Photograph of Genevieve Halkett.

Genevieve Halkett

VESOL, IET, and Academic Transitions instructor

Genevieve Halkett has over 25 years of experience teaching ESOL in a variety of learning environments including university, community college, corporate, and non-profit in Asia, Europe, and the U.S. She worked for Trinity College, Dublin, teaching survival and vocational English courses for Kosovar Program Refugees, Vietnamese Family Reunification participants, and refugees relocated to Dublin City. She was the coordinator of a program providing training in ESOL, job skills, and English literacy to over 300 asylum seekers (Center for Education and Integration of Migrants (CÉIM)) at SPIRASI, a local non-profit. While there, she co-developed and implemented an accredited curriculum, the first in the country, used as a model of best practices nationwide for asylum seekers.  She has worked in curriculum development and teacher training, which includes creating and facilitating a course in ESOL methodology to adult education practitioners and co-developing ESOL and Intercultural materials for teaching asylum seekers, refugees, and other migrants in Ireland for the National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA).

Ms. Halkett has an MA TESOL (Teaching English as a Second or Other Language) from the School for International Training (SIT); received certification from London Language and Literacy Plus (LLU+) in Teaching Basic Literacy to Beginner ESOL Learners, and provided cascaded training to providers serving immigrants with language and literacy needs in Ireland. In 2019, she received a Skilled Immigrant Integration Program (SIIP) grant from WES Global Talent Bridge, which helped lead to the future Willamette Valley Welcome Back Center at Chemeketa (launching in 2023).

Ms. Halkett currently works at Chemeketa Community College as the full-time VESOL, IET, and Academic Transitions instructor and heads a training program for international professionals with degrees from their country who would like to continue their careers in Oregon. 


Professional Photograph of Henrietta Romero.

Henrietta Romero

University Registrar, New Mexico Highlands University

Dr. Henrietta Romero has been in higher education for close to 20 years. She recently came back to New Mexico Highlands University two years ago as the University Registrar after being the Registrar at Luna Community College. Dr. Romero is active in professional organization, AACRAO, RMACRAO, and NMACRAO, establishing a professional working relationship within the organizations. Dr. Romero is a NMHU and NMSU alumni, receiving her bachelor in Business Administration with cum laude honors, her masters in Educational Leadership, and most importantly, her doctorate in Educational Leadership and Administration. She continues to thrive in higher education in the Northern New Mexico area, collaborating with various departments, institutions, and organizations for the betterment of all students. 

Photograph of Gavin Hamms

Dr. Gavin R. Hamms

Request Dr. Gavin Hamms as a speaker  

Associate Vice President of Enrollment Management, Grambling State University

About
Dr. Gavin R. Hamms is a native of Winnfield, LA. He obtained his Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Business Management from Grambling State University in 2010. In 2012 he obtained his Master or Business Administration degree from the University of Louisiana at Monroe. After beginning his career in Higher Education as the Manager of Default Prevention at Grambling State University in 2011, he was inspired to pursue a Ph.D I Urban Higher Education. While pursuing his Ph.D he was promoted to serve as the Director of Financial Aid at his Alma Mater. During his time as the Director of Financial Aid, he was able to streamline several services for the enhancement of Student Services. Dr. Hamms is widely recognized for his passion for serving students and improving process efficiencies.

Dr. Hamms received his Ph.D. in Urban Higher Education from Jackson State University in 2016. His dissertation title was Institutional Factors that Influence Student Loan Default at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. He has used his research to help develop financial literacy initiatives for student success. While serving in financial aid, Dr. Hamms developed a unique understanding of Enrollment Management and Student Success. He has utilized his knowledge of financial aid to help his institution grow enrollment and provide access for marginalized populations. His highly respected skillset led him to be appointed as the Chair of the Strategic Enrollment Management Council. From that appointment he was then selected as the Associate Vice President of Enrollment Management at Grambling State University. Dr. Hamms is a proud member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity and is passionate about Empowering, Educating, and Encouraging the masses. 

Professional photograph of Zachary Holochwost.

Zachary Holochwost

Aid and Market Research Manager

Zak has been with Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc. (ECE) since 2006. His most recent role as ECE® Aid and Market Research Manager has allowed Zak to utilize his knowledge in fundraising development and market research to better serve the philanthropic efforts of ECE, as well as the marketing team. Zak has presented at numerous regional, national, and international conferences on topics ranging from forcibly displaced persons to the field of credential evaluation. His educational background includes a Bachelor of Arts degree, with majors in Political Science and Linguistics, from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, as well as a Master of Arts degree in Public Service, with a specialization in the Nonprofit Sector, from Marquette University. 

Professional photograph of Rossitza Wooster.

Rossitza B. Wooster

Dean of the Graduate School at Portland State University

Rossitza B. Wooster has served as dean of the Graduate School at Portland State University (PSU) since January 2018. She oversees graduate admissions, academic services and student services. Wooster works closely with faculty and administration to improve the quality of graduate education at PSU. She is president of the Western Association of Graduate Schools and an active member of the Council of Graduate Schools. Previously, Wooster was professor of economics for 12 years at PSU. She holds a Ph.D. in international economics from University of Oregon, an M.S. in economics from University of Ohio and a B.A. in economics from St. Lawrence University.

Photo of Stan DeMerrit.

Stan DeMerritt

Vice President for Student Affairs, South Plains College

Stan DeMerritt, AACRAO's Vice President for Finance, has been an AACRAO member for over 20 years. Stan served as AACRAO's Vice President for Finance from 2013-2016 and was then re-elected to serve from 2019-2022. He started his higher ed career in 1996, when he was hired as a registration coordinator for the external campus registrations and the VA Certifying Official.  About 18 months later he was promoted to the position of Associate Registrar and then Registrar in 2000.  He then moved on to become the Associate Academic Vice President at Wayland Baptist University in 2006. In 2016, Stan became the Dean of Students for South Plains College and was then promoted to his current role of Vice President for Student Affairs. 
 

Photo of Michelle Way.

Michelle Way

Senior Product Manager, Jenzabar

Michelle Way is a Senior Product Manager at Jenzabar, a leading technology innovator in higher education serving campus students, faculty, and staff. Michelle leads product direction for System Administration and Core functionality for the Jenzabar One product. She oversaw the development of Jenzabar Communications, an industry recognized software tool unifying campus interactions. The innovative product breaks down departmental silos across campus and builds dynamic constituent profiles to support the community throughout the complete lifecycle. Michelle has over 24 years of higher education experience as a technology leader at two higher education institutions in Connecticut prior to joining Jenzabar five and a half years ago. Michelle resides in Southwest Florida and enjoys beach combing and antiquing.

Circular emblem with a white star and green wreaths in the center and the following text around the border: Texas Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.

TACRAO

In Fall 2020 and Spring 2021, the Texas Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (TACRAO) worked with high schools and community colleges across the state to pivot from the traditional in-person schedule of college fairs to a virtual schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic. TACRAO paid for the platform to host the virtual fairs through GoToCollegeFairs.com at no cost to the member institutions nor the fair hosts, which consisted of high schools, school districts, and 2-year colleges. The only cost was for recruiting institutions to pay for a one-time virtual booth fee of $150 for the entire season.

The TACRAO High School Relations committee then worked tirelessly to schedule the virtual fairs for every hosting high school, school district, and 2-year college across the state for the entirety of the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 recruitment seasons. For Fall 2020, this resulted in 357 separate college fairs with 386 participating colleges and universities who registered a virtual booth at the fair. Over 87,000 students, parents, and counselors registered to attend the fairs, resulting in 209,592 leads created and 184,912 leads downloaded for participating institutions. This provided institutions an opportunity to safely recruit students and participate in college fairs at a fraction of the normal travel costs associated with attending college fairs.  Many schools said this also generated more leads for them than ever before.

TACRAO saved the 2020-2021 college recruitment season for not only the state of Texas, but also for those out-of-state colleges and universities who attended the virtual fairs. High school and community college students were provided an opportunity to learn about 357 different colleges and universities across and outside of Texas as they shopped for where they wanted to continue their education. TACRAO continued this service in Fall 2021 by working with schools, school districts, and 2-year colleges to schedule both in-person and virtual fairs. While some fair hosts wanted in-person, others wanted to remain virtual while COVID cases rose.

In addition, TACRAO hosted its annual meeting in November 2020 virtually free-of-charge to attendees. They also offered the pre-conference SEM workshop free-of-charge as well. As a result, over 1200 registrants attended the 2020 virtual conference, many of whom would normally not have been able to attend a TACRAO conference in the past. In July 2021, TACRAO offered a virtual Community College and University Issues Summer Meeting, bringing in members from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to go over new legislative items from the year's legislative session. This virtual conference was also provided to the membership free-of-charge.

Photo of Dennis Hicks.

Dennis Hicks

Registrar, Indiana University - East (retired)

Patti's husband, Christopher and Victoria's dad, Reagan and Lincoln's grandpa: Dennis Hicks has been many things in addition to being a registrar for over 30 years. He has also been a friend and mentor to many. A graduate of the University of New Orleans, Dennis was hired in 1990 to serve as UNO's Associate Registrar, learning under the tutelage of his mentor, Mark Strickland. From there, it was off to prairie Cajun country, where he served from 1994 to 1998 as the Director of Admissions and Registrar of Louisiana State University at Eunice. After four years, it was time for this mid-western boy to "go home," so they loaded up the truck and moved to Richmond, Indiana where Dennis served out the remainder of his career as the registrar of Indiana University East from 1998 to his retirement in February. Dennis recently remarked that he is honored to have served in this noble profession for over 30 years. He credits his successes to the mentorship of many AACRAO friends and colleagues. Dennis has made an indelible impact on the profession and we thank him for his consistent support to both the profession and to the many students he served.

Photo of Brandy Simpkins Piner.

Brandy Simpkins Piner

Senior Associate Registrar, UT Health San Antonio

Brandy Simpkins Piner is the Senior Associate Registrar at The University of Texas Health Science - San Antonio. Over the past 22 years, Brandy has had the opportunity to serve in leadership roles at both the Carolinas and Texas ACRAO, as well as SACRAO where she currently serves on the Executive Committee as Secretary. As she’s grown within the profession and expanded her leadership roles, AACRAO has been fortunate to have her participate with the association more frequently. She is currently a Registrar 101 online faculty member and chair of the Prior Learning Assessment and Alternative Credit and Credentials Committee. She also previously served on the Nominations and Elections committee. In 2012, she received the Staff Educator of the Year award at York Technical College. She looks forward to continuing her leadership in various roles in AACRAO and contributing to our profession.

Katie (Brown) Rendon

AVP Student Success & University Registrar, Aspen University

Katie Rendon has been working in higher education for over a decade and is based in Denver, Colorado.  She earned a Master’s degree in Classics from the University of Colorado Boulder and a Bachelor’s degree in Antiquities from Missouri State University. 

Katie Rendon has been the Registrar of Aspen University for the past four years and was recently promoted to a new role as Assistant Vice President for Student Services and University Registrar, overseeing both Academic Advising and the Registrar's Office.  Katie is an active member of AACRAO's Prior Learning Credit and Alternative Credit and Credentials Committee and State and Regional Relations Committee. 

In 2022, Katie began teaching for AACRAO's Registrar 101 course and joined the Women's Caucus.  Katie is a biannual contributor to AACRAO Connect.  She presented at the 2022 AACRAO Annual Meeting in Portland as a Best of the Best winner and is presenting two sessions at the 2023 Annual Meeting in Aurora, Colorado.  Katie is also active in her state and regional association, Rocky Mountain ACRAO.  Katie has served on the Board of Directors for RMACRAO since 2020 and is currently serving as president-elect of that organization.  She credits her colleagues on the RMACRAO board with giving her the confidence to continue to grow professionally and seek out new opportunities. 

Katie is honored to receive The Emerging Leader Award and hopes to continue contributing to the AACRAO community at large.  Katie lives in Aurora, Colorado, and when she is not working enjoys spending time in the Rocky Mountains and the Colorado sunshine with her family, friends, & their dogs.

Photo of Mindy Hope.

Mindy Hope

Director of Recruiting & Admissions, Mid-Plains Community College

I joined the MPCC family 10 years ago (2011) after working in the Non-Profit world for over 15 years. I currently oversee the Admissions and Recruiting Departments, and I am a Gallup Certified ‘Strengths Coach’. My passion is helping students and staff become the best version of themselves, excelling on and off campus and into their next stage of life! I also enjoy the opportunities my role offers in creating and implementing new recruiting and retention programs and events! I have lived in North Platte, NE since 1995, with my husband of 28 years. We have two terrific sons, a beautiful daughter-in-law and two grandchildren!

Photo of Bobbi Muehlenkamp.

Bobbi Muehlenkamp

Area Director of the Learning Commons, Mid-Plains Community College

Bobbi Muehlenkamp has held a variety of positions in higher education over the last 18 years—from admissions and recruiting, to athletic eligibility, to transfer credit evaluation, to her current position as Director of the Learning Commons at Mid-Plains Community College in West-Central Nebraska. Bobbi has been with MPCC for five years and in her role, oversees the Learning Commons Retention and Resources operations on the two main campuses—North Platte and McCook—as well as providing Learning Commons services at four community campuses in Broken Bow, Imperial, Ogallala and Valentine, NE. Bobbi’s area of specialization is retention services like tutoring, test proctoring, testing accommodations and early alerts from faculty. Bobbi is also passionate about student engagement and leadership development. Bobbi and her staff pride themselves on building relationships with students and making the Learning Commons the go-to place for students needing assistance with tutoring, testing, early alerts or other concerns outside of the classroom.

Portrait of Dane Jensen.

Dane Jensen

CEO of Third Factor

Dane Jensen is the CEO of Third Factor, an acclaimed speaker, an instructor at Queen’s University and the University of North Carolina, a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review, and the author of The Power of Pressure (HarperCollins).

Dane oversees Third Factor’s delivery of leadership development programs to leading firms across North America including SAP, RBC, Uber, Twitter, the USGA, and others.

He teaches in the Full-Time and Executive MBAs at Queen’s Smith School of Business in Canada and is Affiliate Faculty with UNC Executive Development at the Kenan-Flagler Business School in Chapel Hill.

In addition to his corporate work, Dane works extensively with athletes, coaches, leaders and Boards across Canada’s Olympic and Paralympic sport system to enhance National competitiveness.

He has worked as an advisor to Senior Executives in 23 countries on 5 continents and is a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review.

Photo of Ana Villavicencio.

Ana Villavicencio

EducationUSA REAC South America – Andean Region

Ana Villavicencio is a Regional Educational Advising Coordinator (REAC) with EducationUSA, based in Quito-Ecuador. She manages the Andean Region portfolio (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela) providing training and support to over 40 advisers in 39 EducationUSA advising centers. Before becoming a REAC, she was the senior EducationUSA adviser at the Fulbright Commission in Quito. Prior to working for EducationUSA, Ana was the international relations adviser for SENESCYT, a government institution in Ecuador that oversees the country’s higher education and scientific development. Ana has also worked for a U.S. think tank, as a program officer, managing programs on increasing U.S.-Asia strategic relations. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in international relations and environmental studies, a master’s in political science, and an MPA from U.S. universities. 

 

Headshot of Tatiana McKenna.

Tatiana McKenna

Evaluator, Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc (ECE)

Tatiana McKenna has worked at Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc. since 2008. She earned her Specialist Diploma from Vinnytsia State Pedagogical University (Ukraine); the equivalent, in the United States, of a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts in English and German languages, with an emphasis on TESOL. Tatiana has 8 years of pedagogical and scientific experience from Ukraine. In addition to acting as an Assistant Professor at Vinnytsia State Pedagogical University for 5 years (teaching English and Methods of Foreign Languages), she spent 3 years working on a scientific dissertation on the Methodology of Teaching Foreign Languages at Kyiv National Linguistic University (Ukraine). Tatiana is a native speaker of Ukrainian and Russian, and is also fluent in German. Her countries of specialization include former USSR, Western and Eastern Europe, Middle East, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. She participates and presents at various regional, national, and international conferences hosted by WAIE, TAICEP, EAIE, NAFSA, and ECE webinars.

Headshot of David Mihalyi.

David Mihalyi

Associate Director, International, AACRAO

Research & Policy Division

David (Dave) Mihalyi has been a professional evaluator of international educational credentials since July 1987.  He currently serves as Associate Director - International for the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO). He is a member of TAICEP (The Association for International Credential Evaluation Professionals), has contributed to various publications published by AACRAO and NAFSA, and is co-author of the ECE Presents series volume, The Educational System of Spain.

Dave's Role at AACRAO

Dave manages AACRAO’s contracted partnership with the Law School Admission Council (LSAC), provides training and guidance for remote evaluation staff, and contributes expertise to the AACRAO Electronic Database for Global Education (EDGE), while serving as an ex-officio member of AACRAO’s International Education Standards Council (IESC). 

Headshot of Adrienne Bricker, University Registrar at The Ohio State University.

Adrienne Bricker

University Registrar at The Ohio State University

Adrienne serves as the University Registrar at The Ohio State University and has nearly 13 years of experience in large, urban public universities. She has been active in AACRAO through committee and workgroup leadership and presentations at conferences. She holds a BA from Point Park University, a MSEd from Baruch College, and an EdD from Northeastern University. 

Kristina C. Anderson

Clinical Faculty Member, Student Affairs Administration, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse

Kristina C. Anderson, Ed.D., is a clinical faculty member in Student Affairs Administration at the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse. Previously, she spent 25 years in admissions and enrollment management positions within the University of Wisconsin System campuses. She holds an Ed.D. in Leadership, Policy, and Administration from the University of St. Thomas, an M.Ed. in Higher Education from the College of William and Mary, and a B.A. in English from Albright College.

Review of: Humble Inquiry: The Gentle Art of Asking Instead of Telling

 

Portrait of member Danielle Faucett

Danielle Faucett, Ph.D.

Associate Registrar at the University of Missouri – St. Louis

Danielle Faucett is Associate Registrar (Curriculum and Scheduling) at the University of Missouri – St. Louis and Chair of the AACRAO Enrollment Management and Retention Committee. With several years of experience in the registrar’s office, she has endeavored to make a positive impact on student retention by improving course scheduling processes using technological advancements and policy change. She has implemented course scheduling software to help strategically drive processes at her institution while also providing hands-on support to UMSL’s faculty, staff, students, and campus partners. Faucett has a bachelor’s degree in communication and master’s degrees in communication and adult and higher education from the University of Missouri – St. Louis. She recently earned a doctorate in educational leadership and policy studies there as well.

Triumph Over Odds: Stories of First-Generation College Graduates Who Achieved Doctoral Excellence