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Dr. Laura Parson

 

Laura Parson is an Assistant Professor of Higher Education. Her Ph.D. is in Teaching & Learning, Higher Education from the University of North Dakota. Additionally, she has a MEd in Adult Education from Westminster College with a certification in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESOL). Dr. Parson's research interests focus on identifying the institutional practices, processes, and discourses that coordinate the experiences of women and underrepresented groups in higher education, explored through a critical lens. Her areas of research include Women in Higher Education, STEM in Higher Education, and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). Dr. Parson is a qualitative methodologist, with a focus on ethnographic and discourse methods of inquiry; her research questions seek to understand how pedagogy, classroom climate, institutional environment, curriculum, and faculty characteristics inform student experiences, and how the institution coordinates those factors through translocal practices.
 

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Maria Kostavasili

 

Maria Kostavasili was born and raised in Greece and has over 15 years of experience training, supervising, and mentoring a diverse workforce in international higher education and military environments. As the spouse of a retired American military member, she has learned to size up her environment and quickly adapt. Having moved frequently, she understands the importance of learning to work with people from all over the world and effectively integrating as an able team member.

Maria holds a bachelor’s degree in Humanities and a master’s in Public Administration and she speaks multiple languages. She worked for University of Maryland University College in Europe initially as an Academic Advisor and later as the Associate Director for Academic Advising, responsible for student advising and evaluating students’ foreign credentials over Europe and the Middle East.

Maria joined the Fulbright Association in July of 2017 as a volunteer Senior Travel Fellow. In her role, she assisted the Travel Task Force committee in developing trips for the Fulbright alumni and Fulbright friends, including planning, developing, administering, and successfully executing a service, educational trip in Greece in May 2019.

Since summer 2017 she has worked for AACRAO as an International Education Evaluator, focusing primarily on student applications from China, India, Greece, and Cyprus.

 

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Nancy Keteku

Nancy Keteku, originally from Massachusetts, has lived in Ghana since 1976. She has directed the U.S. Embassy's Educational Advising Center in Accra since 1990 and has served as the Department of State's Regional Educational Advising Coordinator for Sub-Saharan Africa. Regional Educational Advising Coordinators are responsible for promoting increased enrollment of African students in U.S. higher education. She travels throughout Africa and represents the region's interests in publications and conference presentations. Nancy holds a Bachelor's degree from Vassar College, and her first taste of international education took place at Leningrad State University in 1971.

 

Kathleen Trayte Freeman

Kathleen Trayte Freeman has more than 20 years of experience in international admissions and foreign credential evaluation. She co-authored the 2007 AACRAO publication, The Educational System of France, as well as AACRAO monographs on the educational systems of Tunisia, Mauritania, Yemen and Seychelles. Ms. Freeman was a participant in the 2002 Fulbright Higher Education Administrators program in Germany, the 1999 Baden-Wurttemberg Seminar, and was selected for the NAFSA-OSEAS-State Department Program in Lyon, France in 1998. She is an active member of NAFSA: Association of International Educators where she served as chair of the Recruitment, Admission and Preparation (RAP) Knowledge Community and is the layout and design editor of the RAP newsletter, wRAP Up. She was previously the RAP representative to the NAFSA Subcommittee on Information Management and served as chair of the Web Access Task Force.

 

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Don Terpstra

Don Terpstra spent 22 years as a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Information Agency and U.S. Department of State. While abroad, his duties in cultural and public affairs included managing professional and academic exchange programs. He holds a BA in English and MA in history.

 

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Barbara B. Glave

Barbara B. Glave began participating in international education when she transferred in 1965 to the Universidad de las Américas, Mexico City, from which she graduated in 1967 with a B.A. in Spanish, with minors in French and Linguistics. At LSU, she earned an M.A. in Spanish and Romance Philology in 1969, plus 24 additional credits in the same fields. From 1972 to 1983, she taught Spanish and English/ESL at the University of Houston – Downtown. In 1982, she passed the ATA Spanish-to-English certification exam. In 1980, she co-founded SpanTran Educational Services in Houston; she remained until 2012. In 2013, she joined Credential Consultants as a part-time translator and researcher; in 2014, she joined SDR Evaluations and Translations as a part-time evaluator and researcher.

 Barbara is a longtime member of ATA and NAFSA: Association of International Educators; she served on the NAFSA Trainers Corps, 2009-16. She has served on the Scholarship and Publications Committee of AICE, the Association of International Credential Evaluators.

 Barbara has authored/co-authored ten country profiles for the NAFSA Online Guide to Educational Systems Around the World: Albania, Argentina, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico and Sudan as well as an overview of Mexican education for NAFSA IEM Spotlight, posted April, 2014. In addition to the accomplishments detailed above, she has over 80 activities as a committee member, consultant, panelist, moderator, session presenter, and workshop leader in comparative international education. She is the recipient of the 2015 NAFSA Region III Outstanding Service award.

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Linda Kosene

Linda Kosene has a Bachelor’s Degree in Humanities from Thomas A. Edison State College and a Master’s Degree in Counseling from Rowan University, both New Jersey institutions. She was the Associate Director of Marketing and Editor of International Publications for AACRAO. Linda has worked in the area of college/university admissions and records since 1999. In that capacity, she’s been responsible for developing policies and procedures for international students and, additionally, serving as the designated service officer. Most recently, Linda worked to promote a not-for-profit in the field of foreign credential evaluation and spoke frequently on this topic at regional conferences. She has also completed two, independent research projects; one in the area of intercultural communications and the other on career counseling for returning adult students and presented her findings at regional conferences. Linda has worked extensively as a freelance writer in South Florida. 

 

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Jane Yahr Shepard

Jane Yahr Shepard has worked as the International Admission Manager in the Office of Admissions at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her experience in the field of international education includes foreign credential evaluation, international student admissions, international scholarship management, and cross-cultural training and instruction. She has made presentations on topics related to international admissions at state, regional and national levels, and has done research and publication for various professional journals and a PIER publication (Poland). She has been a member of AACRAO's International Publication Advisory Committee (Chair from 2005-07). She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism and a Master of Arts degree in Education and Human Development, with a specialization in International Education.

 

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Ravi Kallur

Dr. Ravi Kallur is currently the Assistant Professor of Medical Humanities, Assistant Dean of Graduate Medical Education and Director of E. Grey Dimond MD Program in International Medicine at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He has a PhD in Higher Education Administration and an MPA in health care administration. Dr. Kallur has extensive experience in international recruitment, admissions, advising, immigration, programming and office administration. He is the co-author of Special Report on India published by AACRAO/NAFSA. He has presented at regional and national meetings of AACRAO and NAFSA on topics of Indian Higher Education to best practices in developing international programs office. He reviews applications for undergraduate and graduate placement of FSA, Muskie and other programs.

 

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Shahrzad Kamyab

Dr. Shahrzad Kamyab, born in Iran, holds a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration with an emphasis in Comparative International Education from Florida State University. She has been a professor of Comparative Education and Student Teaching Supervisor at Chapman University, and Coordinator for Study Abroad at Grossmont College in San Diego. She was invited to Iran by the Ministry of Education to conduct workshops for Iranian educators, and has consulted with the Ministry of Education on various projects. She has also been published in Russia and has been invited to lecture at the pedagogical universities in Siberia.

Dr. Kamyab is the author of book chapters and articles with a focus on youth unemployment and higher education in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and specifically Iran's Higher Education. Currently, authoring an edited volume on Internationalization of Higher education and the unintended consequences. In addition, Dr. Kamyab has been a visiting professor in Mexico and Iran.

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Tara Schumacher

Tara Schumacher, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, holds a B.A. in Arts Administration from Cabrini College. She has been working in the field of international admissions for 18 years at Temple University, with the past 16 years spent as the international credential evaluator for Temple University Graduate School. Tara is a member of NAGAP and AACRAO.
 

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Marcelle Heerschap

 

Marcelle Heerschap had 30 years of administrative experience in admissions and student advising at private and public universities in the United States. Ms. Heerschap has lived and worked in Jamaica, England, Canada, and South Africa and holds degrees from Brock University in Ontario, Canada and the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida. She was a participant in the 1989 Projects for International Education and Research (PIER) Workshop to Canada and traveled extensively throughout the Caribbean and Latin America on behalf of the College Board. Ms. Heerschap is retired and living in St. Petersburg, Florida.
 

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Carol McAllister

Carol McAllister has served as the Assistant Director of International Admissions and Special Programs at California State University, Northridge. She has a Master of Arts in Educational Administration from California State University, Northridge and a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from the University of Southern California. Carol has been involved in international education and evaluation since 1982 and has presented at NAFSA and AACRAO conferences.

 

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Dr. Linda Jahn

Dr. Linda Jahn earned her Master of Science degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and her Ph.D. in Counselor Education from the University of North Texas. She served as Admissions Counselor at the University of Nebraska from 1974-1984 and as Director of International Admissions at the University of North Texas from 1985 to 2001. She has served as Director of International Academic Credential Evaluators, Inc. in Denton, Texas. Dr. Jahn has contributed to AACRAO and NAFSA publications including The Guide (an AACRAO resource for International Admissions Professionals), PIER Workshop Report on Canada, and The Educational System of France.

 

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Marilee Hong

Marilee Hong graduated with a Bachelor’s degree from San Diego State University (SDSU). Currently, she has been an International Academic Specialist in the Office of Advising and Evaluations, Enrollment Services at SDSU. A majority of Marilee’s career at SDSU has been affiliated with the admission of international students (graduate and undergraduate), evaluation of international credentials, and student advising with international documents. She was part of the NAFSA Training Corp, and led two training Evaluation credential workshops. She has also served as Chair of the AACRAO International Admissions Committee, led two AACRAO International Admissions Workshops and authored the chapter “How to Evaluate International Credentials” in AAACRAO International Guide: A Resource for International Education Professionals, an AACRAO-PIER publication. She also serves on AACRAO's International Publication Advisory Committee (IPAC) committee. 

 

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Kristalina Karabunarlieva

Kristalina Karabunarlieva has served as the assistant director of the Office of International Admissions at the University of Houston, Texas. She holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Classical Languages and English Language from the Sofia University, and an MBA degree from the Bourgas Free University in Bulgaria. As a member of the NAFSA Trainer Corps and the NAFSA Curriculum Development Team, she conducts regional and national workshops and sessions. Kristalina has also served as NAFSA Region III South Texas State Representative.

 

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Mark A. Ashwill

 

I have spent my entire career as an international educator and education entrepreneur working in the public, non-profit, and private sectors in three different countries. I am currently the Managing Director of Capstone Vietnam, a full-service educational consulting company with offices in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), a position I have held since the company’s founding in 2009.

Capstone’s latest website, Recruit in Viet Nam, is a one-stop online resource for student recruitment that is devoted exclusively to non-commission-based recruitment tools and techniques.

Capstone is the only company in Viet Nam, and probably the world, that works exclusively with regionally accredited institutions of higher education in the US and officially accredited schools in other countries. Its unique business model addresses the needs of both institutional and individual clients.

From 2005 to 2009, I served as country director of the Institute of International Education in Viet Nam. Prior to that, I was director of the World Languages Institute, adjunct lecturer, and Fulbright program adviser at the State University of New York at Buffalo (SUNY/Buffalo).

During 1994/95, I worked as a primary researcher on the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) Case Study Project in Germany, Japan and the U.S. I was a Research Associate at the University of Michigan’s Center for Human Growth and Development (CHGD) and a visiting scholar at the Goethe University Frankfurt and Northwestern University.

Among other work related to the Case Study Project, I edited and contributed to The Educational System in Germany: Case Study Findings and co-authored the chapter on “The Development and Implementation of Education Standards in the United States” that appeared in 

It was my privilege and honor to have worked with the late Dr. Harold W. Stevenson, the project director and a professor at the University of Michigan at the time. Dr. Stevenson was a developmental psychologist whose comprehensive studies in the 1980s showed that schoolchildren in Asia outperformed US American children often because they simply worked harder.

In 2003, I became the first US American to be awarded a Fulbright Senior Specialist Grant to Viet Nam. I have served as an adviser to VietAbroader, a student-run, nonprofit whose slogan is Empower Vietnamese Youth, since its founding in 2004 and am a member of the advisory board of Teachers for Vietnam, a U.S.-based non-profit organization. I’m the only foreign member of the Science and Training Council of the University of Education, Viet Nam National University, Hanoi.

I’ve written and presented widely on issues related to Viet Nam, US-Viet Nam relations, Vietnamese studying overseas, international student recruitment, accreditation, commissions-based recruitment, international student access and equity, the use of education as a tool of soft power, nationalism, global citizenship education, and the development of intercultural competence.

I am the author of Vietnam Today: A Guide to a Nation at a Crossroads (with Thái Ngọc Diệp), published in 2005 by Intercultural Press (now Nicholas Brealey Publishing). This substantive introduction to Vietnamese culture and society has been widely cited. Vietnam Today appeared on a list of the top 40 books about Viet Nam, compiled in 2013 by the Vietnam Studies Group.

In 2009, I co-authored a book chapter entitled “Developing Globally Competent Citizens: The Contrasting Cases of the United States and Vietnam,” (with Dương Thị Hoàng Oanh) that appeared in The SAGE Handbook of Intercultural Competence (ed. Darla Deardorff).

I’ve been an external reviewer for the Comparative Education Review, published by The University of Chicago Press, and am currently one for the Journal of Studies in International Education, published by Boston College (US) and La Trobe University (Australia).

My work has been published by the BBCThe Buffalo NewsThe Chronicle of Higher EducationThe Comparative Education ReviewCounterPunchForbes VietnamThe Huffington Post, for which I was a blogger, International Educator (NAFSA), ICEF MonitorInside HigherEdInternational Higher Education (Boston College), The PIE BlogUniversity World NewsVietnam Full DisclosureVNExpress International, and World Education News & Reviews (WES), among others.

In Viet Nam, I have been interviewed and/or quoted by the following media outlets: VTV1, 2, 4, 6, HTV, Thanh NienTien PhongTuoi Tre, VietnamNetGiao Duc Viet NamLao DongSoha.vnSaigon Times OnlineVietnam Economic TimesCPVVietceteraVNExpress International, the Voice of VietnamZing, among others. My Vietnamese language publications have appeared in VNExpress and Zing.vn, both top 10 media outlets, as well as Tia Sang, a well-known online and print journal.

I have been interviewed and/or quoted by the following foreign (non-Vietnamese) media outlets: Asia TimesCasper Star-Tribune (WY), The Chronicle of Higher EducationCollege TimesCNN International Business TravelerCounterPunchThe Daily NNA (Japan), Financial Times (of London), Honolulu Star Bulletin (HI), ICEF MonitorIIE Networker, IIE research publications (e.g., Globally Mobile Youth: Trends in International Secondary Students in the United States, 2013-2016), International EducatorThe PIE NewsTechTrendsUniversity World NewsUSA Today, etc.

I have presented at numerous conferences in Viet Nam and the US based on submitted proposals and by invitation. The six (6) most recent presentations – in descending chronological order – are:

  • Vietnamese Student Recruitment in Challenging Times, NAFSA: Association of International Educators annual conference, 29 May 2019, Washington, D.C. Chair and presenter. (Poster session)
  • Commissions-Based International Student Recruitment Agents: Is There a Better Way?, NAFSA annual conference, 29 May 2019, Washington, D.C. Panelist.
  • 4th Annual Viet Nam Recruitment Seminar, an unofficial, pre-NAFSA annual conference seminar, 27 May 2019, Washington, D.C. (Hosted by George Washington University and sponsored by Study in the USA).
  • Riding the Wave: Student Recruitment in Viet Nam, an unofficial, pre-NAFSA annual conference seminar, 28 May 2018, Philadelphia, PA. (Hosted by Drexel University English Language Center and sponsored by Study in the USA.)
  • Keys to Successful Non-Commission-Based Recruitment in Viet Nam, NAFSA annual conference, 2 June 2017, Los Angeles, CA. Chair and panelist.
  • Introducing the Elephant in the Room: US Nationalism, annual conference of the Association of International Education Administrators (AIEA), February 2017, Washington, D.C. Chair and panelist.

I earned a Ph.D. in Comparative and Higher Education from the SUNY/Buffalo Department of Educational Leadership and Policy, where I studied with Philip G. AltbachHarold J. Noah and Gail P. Kelly, among others. I hold M.A. and B.A. degrees from the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) and the University of Delaware, respectively. I also studied, taught, and conducted research in Germany, including the German Democratic Republic (East Germany).

I am a member of NAFSA: Association of International Educators, the Fulbright Association, and the General Society of Mayflower Descendants (GSMD). My personal email address is markashwill[AT]hotmail.com

 

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Chris J. Foley

Chris J. Foley is the Associate Vice President for University Academic Affairs as well as the Director of the Office of Online Education at Indiana University. He has worked in admissions, public relations, and marketing for Indiana since 2001 and has experience with recruitment, market analysis, strategic planning, admissions, technology, credit transfer and immigration. He authored AACRAO's The Educational System of Kyrgyzstan and edited AACRAO's publication on the educational systems of Central Asia. He has been an instructor of international credentials evaluation since 2005 as well as a consultant on international admissions, credentials evaluation, and recruitment. He has served on numerous committees for AACRAO and NAFSA concerning international education. Chris holds a BA from the University of Arkansas and an MA and MFA from Indiana University.

 

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Walker Parent

Walker Parent began working with international students at the University of Texas at Austin in 2005. During that time, he received a Bachelor of Arts and spent six months studying in Argentina. He took a year off from international admissions to teach drama in Hong Kong. He has worked as an Administrative Assistant at the Graduate and International Admissions Center for the University of Texas. He thoroughly enjoys working with international students and learning new things about the educational systems of foreign countries.