John Knific is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Wisr, a digital community for higher education founded to help students “see their future self,” enabling authentic peer-to-peer interactions that bolster enrollment outcomes. Wisr was acquired in March 2021 by Education Advisory Board (EAB) where it is being integrated into a next generation recruitment ecosystem for universities. Based in Cleveland, OH, Knific has co-founded two Education Technology and lead five early stage capital raises. He is a 2009 graduate of Case Western Reserve University and continues to support student entrepreneurs as an advisor and angel investor.
Measuring Outcomes of Virtual Enrollment Yield Programming
Kate Dyki is the Enrollment Program Management Specialist at Wayne State University in Detroit, MI. She holds a B.A. in English from Alma College and a M.A. in higher education administration from the University of Michigan. Dyki has more than thirteen years of experience working in higher education. As a first-generation student, she is passionate about student preparedness, access, and success. In her most recent role, Dyki leads initiatives including enrollment, retention, and support programs for admitted and continuing students, admitted student outreach, resourcing initiatives, and programs focused on providing working professional adult learners with pathways to a university education.
Dawn Medley, Ed.D., is the Vice Provost for Enrollment Management at Stony Brook University. Prior to joining Stony Brook, she was the Associate Vice President of Enrollment Management at Wayne State University (WSU). Prior to WSU, Medley served as a vice president at St. Andrews University, Warren Wilson College, Forest Institute and was chief enrollment officer at the University of Arkansas. She worked in enrollment and financial aid at Missouri S & T and Southeast Missouri State University. Medley has a B.S. in English education from University of Missouri, a Master’s in administration from Southeast Missouri State University, and an Ed.D. from Lindenwood University. Medley is expert in financial aid, access, innovative support systems for students, technology for student engagement, and is a nationally recognized leader in financial aid solutions and technology adoption for enrollment management.
Julie Teague is a Senior Analyst Programmer for the Bloomington Assessment and Research office at Indiana University-Bloomington. She has more than 35 years of experience in systems development and in providing data research and solutions in the higher education setting. She has co-authored articles for peer-reviewed publications and presented research results at national conferences such as Educause.
Data-Driven Decisions: Using Network Analysis to Guide Campus Course Offerings
Linda Shepard is the Senior Assistant Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and Director of Bloomington Assessment and Research at Indiana University. Linda provides leadership for the campus in the development of institutional resources used to inform campus policy and strategic initiatives. Linda has served in numerous professional capacities, as a faculty member, in leadership roles at IU, and institutional research professional organizations both locally and nationally. She holds M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Indiana University in Educational Psychology with a minor in Psychology.
Stefano Fiorini Ph.D., is a Social and Cultural Anthropologist with the Bloomington Assessment and Research (BAR) at Indiana University. He has extensive applied research experience in the area institutional research and learning analytics in which participatory approaches are applied to place the stakeholders at the center of the analytic provision. He has published in peer reviewed journals and conference proceedings and presented at national and international conferences (e.g. AIR Annual Forum, CSRDE, LAK), earning best paper awards from INAIR, AIR, and SoLAR.
Gina Deom is a Data Scientist with the Bloomington Assessment and Research (BAR) office at Indiana University. She has over five years of experience working in higher education data and research. Gina has published work in conference proceedings and has presented at many national conferences, including but not limited to the Learning Analytics and Knowledge Conference, the SHEEO Higher Education Policy Conference, and the NCES STATS-DC Data Conference.
Janail Silver's expertise is in registrar services and support, communicating openly and routinely with faculty, staff, students, and management, as well as student information system implementation and records management. She currently serves as the Director of Records and Registration for the Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine. As the founding Director of Records and Registration, she works diligently to establish key relationships with the offices across campus serving as the School of Medicine’s liaison on matters related to medical student enrollment.
Prior to coming to Oakland University, Janail Silver worked as an Enrollment Services Specialist and Registrar Staff Assistant at Lawrence Technological University.
Janail is a licensed, nationally certified counselor and earned a Master's in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Oakland University. She also earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Management and a Master's in Business Administration from Florida A&M University.
W. Steven Peterson currently serves as the Executive Director of Retention and Student Success in Enrollment Management at Howard University. With over 20 years of experience in higher education, he is a dedicated leader in admissions, recruitment, marketing, retention, and student success. Peterson joined Howard University in 2015 as a Data Retention Analyst in the Office of Undergraduate Studies, where he played a pivotal role in enhancing retention, graduation rates, and overall student success. In 2016, he was appointed Associate Director in the Office of Admission, overseeing undergraduate application review, recruitment efforts, and admission processing. His leadership contributed to a record-breaking 30,000 undergraduate applications and helped drive a historic increase in undergraduate enrollment. These efforts resulted in the largest freshman classes in Howard's history in Fall 2021 and Fall 2023.
Beyond his contributions to student success, Peterson is a committed advocate for Howard University staff. He currently serves as Vice President of the Howard University Staff Organization, focusing on initiatives that enhance the employee experience. In 2019, he was invited to join the President's “Howard Forward” leadership group and was honored with the Provost's Distinguished Service Award for his exceptional service. Before joining Howard University, Peterson held several leadership roles at Central State University, including Admission Processing Center Coordinator, Associate Director of Admission, and Interim Director of Admission. During his tenure, he led initiatives to reimagine the admissions office and successfully established in-state tuition reciprocity agreements with Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan.
Peterson's expertise and leadership extend beyond his institutions. He has served on AACRAO's Black Caucus and participated in the White House's “Reach Higher” initiative in 2019, which supports high school students in transitioning to college. His dedication to student success and institutional excellence has earned him numerous awards recognizing his impact in the field of higher education.
Kayla St. Clair serves as Senior Associate Director of Operations in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions at Virginia Tech. She oversees the data integrity and processing unit, the visitor experience team, and communications. Kayla began in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions as a student worker in the mailroom and has earned progressively responsible roles since then. As a first-generation college student, she avidly supports college access initiatives and her foundation in college admissions was built through serving as the lead for diversity, equity, and access programming. This foundation now serves as a critical lens when overseeing operations within the Office of Undergraduate Admissions.
In 2020, Kayla served as the implementation contact for Common App, which led to a 36% increase in first-year applications – totaling over 42,000. With this increase, Kayla worked with her teams to adapt current processes and procedures to account for the higher volume of applications. She has implemented a new domicile review workflow, communication request system, and transitioned the Applicant Portal and decision release process into Slate. Kayla actively participates in professional development opportunities by taking further coursework related to research methods in education, presenting at national and regional conferences, taking online courses through AACRAO, and participating in programs through Virginia Tech. She also previously served as college fair coordinator and later as the Vice President of Admissions and Enrollment for VACRAO.
Kayla earned her associate degree from Virginia Western Community College and then transferred to Virginia Tech, earning both her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and her master’s degree in Higher Education and Student Affairs. She lives with her fiancé and their nine-year-old dog – a beagle named Lexie Grey. In her spare time, Kayla can be found traveling, making pottery, spending time outside, reading, or listening to podcasts.
Writer and Educational Consultant. Previously with Missouri Department of Higher Education, and Oregon Office of Degree Authorization
Michelle is Chief Operating Officer at Motimatic, where she leads strategy and implementation across client engagement, content, ad operations, product/engineering and marketing. She is a nationally recognized expert in designing and researching the impact of innovative educational technologies. Previously a professor of educational psychology at the University of Southern California, Michelle has authored over 100 publications and presentations, and holds a PhD in educational psychology from the University of Maryland and an undergraduate degree in mathematics-physics from Brown University.
Experienced Vice President of Student Affairs with a demonstrated history of working in the higher education industry. Skilled in Educational Technology, Student Development, Critical Thinking, Organizational Development, and Social Media. Strong education with a Master of Arts (MA) focused in Counseling Psychology from California State University- Chico.
After 27 years in Information Technology at ASU, Jeff moved into his current role in 2013. The move was made because of Jeff’s knowledge and promotion of using data to make decisions across campus. Data is key in managing enrollment at any university. This has proved true, as Undergraduate enrollment has increased every year since 2016. Jeff uses his knowledge of data to enable Enrollment Management to use all of its resources in the best possible way for the university.
Susan Gottheil has worked for over 30 years at a variety of Canadian colleges and universities providing leadership in SEM planning and implementation and enhancing student and academic support services to improve diversity and inclusion and student success. She has written and presented on SEM topics at international workshops and conferences and most recently completed a research project with Clayton Smith interviewing Canadian enrolment leaders on the impact of SEM in Canada over the last decade. In 2019 Susan retired from the University of Manitoba where she served as Vice-Provost (Students).
Canadian Enrollment Leaders’ Reflections on the Effectiveness of SEM
Reflections on Achievement, Hitting the Glass Ceiling and Breaking the Mold
Walking the Walk Together: Implementing SEM to Enhance the Student Experience