indiana. Prior to working there he also worked at the University of Texas Permian Basin (small public), Marian University (small private), the University of Southern California (large private), the University of Cincinnati (large public), and Cincinnati State Technical and Community College (mid-sized community college).
Dr. Woolston has conducted extensive proprietary research on a wide range of topics, including best practices in higher education recruitment and marketing, enrollment and admission policy and process, financial aid and discounting, tuition modeling, and institutional accreditation. Heholds a Doctor of Education from USC, a Master of Music from the University of Michigan, and a Bachelor of Arts in French from Brigham Young University. He has been a frequent presenter for organizations such as NACAC and multiple state affiliates, NACUBO, NAFSA, and multiple specialist organizations.
Request Jill Orcutt as a speaker
AboutJill Orcutt became the AACRAO Global Lead, overseeing the Consulting Division in May 2023. She has been actively involved in enrollment management for the past 40 years holding leadership and Chief Enrollment Management Officer roles at the University of California Merced, University of Washington Bothell, CSU Chancellor’s Office and Central Washington University.
For the past eight years, Jill held the position of Associate Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management, Dean of University Extension and for six years the Dean of Summer Session at the University of California Merced (2015-2023). She was responsible for the Offices of Admissions, Registrar, Financial Aid, Students First Center, Enrollment Management Systems, Enrollment Management Communications, and University Extension, and Summer Session. Jill served on the University of California (UC) system-wide Residency Committee and Transfer Guarantee Committee, and was the chair of the UC System AVC for Enrollment group. She brings to AACRAO a wealth of knowledge in enrollment management, leadership, organizational change, holistic admission, financial aid and scholarship leveraging, and enrollment management marketing and communications.
She has worked in higher education for more than 40 years in a variety of roles. She was formerly the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management and Director of Admissions at the University of Washington Bothell, was a senior consultant for the American Association of Collegiate Registrar and Admission Officers (AACRAO), and has served in roles in the Offices of the President, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Internal Auditor, Admissions, Financial Aid, and academic departments at Central Washington University. She served as a lead for a successful implementation of PeopleSoft at CWU and was a PeopleSoft and Mentor Application expert at the CSU Chancellor’s Office, and managed Salesforce (CRM) and utilized OnBase and Banner at UC Merced,
Jill earned her bachelor's degree from Central Washington University in Administrative Management and received a M.A. degree in Higher Education from Central Washington University.
Jill is the Global Lead for AACRAO Consulting in the Business Development & Strategic Partnerships Division. She is responsible for all aspects of AACRAO Consulting. She oversees approximately 60 highly qualified contracted consultants, develops new business lines, and maintains and expands AACRAO’s standing as a global SEM leader.
Request Sheldon MacLeod as a speaker
Executive Director & CEO, CampusNB
About
Dr. Sheldon MacLeod serves as the Executive Director and CEO of CampusNB, the organization representing the province's universities and colleges in matters related to retention, learner mobility, quality assurance, transfer and articulation agreements, and credential transfer related to the Groningen Declaration Network (GDN) for digital student data.
He is a former Associate Vice-Provost and Director at the University of New Brunswick, Assistant Vice-President and Registrar at Crandall University, and Strategic Initiatives Director with CampusNB. With over twenty years of experience in higher education leadership and administration, Sheldon has gained significant expertise and passion for transformational learner experience, services, and systems, all within a strategic enrollment framework that is warm and accessible to learners and leaders. Sheldon is a peer recognized and award-winning leader in post-secondary education, known for his speaking and leadership abilities who has worked on projects with over two dozen colleges and universities in Canada and the United States.
Within institutions, Sheldon's experience has included significant organizational change initiatives, strategic enrollment planning, recruitment and admissions development, comprehensive services for multi-site and online learners for one of the region's largest comprehensive universities, redesign to the student service model with a navigator mindset to assist students with holistic service, post-admissions communication and readiness programming, health services delivery, academic coaching for students at high risk, increase in retention supports, expanded residence systems, student information system implementation, and more.
Within the region, Sheldon has served the post-secondary community as two term president for the Atlantic Association of Registrars and Admissions Officers, the Atlantic division of ARUCC, and for several years as the division lead for the Senior Student Affairs Officers of the Atlantic Association of College & University Student Services, the Atlantic division of CACUSS. Sheldon is a prolific speaker on student issues and success, offering insights through a relaxed and accessible manner. He holds a doctorate with a focus on student values formation, and a graduate degree focusing on leadership within higher education. He was awarded with an Honorary Membership in the Golden Key International Honors Society (2023) for his work with exceptional students, the Excellence in University Administration Award (2022) for his service to the students of the University of New Brunswick, the AARAO Leadership and Service Award (2019) for his significant leadership in the region's post-secondary environment, and an honorary doctorate (2017) for his work in values-based leadership within higher education.
Dave Stones has over 35 years of higher education experience. He spent 35 years at UT Austin, including four as an undergraduate and six while teaching math while in graduate school, and 21 years managing the homegrown student information software systems while on the senior staff of registrar and admissions. Mr. Stones spent another 12 years as registrar at Southwestern University, followed by two post-retirement stints as interim director of institutional research.
He served as SACRAO President in 1992-93, TACRAO President 2009-10, and conference coordinator for MODS ’84, MOSIS ’97, TACRAO ’06, and the first two AACRAO Technology Conferences in 2003 and 2004. Mr. Stones was a part of establishing electronic transcripts and was a member of the initial AACRAO SPEEDE Committee 1988-94, and oversaw the development and first five years of operation of the free UT Austin Server, which has now delivered over 15 million transcripts and over 58 million total transactions. Mr. Stones wrote the first UT Austin transcript print program in 1977, and moved Southwestern away from gummed label gym registration in 2005. In 2013, he received honorary membership in TACRAO, SACRAO and AACRAO, plus the UT Austin Arno Nowotny Medal for Student Service, and the Southwestern University Mundy Award for Service. He also spent many years as an adult leader for Boy Scouts.
Role: Interim Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs
Arlene Wesley Cash is the interim Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs at the San Francisco Art Institute. Prior to starting at SFAI, Cash served for 10 years as vice president for enrollment management at Spelman College in Atlanta, GA and consulted with a number of liberal arts colleges and research universities on the development of strategic enrollment plans and issues of diversity and access. While in her current position, she manages the offices of admissions, financial aid, the cashier, housing and student-life, Cash has also led career planning and placement, student support programs, TRIO programs, disability services, continuing-education, graduate, law and dental enrollment and student information systems.
In addition to her leadership at Spelman, Cash served as dean of enrollment at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville and held admission and financial aid leadership roles at UMass Amherst, Brandeis University, Boston University and Kent State University. Throughout her career, she has served professionally and in a voluntary capacity with Upward Bound programs across the country, including those at Kent State University, UMass Boston, Brandeis University and Case Western Reserve University. Further, she has served on the residential life staff at Wellesley College, Kent State University and Brandeis University.
Cash has served on a number of boards and committees of the College Board, including the College Scholarship Services Board, Commission on Access and Equity, Midwestern Region Board, Retention Advisory Board, the HBCU advisory panel and the Dream Deferred Coordinating Conference Committee. She has also held a number of posts as a member of the National Association for College Admissions Counseling, including their nominations committee, the statement of ethics review and national conference planning. Cash has served as a faculty member of the Harvard University - College Board Summer Admissions Institute. She is currently the chair of the US News and World Report Deans' Advisory Committee where she has served for 20 years, and where she has been committed to transparency in reporting, providing access to the full spectrum of their resources to disadvantaged schools and students, and equitable and reasonable weighting of the various factors which contribute to rankings. She is also an emeritus member of the board of advisors of InsideTrack and serves as the board chair for the National Research Center for College and University Admissions.
A frequent presenter at conferences and professional meetings, Cash has been interviewed for NPR's Talk of the Nation, participated in a panel presentation on NBC's Today Show and is the author of numerous articles on college admissions, student success programs, diversity in higher education and student debt. She earned her bachelor's degrees from Keuka College in Keuka Park, NY with an Independent Studies major combining the disciplines of philosophy and literature, a master's in philosophy at Kent State University, and is currently pursuing her doctoral degree in higher education leadership at the University of Georgia.