On why she joined the LGBTQIA Caucus: "Discovering the LGBTQIA caucus was a highlight for me during AACRAO’s 2019 Annual Meeting in Los Angeles.As a new member, I found the caucus to be a welcoming and friendly group of higher education colleagues. I look forward to participating in future AACRAO and caucus events and fostering a supportive environment for knowledge sharing and professional development in our field."
On why he joined the LGBTQIA Caucus: "When a small group of us helped found the LGBTQ Caucus many years ago, one of our main goals was to simply give “folks like us” a place where we could be ourselves and share common goals, issues and concerns. Now, we’ve evolved into a strong group whose added goal of educating our constituency about LGBTQ issues on campuses has made differences at colleges around the world. The caucus has made me proud of AACRAO and has helped make me a better administrator. For that, I will always be grateful."
On why he joined the LGBTQIA Caucus: "I'm in the LGBTQIA caucus because I think visibility is a core value as an engaged gay man and as an engaged AACRAO member. I've been involved in the gay movement since the early 70s, the heady days of gay liberation. Now, as our profession as well as our campuses are more diverse than ever, being "out there" says it loud and proud that we all belong and everyone is welcome. As AACRAO advocates for the issues that are critical to our jobs, having the public backing of our caucus is important work, and I want to be part of it."
On why he joined the LGBTQIA Caucus: "I'm in the LGBTQIA caucus because because none of us are free unless all of us are free."
Born and raised in “Calibama”, Eric has ties to the West and the South (which usually makes for interesting conversations). Presently he is one of two registrars at UA’s Graduate School, serving master’s and doctoral students across more than 120 degree programs. Eric lives in Hoover, Alabama with his wife, Monica and their two boys, Diego and Luca. His reason for joining the Latinx Caucus? "There is strength in numbers." When arriving in a new city, at another conference, it is a comfort to identify with a familiar face and all of the shared history and personal stories that often accompany it.
Shirley Caballero is currently the Assistant Director for the Student-Athlete Academic Center at Florida International University. Shirley began her career at FIU in 2011 as an Academic Advisor for Exploratory students and joined the SAAC in June of 2015.
Shirley earned her undergraduate degree from Florida International University in Anthropology and Sociology with a minor in Religious Studies. She then earned her Master’s in Higher Education Administration from the University of Connecticut in 2011.
A Miami native of Cuban descent, Shirley enjoys spending time her family and friends, going to the beach, or catching a good movie at the theater.When asked what she loves about AACRAO she mentioned that she enjoys being part of a community that understands the work she does on her campus and how it feeds into student success.
Laura Remillard has worked in higher education for about 15 years, 12 of which have been at Stanford University. She is a member of Pacific ACRAO (PACRAO), is on the board of the AACRAO’s Women’s Caucus, and is a member of the AACRAO State & Regional Relations Committee.
In 2021, Anita acquired the new role of AACRAO’s Director of Corporate Partnerships managing key relationships with corporate partners to advance AACRAO’s overall mission and strategic growth plan.Before joining AACRAO, Anita led a 20-year career as a sales and marketing professional in the hospitality industry working for Hilton Hotels Corporation, Discover Puerto Rico and Visit Baltimore. Her primary responsibilities focused on customers from the specialty and diverse markets generating revenue and developing strategic marketing plans to optimize business opportunities.Anita also spent 6 years in the non-profit world working for ALPFA (Association of Latino Professionals for America) as the VP of Corporate Development. It’s there that she developed two new initiatives for the organization serving the specific needs of members with ALPFA Veterans and ALPFA LGTB. In her time with ALPFA, Anita worked directly with C-suite executives from Fortune 1000 companies to build, maintain and enhance corporate partnerships while leading 43 professional ALPFA chapters nationwide on local fundraising efforts and sales strategies.She has held many leadership roles with volunteer organizations such as the Network of Latino Meeting Professionals and Meeting Professionals International. Anita holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Early Childhood Education from West Virginia University and enjoys traveling and spending time with her husband and two children in Northern Virginia.
Request Dr. Robert Hornberger as a speaker
In his present position as Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management and Services at Missouri State University (MSU), Dr. Rob Hornberger serves the institution in two major roles – a) coordinate the enrollment goals and initiatives for the entire campus and b) provide executive leadership to the admissions, adult student services, career center, dual credit, enrollment services, enrollment management systems and reporting, financial aid, registrar, scholarships, and veteran student center operational areas. Prior to this position, Dr. Hornberger was the University Registrar at MSU for ten years, overseeing the Registrar’s Office and Veteran Student Center. In that position, he led the office through a comprehensive department review, including the use of the AACRAO Registrar Assessment Guide and Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) guidelines. Dr. Hornberger also served previously as the campus data coordinator in Enrollment Management and Services, and both an assistant director and admission counselor in the Office of Admissions. Dr. Hornberger has presented at AACRAO conferences on the process of creating, maintaining, and sustaining a SEM plan, was published in the SEM Quarterly Journal, and holds an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis and an M.S. in Computer Information Systems.
Dr. Hornberger remains proficient and current with the latest issues and trends in the profession by cultivating strong professional relationships with his counterparts. He has served in high-level leadership roles within AACRAO, such as the chair and vice chair for the AACRAO Annual Meeting Program Committee, Group I Coordinator, Enrollment Management and Retention PAC Chair and Vice Chair for AACRAO, and member of the Nominations and Elections Committee, and has also served as President and other leadership positions of MACRAO (Missouri’s AACRAO).
Since Sept 2019 Steve Ast has been Senior Vice President of Partner Success at InsideTrack where he leads their growth strategy to increase impact. His passion is helping students achieve their education goals in a way that enables them to advance their career and life goals which leads to a noticeable impact on their family and community.
Prior to joining InsideTrack, Steve was Regional Vice-President at Ruffalo Noel Levitz growing their business in their enrollment and fundraising areas. He has also held positions with Wiley Education, Pearson eCollege, and Knowledge Factor.
Steve received his MBA from The University of Texas at Austin - McCombs School of Business. He lives in Evergreen, CO, with his wife and two high-school aged daughters, and their dog Bundles.
His statement for AACRAO's Asian-American and Pacific Islander Caucus: "Growing up as a second-generation Asian immigrant, a college education provided a way out of poverty and gave me the confidence needed to change my life. Throughout the years, I was fortunate to have mentors who helped shaped me personally, academically, and professionally.I am forever grateful and as a way to give back, I strive to continue to make a positive difference in the lives of the students that I encounter in my everyday work. I am committed to providing them with the same supportive mentoring relationships that my mentors provided me.
His statement for AACRAO's Asian-American and Pacific Islander Caucus: "Barack Obama said ‘Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek’, and that is why I am in education so we may be the change that our students can see and aspire to become, as well as assist in the professional development of our colleagues so they may grow and serve our students.I have been in academia almost all of my professional career, including as a member of the Faculty, and now as a Higher Education Administrator. Our goal as Educators and Leaders must be to enrich the lives of others through education, and through hard work be an example to our students who aspire to be something greater in a multi-cultural world that is continuously changing with new challenges."
Her statement for AACRAO's Asian-American and Pacific Islander Caucus: "I am forever grateful and honor my parents who immigrated to this country. They taught me the critical importance of kindness and compassion and the value of education. I have been fortunate to have had the support and help of family, friends, colleagues, and mentors and am committed to help and support others as they pursue education and career opportunities."
My name is Michelle Tsigaridas Weller (she/her), M.Ed. and I serve the New York Law School community in the role of Associate Registrar and Director of Academic Operations. I am the Communications Chair for the National Network for Law School Officers and a leader/advocate for the AACRAO Asian and Pacific Islander Caucus.
Daniel Weber is currently the Registrar and Director of Registrar Services at Oakton College. Dan has also served as University Registrar at both Aurora University and Northeastern Illinois University. Before joining NEIU, Dan served as assistant registrar, associate registrar and registrar at Rush University, and has also worked in undergraduate, transfer, and adult admissions positions at Monmouth College (IL), Eastern Illinois University, DePaul University, and Lewis University.
Dan is Vice Chair of the AACRAO Annual Meeting Program Committee, and past president of the Illinois ACRAO, past chair of AACRAO’s Federal Compliance Committee, past Nominations and Elections Committee member, and past Group VII Coordinator of the Annual Meeting Program Committee. Dan has also authored or co-authored chapters in the following AACRAO publications: 2016 Academic Record and Transcript Guide; Mentorship in Higher Education: Practical Advice and Leadership Theories; Recruiting and Retaining a Diverse Student Body; Registrar’s Basic Guide; 2019 Student Records Management: Retention, Disposal, and Archive of Student Records; and the 2020 Academic Record and Transcript Guide.
Monique L. Snowden, Ph.D., is interim Associate Vice Chancellor of Enrollment Management at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Previously, she was Senior Vice Chancellor for Strategic Enrollment & Student Success and Professor Adjoint in the Department of Communication at the University of Colorado Denver. Dr. Snowden is also teaching faculty for the University of Southern California Race and Equity Center’s Equity Institutes. She formerly served on the AACRAO Board of Directors as Vice President for Access & Equity and currently serves on the association’s Professional Access and Equity Committee.
An Interview with Melanie Gottlieb
First-Generation College Students and Career Development
The Chesapeake and Potomac Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (CAPACRAO) was established in 2012 and serves institutions of higher education in Maryland and the District of Columbia. CAPACRAO is dedicated to developing and perpetuating a vibrant network of resources and learning opportunities. Like many other state and regional organizations, Covid-19 greatly affected CAPACRAO’s 2020 programming. The organization‘s leadership quickly identified new ways to connect and support its members and corporate partners in a virtual setting.
In the spring, CAPACRAO started offering weekly happy hours for various constituent groups including Admissions, Records, Financial Aid, and Transfer. CAPACRAO wanted to provide a platform for these groups to brainstorm and share how Covid was affecting their institutions and operations. Each meeting drew in diverse individuals from a variety of institutional types and filled a need that was clearly missing at that time. During the summer, CAPACRAO continued to host a weekly series, offering lunch and learn sessions in lieu of an in-person annual conference. Topics included professional development, employee management, virtual commencement management, best practices during Covid, change management for new systems and process integrations as well as several corporate partner speakers. The sessions were well-attended and promoted good dialogue. In the fall, CAPACRAO hosted monthly happy hours with virtual board games. The organization continued to distribute monthly newsletters with relevant content for members and increased engagement with members and vendors through social media.
To further help our membership, all events and benefits were free to attend, and the Executive Board voted to offer 2020-2021 FY membership for all 2019-2020 member institutions at no cost due to financial hardships expressed by some member institutions. Additionally, the Executive Board voted to adjust its corporate partner cost structure by offering la carte pricing in lieu of traditional bronze, gold, silver, platinum level sponsorships. Throughout the calendar year, CAPACRAO was committed to offer diverse virtual programming while engaging a variety of members and corporate partners. The CAPACRAO Executive Board is grateful to its standing committee members, membership institutions and corporate partners for their continued collaboration and support of CAPACRAO and looks forward to offering more in-person and virtual professional development and networking opportunities in the year ahead.
Executive Board:
President: Shari Christie, Bowie State University
President-Elect: Reginald Garcon, University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Past President: Johnika Nixon, Prince George’s Community College
VP for Communications/Secretary: Danielle Worsham, University of Maryland College Park
VP for Programming: DeMetra Crawford, Montgomery College
Treasurer: Otu Obot, Prince George’s Community College
Treasurer-Elect: Phaedra Brown, University of Maryland School of Nursing
VP for Membership & Technology: Sheena Jackson, University of Maryland School of Nursing
Standing Committees:
Legislation & Policy: Vacant
Awards & Resolutions: Vacant
Professional Development: Dr. Reginald Garçon, Washington Adventist University
Communications: Danielle Worsham, University of Maryland College Park
Local Arrangements & Program: Cassandra Moore, Anne Arundel Community College
March McConahay, M.S.E.S., currently serves AACRAO in the role of Digital Credential Coordinator. Previously, he worked for Indiana University as the associate registrar of systems for many years before becoming the associate vice provost and registrar. McConahay’s history at IU includes leading the implementation of student records component within an ERP, the implementation electronic (PDF) transcripts, automated workflow for drop/add and grade changes, the Grade Context Record, The Automated Course Exchange, Touchtone Registration, Degree Audit, and others. The Automated Course Exchange (1995-96) and the Grade Context Record (1998-99) projects each received awards from EDUCAUSE and CUMREC. McConahay served as the program director for the AACRAO Technology (now the Technology and Transfer) conference from 2009 to 2016. He also served on the AACRAO Board of Directors from 2017 to 2020 as the vice president for information technology.
McConahay previously received the AACRAO Honorary Membership award (2021), the Indiana University E. Ross Bartley award for service (2021) the IU Bicentennial Medal (2020), Thomas A. Bilger Award (2017) and the Indiana ACRAO Distinguished Service Award (2019). He holds a B.A. in math and an MSES from Indiana University.