Amy Gleason is a Assistant Registrar at Duke University and was a 2024 AACRAO Congressional Hill Day Advocate.
Bryant Faust is an Associate Dean and Registrar at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and was a 2024 AACRAO Congressional Hill Day Advocate.
Audra McQuarie is a Vice President, Registrar at University of Phoenix and was a 2024 AACRAO Congressional Hill Day Advocate.
Nicholas Tonozzi is an Associate University Registrar at Northwestern University and was a 2024 AACRAO Congressional Hill Day Advocate.
Kenneth Drake is a Associate Registrar at New York University and was a 2024 AACRAO Congressional Hill Day Advocate.
Blake Bedsole is a Associate Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management at Troy University and was a 2024 AACRAO Congressional Hill Day Advocate.
Ryan Hunt is a University Registrar at The Ohio State University and was a 2024 AACRAO Congressional Hill Day Advocate.
Michelle Gruber is a Associate Registrar at Butler University and was a 2024 AACRAO Congressional Hill Day Advocate.
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With over 25 years of work experience in higher education, I am a passionate and dedicated leader who strives to make a positive impact on students, faculty, and staff. My core competencies include strategic enrollment management, adult education, staff development, and academic administration. As an adjunct faculty and advisory board member, I currently leverage my expertise and skills to support the doctoral program in higher education at Fairleigh Dickinson University and the reenrollment services at myFootpath.Previously, I served as the Executive Vice President of Education at Helms College until October 2023, where I led the institution wholly. Additionally, I have published journal articles and book chapters on enrollment management and higher education leadership and have made nearly 100 presentations at regional and national conferences. I have been an AACRAO member since 2002, and served on the AACRAO Board as the Vice President for Admissions and Enrollment Management from 2014 -2017.
Interview with Don Hossler
Aaron Oberman, Ph.D., is an associate professor of counselor education at The Citadel and serves as the program coordinator for school counseling programs. His scholarly interests include the ASCA National Model and best practices in teaching and training school counseling students.
Examining College Admissions Counseling Curricula within School Counselor Preparation Programs
Kara Hadley-Shakya serves as the Associate Vice President for University Admissions at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), commencing her role in January 2024. Prior to that, she served as the Executive Director of Recruitment and Admissions at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. Hadley-Shakya is a SEM practitioner who brings more than fifteen years of experience in higher education. Her experience in admissions positively impacts students from diverse backgrounds and helps them attain their academic and personal goals in a supportive and inclusive environment. She is a member of AACRAO and presented at the 108th Annual Meeting. She earned her B.S. and M.S. from St. Cloud State University.
The First Two Years of College: Predicting Academic Success and Promoting Four-Year Completion
Rebecca Weston, Ph.D., is Associate Dean in The Graduate School and Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). She received her Ph.D. in experimental psychology at the University of North Texas, with specializations in interpersonal relationships and quantitative methods. She has conducted research on relationships and partner violence for more than 20 years. Her more recent research on graduate student success is an outgrowth of her service as inaugural director of the Ph.D. program in psychology at UTSA. After seeing firsthand what factors facilitate and impede students’ successful degree completion and career placement, she was excited to have the opportunity to directly impact graduate students’ success in her role at The Graduate School working with a dedicated and passionate group on implementing and evaluating initiatives such as Keep Running with Us, the annual Graduate Student Well-Being Survey, and the Transdisciplinary Teams Grand Challenge.
Keep Running with Us: An Innovative Program at a Hispanic-Serving Institution Designed to Increase Graduate Enrollment of Hispanic/Latinx Students
Meng Ni, Ph.D.,is a strategic enrollment management data specialist and functional analyst at University of Houston-Clear lake (UHCL). Her career in higher education began in 2017 as a faculty member and student advisor. At UHCL, she develops data-driven enrollment strategies and provides input and recommendations to the SEM team for goal setting and long-term planning. She is a member of AACRAO and presented at the 108th Annual Meeting. Dr. Meng Ni earned her B.S. from Sun Yet-sen University, China, and her Ph.D. from University of Miami.
Jeffrey Ragsdale, Ed.D., is the Assistant Vice Provost of Graduate Studies at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). He and his team lead student success initiatives involving DegreeWorks, Annual Review and IDP and the Bold Doctoral Staged Orientation series. Together these three initiatives were developed to remove barriers and demystify processes to degree completion. Prior to this position, he served as assistant dean of the UTSA Graduate School where he led the enrollment and recruitment strategies where, as part of the leadership team, the Keep Running with Us program was created. He is a three-time alum of the University of Texas with a bachelor’s degree in humanities, master’s in educational leadership and policy studies with a concentration in higher education administration, and received his Ed.D. in educational leadership with a concentration in higher education.
Ambika Mathur, Ph.D., is Senior Vice Provost for Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and Graduate Dean at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). Dr. Mathur received her doctoral degree from the University of Iowa and has held faculty positions at the University of Minnesota and Wayne State University. Dr. Mathur is deeply committed to the advancement of all aspects of training for high school, undergraduate, medical, master’s, doctoral and postdoctoral trainees. She has received more than $30 million in grant funding by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and several other agencies in support of her research and training grants to advance diversity in graduate and postdoctoral education as well as the workforce. Dr. Mathur has more than 400 research publications and presentations in these areas.
Maria Medrano, Ph.D., is the Director of Special Projects at the UTSA Graduate School where she collaborates with campus partners seeking training grants from various federal funding agencies. She also conducts research to develop evidence-based programming for graduate students, especially as it relates to wellbeing. Dr. Medrano obtained her Ph.D. in psychology from The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). She has been assisting prospective students from diverse backgrounds in starting their graduate education journey in her role at the Graduate School since August 2015, with a major focus on equitable access to graduate education for underrepresented minority students. Her research focuses on first-generation graduate students and their transition from undergraduate programs from a socio-cultural perspective as well as mental health.
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Dr. Ana K. Rodriguez serves as the Director of Freshman Recruitment at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Bringing over 19 years of extensive experience across various facets of higher education, she has served in areas including P-20 programming, housing, registrar services, athletics, admissions, recruitment, and enrollment management. Rodriguez's academic journey includes earning a bachelor’s degree in New Media Communications, a master’s degree in Digital Communications, and a Ph.D. in Higher Education Leadership, all from the University of Texas at San Antonio.
Driven by a deep-rooted passion for student service and a commitment to mentoring historically underrepresented student populations, Rodriguez’s goal was to earn this endorsement to continue her work in higher education as she continually seeks to maximize opportunities for student success and engagement within the university community.
SEM-EP 2024 graduate
Capstone: UTSA/SAISD Direct Admission Pilot (Research Study)
Leslie has served students, parents, colleagues and the community at large over two decades in higher education, at a 4-year private institution and, most recently, at a community college. As a higher education leader, Leslie is driven by a professional ministry that puts people first as the primary business value at the heart of a university's mission and strategic plan. As the Director of Financial Aid at Hostos Community College, Leslie leverages partnership, best practices, data & assessment, risk-taking, excellent customer service and staff professional development to create strategies designed to eliminate financial barriers to create a community conducive to access, student success, socioeconomic upward-mobility and sustainable enrollment management from recruitment to retention to completion.
In roles at Hostos, such as Interim Associate Dean of Student Development & Enrollment Management, chair of the New York State Aid Committee, co-chair of the Cross Divisional Advisement Committe, or as a member of the Senior Leadership Council, the Middle States Standard IV Subcommittee, the Retention Research Committee, Enrollment Management Committee, or the Strategic Plan Working Group for Access to Higher Education, Leslie has led and/or collaborated across campus to create access to higher education, improve the student experience and develop pathways for student persistence to graduation.
Although he has lived in New York since 2001, Leslie is a native of Detroit, MI, a graduate of The New School (BS in Liberal Arts & MFA in Creative Writing) and an Executive Leadership Coach pursuing ICF certification.