Jeff Elliott has been with the University of Missouri System for over 10 years. He is the Sr. Manager of Enterprise Data Warehouse and Reporting and is responsible for data warehousing, enterprise reporting, and the enterprise budget and planning software, Hyperion. His teams support the UM System and four campuses across the state. He represents the data domain on the Division of IT Enterprise Architecture Review Board and has been involved in electronic messaging and data exchange, first in Public Health and now in Higher Education, for over 15 years. He is a pas Chair for the AACRAO SPEEDE Committee and represents AACRAO on the PESC Change Control Board. Jeff has served on the AACRAO SPEEDE Committee for over 4 years.
Tammy Johnson, Ed.D., serves as Executive Director of Doctoral Programs and Assistant Professor of Leadership Studies in the College of Education and Professional Development at Marshall University. Prior to this appointment, she served as AVP of Enrollment and Dean of Admissions at Marshall, with oversight of UG, graduate, and international admissions, as well as immigration, international student services, and student financial aid. Dr. Johnson has served as an AACRAO caucus Co-Chair, taskforce member, and has twice served as chair of the national AACRAO Admissions Policies and Practices Committee. She has presented at many state, regional, and national conferences, including AACRAO, WVACRAO, NAFSA, NASPA, WVASPA, SRCEA, ICEF, MUIPED, and AESA. Her areas of research interest include higher education administration and leadership, as well as issues broadly related to equity and access for historically underserved and/or marginalized populations. Dr. Johnson’s previously published work appears in The Chronicle of Higher Education, AACRAO SEM Quarterly, College & University Journal, NASPA and AACRAO-sponsored books and, most recently, in NACAC’s Fundamentals of College Admission Counseling textbook (2024). She holds earned degrees from The University of Charleston (B.S.), Texas Woman’s University (M.Ed.), and Marshall University (Ed.D.).
Chris provides leadership over the Office of the University Registrar. The Office of the University Registrar comprises of the areas of Academic Scheduling, Academic Records and Graduation, Credit Transfer, Graduation Planning System, Registration and Outgoing Transcripts, System Support and Compliance, and Reporting to State and Federal agencies. As a first-generation college student, Chris understands the significance higher education can have on student success. Chris has two associate degrees from Sinclair Community College, a bachelor’s degree from Park University and a master’s degree from Cleveland State University, and has completed coursework at the doctoral level. Chris has over twenty years’ experience in enrollment management and joined the Kent State team in May 2021. In addition to his work responsibilities, Chris has served as President of the Ohio Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admission Officers, and currently serves as the Co-Chair for the LGBTQIA+ Caucus for the American Association of College Registrars and Admission Officers.
Former college president and top federal policymaker Ted Mitchell became president of the American Council on Education (ACE) on September 1, 2017.
Mitchell brings a wide array of experience and accomplishments from across the higher education sector to ACE, as well as a long-standing focus on helping more students gain access to a postsecondary education and complete their degrees. His background includes service as president of a private liberal arts college, senior administrator at a state university, and trustee of a major research institution.
Mitchell was president of Occidental College from 1999–2005. He served as U.S. under secretary of education from 2014 until January 2017, reporting to the secretary of education and overseeing postsecondary education policies and programs.
2020 SEM-EP Graduate
Dr. Beverly Woodson Day is the Assistant Vice President of Enrollment Management & Director of UG Admissions. Prior to 2013, Beverly spent over 18 years at Texas State University in enrollment. She is active in NACAC with GWI and committees, TACAC, where she served as President, and college Board as a Regional Council member. She has contributed to articles, professional development presentations and panels. She holds a Bachelors in Physics, Masters in Developmental and Adult Education and a Doctor of Philosophy in Adult, Professional, and Community Education (APCE).
Dr. Woodson Day's capstone project for the SEM-EP included was titled: The Future of Enrollment Leadership. This literature review looked at enrollment management and the evolving concept of an enrollment leader, the challenges they face, the roles they play, and the impact they have on an institution. The research focused on attributes, skills, and issues that enrollment leaders face in the changing landscape of Enrollment Management and higher education. The foundational enrollment management concept is the evolution of the enrollment leader.
2020 AACRAO Elections - Nominations and Elections Committee Candidate
Greetings AACRAO Colleagues,
It is with great enthusiasm and humility that I accept the 2021-2022 AACRAO Leadership nomination for the Nomination and Elections Committee.
This statement will speak to my qualifications to fill the role, and what I hope to accomplish if elected. The Nomination and Elections Committee requires an individual to have a keen grasp on working collaboratively with others while exercising integrity. Currently, I am the Assistant Dean of Enrollment Management and Student Success at the Rutgers School of Health Professions. In my role, I understand the value of shared governance, and integrity while working collaboratively with others to accomplish organizational goals and strategic priorities. These skills are greatly needed for individuals serving on the Nomination and Elections Committees.
To add to my qualifications, I have been an active member of AACRAO for approximately nine years. During my membership tenure with AACRAO, I have had the pleasure of presenting a plethora of professional development sessions, and serving on a variety of Caucus/Committees including: the Vice Chair of the Black Caucus, The Vice Chair of the Women’s Caucus, the Co-Chair for the Student Success Taskforce, and a member of the Graduate and Professional Committee. This level of involvement has enabled me to network and build strong rapports and relationships with a multitude of AACRAO colleagues. Additionally, I have been honored to receive the AACRAO emerging leader award that acknowledged individuals who have made exceptional contributions to AACRAO and shows promise a rising leader. Lastly, I am active in my professional association region serving as the President-Elect for the Middle States Association of Collegiate Registrars and Officers of Admissions (MSACROA).
If elected, my platform would be to ensure that the AACRAO membership body receives an inclusive and diverse slate that serves as a representation of the AACRAO professional body, and the student, faculty, and administrative constituents that we support at our respective institutions. Additionally, I would like to work to develop a best practice manual for nomination and elections committees that can serve as a model for other professional organization of higher education.
I sincerely thank you for your consideration.
Bianca is the Assistant Dean for Enrollment Management and Student Success and the Director of the Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) program at the Rutgers School of Health Professions. She has roughly twenty years of experience in higher education serving in a variety of leadership and academic roles. Prior to working for higher education, she counseled “at-risk” adolescents with career and educational guidance.
Fahduma joined AACRAO's Communications team in 2018. She works actively with the Caucuses in promotional material and new initiatives.
Prior to AACRAO, Fahduma worked at the National Association for Broadcasters, and Asian-American Lead where she mentored and developed AAPI youth in the D.C. metro area.
Fahduma graduated from George Mason University with a degree in Global Affairs, and a concentration in the media, communication, and culture.
Kara has worked as the Assistant Director of Membership, Operations and Publications since 2018. She holds a Masters in Ethics in Peace and Global Affairs from American University as well as a Bachelors degree from The George Washington University in Human Services and Social Justice.
Before AACRAO, she worked with the Urban Alliance preceded by a year working in Monduli, Tanzania.
Laura Avitabile Wankel, Ed.D. retired from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts where she served as the Interim Vice Chancellor for Learner Engagement, Senior Advisor for Strategic Initiatives to the Senior Vice Chancellor for Educational Innovation and the Vice President for Student Affairs
Prior to Northeastern University, Dr. Wankel was at Seton Hall University where she served as Vice President for Student Affairs from 1995 to 2011. While at Seton Hall she also held titles of Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Vice President for Student Affairs & Enrollment Services. During her tenure she had been responsible for a variety of services and programs in enrollment management and student life. Before Seton Hall University, Dr. Wankel served as Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs and an Assistant Dean for Campus and Residence Operations at the State University of New York at Purchase. Prior to that she held student affairs positions at the University of Pittsburgh.
Dr. Wankel has been active in NASPA: Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education serving in leadership roles at both the regional and national level including Regional Vice President, Executive Committee and Chair of the NASPA Board. Dr. Wankel has also been on the editorial boards for the NASPA Journal and the Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice (JSARP). She was honored by the NASPA Foundation and named a Pillar of the Profession in 2015.
Dr. Wankel holds a bachelor’s degree in American History from SUNY Oneonta where she graduated magna cum laude. She holds a M.Ed. from the University of South Carolina and an Ed.D. in higher education administration from Teachers College, Columbia University. Dr. Wankel also received a certificate from the Institute for Educational Management (IEM) from the Harvard Institute for Higher Education. Dr. Wankel has served in a consulting capacity to a number of education-related projects, including, Learn and Serve America and the Corporation for National and Community Service (AmeriCorps), and the Lumina Foundation Comprehensive Student Record Project.
As Provost and Chief Academic Officer at Western Governors University, Dr. Marni Baker Stein leads all Colleges, supports academic and student success services, and manages their financial sustainability. Under her guidance, WGU develops, implements, and scales programs that improve access and affordability for students, without compromising academic quality.
Prior to WGU, Marni served as Chief Innovation Officer for the University of Texas System’s Institute for Transformational Learning. She was also Senior Associate Dean of Columbia University’s School of Continuing Education, where she oversaw the school’s academic portfolio and was responsible for the development, design, and evaluation of all online and hybrid programs.
In August 2016, Marni was selected by the Department of Education to serve as a member of the National Technical Working Group charged with expanding the 2016 National Educational Technology Plan and using technology to transform higher education.
Marni has a Ph.D. in Teaching, Learning, and Curriculum from the University of Pennsylvania.
Alex Kaplan leads IBM’s global work on the application of emerging technologies as an enabler of lifelong learning pathways and talent transformation. This work encompasses leading IBM’s learning and industry credentials blockchain initiative. As well as work with the US Department of Commerce and the White House on Learning and Education Records. Previously, Alex worked closely with the IBM teams that created Personalized Learning on Cloud, Watson Classroom, and Watson Tutor. Alex has closely collaborated with leading organizations in industry and education, including the White House, US Dept of Education, Apple, Pearson, and Sesame Workshop. He speaks frequently on the topic of the transformational potential of advanced technologies on learning and talent. Alex has spoken at; both the Harvard and Columbia Graduate Schools of Education, the IMS Global Learning Consortium, the Getty Foundation, IBM Research, Blockchain Revolution conference, the National Institute of Standards, and many others.
Alex is the Global Leader, Blockchain and AI for industry credentials in IBM’s Talent & Transformation practice. He is also a Member of the IBM Industry Academy and serves on the board of directors of the IMS Global Learning Consortium.
For more information about Alex Kaplan and to access webinars and papers about his professional work, please visit his LinkedIn account; www.linkedin.com/in/alexkaplanibm.
Andy Trainor is currently the VP of Walmart US Learning. In this role, Andy and his team are focused on the strategy, innovation, content development, and delivery of the training for all of Walmart US. This includes all training for the home office, supply chain, and the store academies, which he led in his prior role.
Previously, Andy spent 4 years as the Sr. Director for China Implementation for International Business Processes responsible for sharing and implementing Walmart global best practices within the China business. In this role, Andy and his team manage a locally based implementation team to work with the business in expanding the capabilities of the business functions within China through leverage and execution.
Prior to this, Andy was responsible for the International Logistics Engineering team where he was responsible for establishing, developing, and working with the logistics engineers in 28 countries to improve productivity and processes within the logistics and transportation businesses. Prior to his international roles, Andy worked in the US logistics division where he worked on the Grocery Industrial Engineering team designing mechanized grocery distribution centers, developing process improvement projects, and managing a team of field industrial engineers. Before Walmart, Andy worked as the Industrial Engineering Manager for Fred’s Inc, a retail store chain based in Memphis Tennessee.
Andy has 19 years with Walmart and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering from The University of Memphis and a Master’s Degree in Business from Webster’s University.
Mr. Torres joined the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) as its President and CEO in 2008. Under his leadership the Clearinghouse has continued to successfully extend its mission delivery of access driven service to education, which today comprises over 3,700 higher education institutions and nearly 14,000 high schools, school districts, and 43 states and thousands of outreach organizations, executing over 2.4 billion transactions annually, saving the education community over $850 million a year. Through his leadership the Clearinghouse has grown its education serving transactions by a factor of 8X over the past decade, with a 12% revenue CAGR to support the nation-wide services that the Clearinghouse offers the K-20W community and lifelong learners.
In addition, the Clearinghouse has evolved its non-profit mission execution to the education community by providing accessible innovative technology-based services and data exchange solutions that enable education institutions and organizations to focus on being engines that maximize human potential development. NSC's mission’s intent is to democratize data and information enabling all learners to benefit, including an intentional emphasis on enabling research based vulnerable population trajectory change. The Clearinghouse is a leader in advocating privacy, security, transparency, and responsible use of data to provide better understanding of student educational pathway performance to the benefit of students, institutions, and policymakers.
Facing the challenges of COVID19 on vulnerable populations, today the Clearinghouse is on the leading edge of the future of workforce initiatives through its engagement with industry leaders such as IBM and Walmart in the Interoperable Learner Record (ILR) initiative, which is led by the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board, a Federal initiative designed to transform how learners, educators and industry collaborate to enable learners to obtain the right skills at the right time for the right job.
Mr. Torres has been an active board member of the John Tyler Community College Foundation for the past 19 years and serves on the Board of the National College Access Network (NCAN). He also sat on the Board of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) from 2012 to 2016. He was a founding member and sits on the Executive Committee of the Groningen Declaration Network Group, a multi-national group of leaders dedicated to developing a trusted international data exchange ecosystem. In 2017 and 2018, Mr. Torres was selected as an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist for the Mid-Atlantic region. He was a recipient of the Washington Business Journal’s 2013 Minority Business Leader Award. Mr. Torres holds an MBA in International Finance from Georgetown University and undergraduate degrees in both Marketing and Management from Manhattan College.
Role: President
Dr. Kevin Pollock is President of Central Carolina Technical College, a position he began in January 2021. Prior to this role, he served as the fifth President of Montgomery County Community College. Dr. Pollock has more than 40 years of education experience at four-year private and public colleges as well as community colleges. His diverse roles include college administration, strategic planning, leadership, and enrollment management. He is a national expert on student success models, a frequent national speaker who has spoken more than 130 times at conferences and colleges. He has authored more than two dozen book chapters and articles.
At Montgomery County Community College, Dr. Pollock oversaw the implementation of a new core curriculum, including math reform, and the creation of pathways for all College programs. During his tenure, the College created a new vision, mission, and strategic plan, and updated its brand and marketing strategies. The College implemented an integrated holistic advising approach, developed through the Gates Foundation iPass grants, and opened a new $31M Allied Health Building. In addition, the College enhanced its student success models by creating short-term enrollment goals, moving to a virtual bookstore platform, and creating a 24/7 tutoring model.
Before arriving at Montgomery, Dr. Pollock served as President of St. Clair County Community College in Port Huron, Michigan, from 2009-2016. During his tenure, the institution experienced record enrollment, embarked on new student success initiatives, created early and middle college programs, increased its grant funding, became a leader in green initiatives, and strengthened its connections with the community. The institution also adopted a new vision, mission, and data-informed strategic plan, that was tied to national best practices.
Prior to assuming a presidential role, Dr. Pollock spent nine years as Vice President of Student Services at West Shore Community College in Scottville, Michigan. Prior to that, he held roles at Lake Superior State University, Lawrence Technological University, and Kettering University, where held leadership roles in admissions and recruitment. He taught middle and high school English early in his career. Dr. Kevin Pollock has also served as an AACRAO Senior Consultant.
Dr. Pollock holds a Ph.D. in Higher, Adult and Lifelong Education from Michigan State University and a Master of Arts in Education and Bachelor of Science in Education from Central Michigan University.
Request President Tomikia LeGrande as a speaker
AboutTomikia P. LeGrande, Ed.D., became the ninth president of Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) on June 1, 2023. Her career in higher education is marked by successive leadership roles and professional achievements.
Before joining PVAMU, Dr. LeGrande served as vice president for strategy, enrollment management and student success at Virginia Commonwealth University, where she led the development and implementation of the university’s strategic plan, priorities, and goals to influence national prominence, strategic partnerships, and student access and success. Other senior level leadership roles prior to VCU include vice president for student affairs and enrollment management at the University of Houston-Downtown, and associate vice chancellor for enrollment management at Winston Salem State University.
Throughout her career, Dr. LeGrande’s focus has been on advancing equity, accessibility, and affordability in higher education. She works to create and sustain engaging and supportive cultures for faculty, staff and students resulting in positive institutional outcomes. She has been prolific in securing resources to support innovation and accelerate progress. In all of her career endeavors, Dr. LeGrande has created “cultures of care” utilizing her expertise in strategic planning, new technology implementation, change management, and policy and business process redesign. With a personalized approach, she engages at all levels of an organization– forming, deploying and managing cross-organizational teams that find solutions to impediments that may impact university progress.
As a two-time graduate of HBCUs, and having earned a doctorate in higher education leadership, Dr. LeGrande understands the transformative power of education in helping students dismantle class, social, and cultural barriers. She believes that centered and effective leadership in higher education can amplify and accelerate the social mobility of all students, but especially of those from communities that have been underserved and underrepresented.
At the national level, Dr. LeGrande is actively engaged in issues of access, parity, higher education policy and leadership development. She is a sought-after thought leader, and a regular presenter and facilitator on the topics of enrollment management, educational equity and student success. She testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor in 2019 during a hearing on “Innovation to Improve Equity: Exploring High-Quality Pathways to a College Degree.” She was also the recipient of the Governor’s “Champion for Change Award” for the Commonwealth of Virginia in 2021.
IMS Global Learning Consortiumjbohrer@imsglobal.orgJeff Bohrer’s career has focused on supporting the mission of educational institutions through academic technology administration, support, and training. Jeff serves as a program manager for digital credentials initiatives at IMS Global Learning Consortium, a non-profit, member-driven organization whose mission is to enable the adoption and impact of innovative learning technology. Jeff leads a variety of projects and programs related to digital badges, comprehensive learner records, and the interoperability of learning technologies. Jeff is also co-chair of the EDUCAUSE Microcredentials and Badges Constituent Group.Prior to joining IMS, Jeff was an academic technology manager at the University of Wisconsin-Madison responsible for leading teams that support university-wide systems for learning management, media delivery, collaboration, content development, assessment, and analytics. Jeff also served on numerous committees at the campus, state, and national levels. Additionally, Jeff has held academic technology positions at Dartmouth College and in the Mahtomedi (MN) Public Schools. Jeff holds a master's degree in technology for learning and development and a bachelor's degree in secondary education, both from the University of South Dakota.
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Dan Alig is the Chief Information Officer of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He leads Wharton Computing in delivering IT resources to faculty, students, staff, and alumni and developing strategies to enhance the School’s mission with technology. He began working at Wharton in 1999, supporting technology for the Graduate Division and has since moved through a variety of job functions with progressively increasing responsibility. Dan led the team that built the implementation of Course Match, which doubled student satisfaction with course registration and cut schedule inequality in half. His leadership brought together an inter-disciplinary and multi-function group from the registrar's office, IT, and faculty to realize Wharton's largest increase in student happiness in 20 years.
Matt Boulos is the founder and CEO of Cognomos, the company that supports the continued development and wide-spread deployment of Course Match in higher education. He is an experienced founder with a track record of creating solutions for the social sector and higher education. Course Match is a registration platform that uses an algorithm to distribute class schedules based on student preferences. It is the only registration method in production that is simultaneously fair, efficient, and strategy-proof. Its underlying concepts were first developed at Harvard and Carnegie Mellon (in economics and computer science) to find a practical way to improve the process of course enrolment for higher education institutions. The research was adopted by the University of Pennsylvania in 2013 for the flagship MBA program of its Wharton School. After this success, the University of Pennsylvania received considerable inbound interest from other academic institutions hoping to deploy the Course Match technology. It chose to form a separate company called Cognomos (in which it maintains an ownership stake) to deploy, support, and develop the product, with the goal of ensuring the long-term stability of Course Match.