Request Dr. Lishen as a speaker
AboutWendy Lishen, Ed.D. is the Assistant Vice President for Academic Records at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. She has over 30 years of experience in higher education administration. Throughout her career, Dr. Lishen’s experience has enabled her to develop a comprehensive view to student access and success. Her higher education experience has included a plethora of organizational change initiatives including online education, University relocation, institution inception, student information system implementation, and department creation to name a few.After serving as University Registrar in Pennsylvania for 24 years, Lishen went on to serve as Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Management and University Registrar at Florida Atlantic University, where she became skilled at strategic planning to increase student graduation rates and streamline enrollment processes to improve student satisfaction as well as increase data integrity for program assessment. She implemented a new customer service department at Florida International University for all Enrollment Management offices for over 50,000 students at two campuses. Currently, Dr. Lishen is the Assistant Vice President for Academic Records at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences with the primary campuses in Bethesda, MD and San Antonio, TX in addition to additional Department of Defense site locations established throughout the world. Throughout her career, Dr. Lishen has served on many professional development committees as well as presented on enrollment best practices. Currently, Dr. Lishen is actively consulting for the American Association of Collegiate Registrar’s and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) on projects throughout the country.
Business Development & Strategic Partnerships Division
Mickey Reynolds is the Associate Director of Consulting Operations. She completed her Bachelor's degree at the University of Phoenix in 2001 in Business Administration before going on to earn a Master of Education in Adult Education at Oregon State University in 2009. Before starting her consulting work with AACRAO in 2011, Ms. Reynolds was an Associate Director of Operations and Communications in the Office of Admissions at Oregon State University. She has accumulated 27 years of experience working in higher education, including 16 years working in Admissions. During her career, Reynolds has implemented customer relationship management systems, document management systems, and business process workflows. Her areas of expertise include transfer articulation practice and policy, all functional areas of Admissions Operations, transcript evaluation, document management, and workflow management, Ellucian Banner Student Information Systems as well as being versed on best practices in Student Services. Ms. Reynolds has a wide range of admission operations experience, including organizational structure and business processes, she is able to review and map processes to determine a more efficient and streamlined process that is beneficial for both admissions and the student.
Mickey assists administrative aspects of AACRAO Consulting Services with an emphasis on financial management and processes, review of contracts and proposals and reports.
Jerry Martinez brings over 25 years of experience in enrollment services to Wharton County Junior College as the first Dean of Enrollment Management and Registrar. This new opportunity will allow Jerry to put into practice all the ideas and experiences that he gained throughout his higher education career.
His strengths are in data analysis and process improvement, and with 4 SIS conversions under his belt, he’s able to help organizations understand gasps, risks, and self-imposed bottlenecks in their processes caused by policies or systems. The challenges institutions face may be the result of narrow interpretations of local/state/federal policies and/or mandates, and Jerry's approach has always been to advocate for the student while also protecting the institution. He considers himself a fierce student advocate. Jerry holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Master of Public Affairs from The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
Natalie joined the UW-Milwaukee Registrar’s Office in 2017 and oversees the institution’s curricular management systems. She was previously with Oregon Health & Science University and Portland State University, where she helped build the infrastructure for Oregon’s first accredited joint School of Public Health. She currently serves as the Wisconsin Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers Membership Coordinator and Vice Chair of AACRAO’s Asian American & Pacific Islander Caucus.
She previously served on AACRAO’s State and Regional Relations Committee.
Natalie earned her Bachelor of Science in Speech & Hearing Sciences and Master of Public Health from Portland State University.
Linda is currently the Assistant Director for Partnerships and Programming for the University of Pittsburgh’s Asian Studies Center. Within the Asian Studies Center she oversees community partnerships, engagement prospects for programming related to Asia and high impact experiential learning opportunities.
Prior to working at the Asian Studies Center, Linda was the former Assistant Registrar for Student Records and Graduation at the University of Pittsburgh. Linda also worked with Pittsburgh Action Against Rape and Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.
Linda earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pittsburgh in Literature and a Master of Arts in Teaching from Chatham University. She is currently co-chair of the Asian American and Pacific Islander Caucus through the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO).
Leo Sweeney was known for his excellence and leadership in internal education, having served as a consultant in over 40 different countries. He conducted extensive research on the educational systems of South Asia and wrote two books, one on India and the other on Pakistan, both of which are published in the AACRAO World Education Series.
When he wasn't abroad, Leo worked as the Director of Admissions and Registrar at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) for almost 32 years before retiring as Assistant Vice Chancellor for International Student Affairs at UMKC in September 1992. During his life, Leo also served as Chairman of the College Entrance Examination Board's Advisory Committee on International Education, and Vice Chairman of their Advisory Council on the Test of English as a Foreign Language. He received Honorary AACRAO Membership in 1993. Notably, he is the only person to have served both as the President of AACRAO (1984) and the President of NAFSA: Association of International Educators (1974).
Leo was a veteran of World War II, father of three, and husband to Annabelle Sweeney since 1948. He passed away in 2022 and will be remembered as a humble, professional, mentor and leader we can all strive to emulate.
Afet Dundar is Director, Equity in Research and Analytics at the National Student Clearinghouse and has been with the organization for over 10 years. In the early years of her tenure with the Clearinghouse, Dr Dundar lead the development and production of the Clearinghouse Research Center’s national reports on student outcomes and annual High School Benchmarks report. In recent years, Dr Dundar has been leading the education metrics development work for different platforms and services of the Clearinghouse and is currently leading the work on establishing and driving forward the principles for an equitable, unbiased, and inclusive approach to data collection and analytics at the Clearinghouse. Dr Dundar has contributed to numerous publications on student access and success outcomes. She has a Ph.D. in education policy studies from Indiana University Bloomington.
Aimee Leturmy is the University Registrar at Bentley University. Prior to joining Bentley in March 2022, she served fifteen years in the registrar’s office at Florida State University, most recently serving as the senior associate registrar where she managed the day-to-day operations of the office. Aimee began her career in athletics and previously held positions at Southern Methodist University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the University of Central Florida. She holds a B.S. in sports management from FSU and a M.A. in exercise and sport science from UNC-Chapel Hill. Aimee is currently pursuing a doctor of education in educational administration and policy from Florida State University.
Management vs. Leadership: Would You Rather?
Katie Cloud is the Interim University Registrar at The George Washington University and has worked in higher education since 2009. Prior to joining The George Washington University in May of 2021 as the Deputy Registrar, she was an Associate Registrar for Current Records, Transcripts, Graduation and Athletic Eligibility at Florida State University. She also has experience working in an academic dean’s office, as an academic advisor and in an academic department. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in international affairs and a Master of Science in education leadership and policy, both from Florida State University.
Lizeth Nguyen is a Student Support Specialist at Trellis Company, working with Minority-Serving Institutions to produce equitable student-focused communication.
Nudging in a Pandemic: Lessons Learned from Text Messaging College Students amid COVID-19
Sana A. Meghani is the Director of Strategic Initiatives at Catalyst:Ed. She is deeply committed to amplifying the voices and stories of those who have been historically marginalized at institutions of higher education.
Michael H. Small, D.B.A., is a Full Professor Emeritus of Management in the Department of Management & Marketing of the College of Business & Technology at East Tennessee State University. Michael earned his D.B.A. from Cleveland State University and conducts research in the areas of Supply Chain Management, Manufacturing and Business Administration.
Postsecondary Intentions of Latino and African American Students in Tennessee: Considerations for Strategic Enrollment Management
Edith Seier, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor Emeritus of Mathematics & Statistics in the College of Arts & Sciences at East Tennessee State University. Edith earned her Ph.D. in Statistics from the University of Wyoming and conducts research in the areas of Kurtosis & Variability and Applications of Statistics to Biology, Public Health, and Medicine.
Lorianne D. Mitchell, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Management in the Department of Management & Marketing of the College of Business & Technology at East Tennessee State University. Lorianne earned her Ph.D. in Industrial & Organizational Psychology from the Graduate School & University Center of the City University of New York. She conducts research in the areas of Online Teaching Pedagogy, Diversity in Higher Education, Mentoring, and Emotions in Organizations.
Chuck Knepfle has worked in higher education for 30 years, and currently serves as the Vice President for Enrollment Management at Portland State University, where more than 60 percent of the student body start as transfer students. His background, and passion, is in student access, having served as the financial aid director at both Miami University in Ohio and at Clemson University in South Carolina. He created scholarship programs over his career that focused on diversity recruitment as well as need-based aid for students who identify as low socio-economic status. Access to higher education for all students, regardless of race or income, is his passion and was the focus of his doctoral research. He holds a B.S. in systems analysis, an M.B.A. in management from Miami, and a Ph.D. in higher education leadership from Clemson.
Making the Transfer Path to a Bachelor's Degree Seamless and Successful: Best Practices
Creating a Strategic Enrollment Management Plan from the Ground Up
Perry R. Rettig, Ph.D., is Distinguished University Professor and former vice president for enrollment management and student affairs at Piedmont University. Previously, he served as vice president for academic affairs at Piedmont for five years. He has also served as vice president for the Athens Campus at Piedmont and as interim dean of the School of Nursing and Health Sciences and interim dean of the School of Education. He maintains his faculty credentials and active faculty role in the College of Education at Piedmont. Prior to his move to Georgia in 2013, he served as associate vice chancellor of academic affairs at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh where he also served as a faculty member. He began his professional career as a public school teacher for five years in rural Green Bay, Wisconsin and then as a public school principal for seven years in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. He has been an educator for more than 37 years.
Rettig has presented at international conferences in Beijing, China; London, England, Vienna, Austria; Melbourne, Australia; Belfast, Ireland; and this summer in Krakow, Poland. He has made numerous presentations across the United States. He has published seven books with Rowman & Littlefield. In the summer of 2021, he published Enrollment Management: Successful Approaches with Dwindling Numbers (Rowman & Littlefield). Likewise, he has published more than 20 articles in the field of education, writes a monthly education article for the local regional newspaper, and an occasional piece for the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Rettig's Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Administration is from Marquette University. His master's degree (M.S.) in Educational Leadership and Administration is from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, and his bachelor's degree (B.S.E.) is from the University of Wisconsin Whitewater.
Cross-Campus Robust Retention Initiative: The Vortex Approach
Dr. Angela Brockelsby serves as Executive Director of Communications and Marketing within the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University.
Angela is an award-winning communication and marketing executive with expertise in organizational leadership, integrated marketing, and strategic communication with nearly 17 years of experience in higher education.
Angela received a bachelor of arts degree in Communications from NC State University, a master of professional studies in Interactive Telecommunications from New York University, a master of arts in Technology and Communication from the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, and a doctor of education in Organizational Change and Leadership from the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California.
Dr. Stephanie Krusemark brings over 20 years of experience in higher education with a focus on strategic enrollment, equity, diversity, inclusion, and student success. She is an alumna of the Doctorate in Higher Education program offered by the Morgridge College of Education at the University of Denver, where she specialized in Issues of Diversity and Higher Learning. Since graduating over a decade ago, she has been immersed in social justice research and practice pertaining to the lived experiences of historically excluded, underserved, and underrepresented student populations as an adjunct instructor for the Higher Education and Women’s and Gender Studies programs at the University of Denver and as a Chancellor’s Diversity Post-Doc Fellow in the Environmental Planning and Design program at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Her research has been published in the Journal of Research on Women and Gender.
Her commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion is evident in her ability to immerse social justice practices in her approach to strategic enrollment, which has led her into leadership roles at Naropa University, Prescott College, Santa Clara University, and Trinity Washington University. Her commitment to student success was leveraged in the ed-tech world as the first Vice President of University Relations for Mentor Collective, where she served as a strategic thought partner to 70+ colleges and universities across the U.S. to close the equity achievement gap by leveraging peer and alumni mentorship. In addition, she co-authored an article on peer mentorship in Liberal Education, a quarterly publication of the Association of American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U).
She is a co-host of the American Association of College Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) Admit It podcast, a member of the National Association of Graduate Admissions Professionals (NAGAP) Experts Bureau, and serves as the co-lead of the AUMTS enrollment group, a group of enrollment professionals representing the 13 United Methodist seminaries across the country. She is a member of the American Association of College Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) and the National Association of Graduate Admissions Professionals (NAGAP). She has served as a past member of the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) and the Critical Race Studies in Education Association. She has shared her perspectives on women’s leadership and enrollment management in the Journal of College Admission and benzinga.com.
Review of: Basic Guide to Financial Aid
Charles Finstad is Chief Revenue Officer with Frequency Foundry. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Commerce with specialization in Accounting and Finance and has 30 years of experience in Financial Systems, Software Development, and Consulting Services. Charles has built and led software and services firms that specialize in Microsoft’s ERP and CRM solutions for more than 20 years and is widely recognized as a leader in the Dynamics 365 partner community. Charles leads key engagements for Frequency Foundry’s higher education customers.