Award: Honorary Membership Winner: Janie Barnett Janie Barnett, Associate Executive Director of AACRAO and “passionate, energetic, quick-thinking whirling dervish meets pragmatism, leadership, organization, and aplomb,” will be retiring this month after being the heart and soul of AACRAO for more than 20 years. Barnett’s contribution to transforming AACRAO from a financially struggling organization in the late 1990s into the thriving international association it is today cannot be overstated. Barnett started her career in higher education in 1970, working at the Community College of Denver (Auraria Campus). From there she went to the University of California-San Diego, Iowa State University, and the University of Glasgow (Scotland) before coming to AACRAO. During her time on campuses she was involved in state, regional, and national boards, serving as the President of the National Student Employment Association (NSEA) for three years. During her career at Iowa State, Barnett worked for Jerry Sullivan and when he moved to UC Boulder, Sullivan tried to recruit her to come with. During her career at Iowa State, Barnett worked for Jerry Sullivan and when he moved to UC Boulder, Sullivan tried to recruit her to come with. “My girls were in school and my family was rooted in Iowa; I didn’t want to move,” Barnett said. “But when he was hired as the Executive Director at AACRAO, I was in Scotland, and my kids were in college, and again he offered me a job. It seemed like the right time and I was excited for a change.” That was in October of 1998, and Sullivan and Barnett’s first order of business was to recruit Barmak Nassirian. “Barmak’s job was to put AACRAO on the map with government relations, and I was to make revenue with meetings and sponsorships”, Barnett said. “The three of us spent all our time in the conference room with our heads together, trying to provide important member benefits with no budget and reduced staff.” With a supportive board and a small-but-mighty office staff, the team began to push the needle out of the red and into the black. “We were a team, and we all put our shoulders to the wheel,” Barnett said. “Most of the organizations I’d been involved with previously were entirely volunteer organizations, so we didn’t have the time and resources to accomplish what we wanted. So despite the fact that we had only seven staff, I felt like a kid in a candy store with all these talented people who knew what to do and could provide those needed services to members. They’re geared up, this is their job as professionals, and you aren’t asking someone to volunteer to do something.” Over her 20 years with AACRAO, Barnett has worked in a variety of areas, including meetings, professional development, membership, corporate partners and sponsorships, international relations, and more. Barnett has also built strong relationships and partnerships with key higher education innovators, and was recently recognized by the Postsecondary Education Standards Council (PESC) for Distinguished Service to higher education. “The easy part is selling AACRAO,” Barnett said. “These companies need us, and we need them, so it’s a win-win.” On international, one of the most fascinating and satisfying parts of her career has been the opportunity to work with international education initiatives. As part of the Groningen Declaration and as a key liaison with Associacion de Responsables de Servicios Escolares y Estudiantiles (ARSEE), Barnett has enjoyed advancing an international vision of higher education associations. Those who know Barnett best aren’t surprised to hear that her post-retirement plans begin with San Diego. Despite her worldly travels, Barnett’s always been a California girl. Her oceanside relaxation will have to fit into a busy travel schedule, as Barnett hopes to return to Hawaii, Mexico, Scotland and more, in her newfound free time. “I have friends all over the world because of my job and I want to spend time with them and have them visit me!” she said. Barnett is also prioritizing family time, including special trips with her mother, siblings, and children. “Most importantly, I want to spend time with my daughters Lyndsey and Brooke and their husbands Todd and Matthew and grandchildren Camila (11), Cedar (8), Fisher (6), and Vivienne (3) in Montana and Colorado,” Barnett said. “I want to take them traveling with me and have them come share my love of the ocean and San Diego with me in California.” Barnett also hopes to stay involved with education through consulting and volunteer work. Immigration, DACA and gender equality are particularly dear to her, and San Diego is probably a good place to work with these issues. “I’m not sure there’s enough time in the day for everything I want to do!” she laughed -- which is exactly those who know her expect of Barnett upon retirement. “Janie was my boss when I was an undergraduate working in the financial aid office at Iowa State, so to work with her again in this great phase of her career has been both a privilege and a joy,” AACRAO Executive Director Mike Reilly reflected. “She still keeps an unbelievable pace and I'm sure that will continue into retirement. I challenge anyone to try to keep up with her.” Learn More about AACRAO Awards
Award: Award for Excellence in International EducationWinner: Jacquelyn D. Elliott, Ed.D.Dr. Jacquelyn D. Elliott “Jacqui” is known for her diverse background in higher education to include Academic Affairs, Institutional Advancement, International Education, and all aspects of Strategic Enrollment Management. Well-versed in management techniques, she has over twenty-five years of leadership experience in higher education. She was formerly Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at Mary Baldwin College (now University), Associate Vice President of Institutional Advancement at Bridgewater College, and Vice President for Enrollment Management at Tusculum College (now University). She also served in an academic appointment with the University of Missouri—St. Louis, where she was Clinical Assistant Professor in the College of Education and International Liaison Specialist in International Studies and Programs. In that role, she worked to develop international collaborative faculty research, student exchange, accreditation consultation, program reviews, and faculty training and development in Kuwait and Oman. East. She currently holds dual roles as the President of enrollmentFUEL, a Student Search company in North Carolina, and Chief Enrollment Specialist with Marion Military Institute. She also conducts faculty development training for leaders of universities throughout the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under the auspices of the Academic Leadership Center (ALC) of the Ministry of Education. She was the first female faculty appointment at the all-male King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) in Saudi Arabia. Dr. Elliott received her doctorate in higher education administration from The George Washington University where her dissertation, The American Council on Education’s Office of Women in Higher Education: A Case Study of Evolution and Decline 1973-2011, was the winner of the national Myra Sadker Dissertation Award. Elliott’s current research and publications focus on women and leadership in the USA and Saudi Arabia, history of higher education, enrollment management, and student affairs.Dr. Elliott has presented over 200 sessions at academic and administrative conferences nationally, and internationally. She served as Vice President for Professional Development for the Southern Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admission Officers (SACRAO) and is a past editor for the SACRAO Journal. Additionally, she served on the Board of Directors as Vice President for International Education with the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admission Officers (AACRAO) in Washington, D.C.
An Interview with Eric Waldo
Learn More about AACRAO Awards
Award: Elbert W. Ockerman State and Regional Professional Activity Award
Winner: Georgia Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admission Officers
Project: GA SEM - The Georgia Institute of Strategic Enrollment Management (GISEM) and the GACRAO Enrollment Managers Workshop (GEM)
2018 marked the 12th year that GACRAO’s Institute of Strategic Enrollment Management (GISEM) has served the needs of aspiring and new-to-the-profession enrollment managers. Participants are awarded the distinction of achieving status as a Registered Enrollment Professional (REP) after participation in two pre-annual conference GISEM institutes and completion of a variety of field experiences. To date, 85 members of GACRAO have achieved the status of Registered Enrollment Professional through GISEM participation.
2018 also marked the inception of a new, complementary pre-annual conference experience, the GACRAO Enrollment Managers workshop (GEM). The GACRAO Executive Board, desiring to provide low-cost professional development opportunities for senior enrollment managers across the state, enlisted a group comprised largely of GACRAO past-presidents to design and implement the GEM workshop. The GEM track provided in depth data -oriented sessions relevant to the complex challenges faced by today’s enrollment managers. Together, the new GEM track and the GISEM track marked the inception of GA SEM, featuring speakers such as Georgia State University’s Tim Renick, University of South Carolina’s Scott Verzyl, AACRAO’s own Executive Director, Mike Reilly, and other enrollment thought leaders. Concurrent sessions occurred within the GISEM and GEM tracks, complemented by several joint sessions and a networking reception for all GA SEM participants. Additional sessions covered retention, branding, strategic use of financial aid, and the evolving intersection of enrollment management and data science.
Over 30 aspiring and established enrollment managers from Georgia’s public, private, and technical higher education institutions participated in the initial year of GA SEM. Registration cost for GA SEM was only $75 when also registered for the GACRAO annual conference. Through initial and future support for GA SEM, comprised of the GISEM track for aspiring enrollment managers and the GEM track for established enrollment managers, GACRAO actively seeks to support the present and the future of our profession.
After living and teaching in China for five years, Amanda began working in US higher education as a credentials and processing specialist at Pepperdine University and later Baylor University. She enjoys the complexity and ability to problem solve that evaluating foreign credentials involves. Amanda is passionate about always seeking to improve international student’s application and admission processes. She is currently the Assistant Director of International Graduate Admissions at Indiana University – Purdue University (IUPUI) and is serving as a fellow on AACRAO’s International Education Standards Council.
Erin currently serves as the Associate Director for the Center for Global Engagement at Florida Atlantic University. In this role, she manages foreign credential evaluations and supports current international sponsored students. Formerly, Erin was the Director of International Services at Lynn University and previously served as an International Student Advisor at Colorado State University and the University of Denver. She has more than 10 years of experience in international higher education. Prior to joining the field, she earned a B.S. in Mathematics from Ohio University and served as a U.S. Peace Corps teacher volunteer in Namibia. She then taught high school mathematics in Hawaii for 2 years before returning to Ohio University to complete a M.Ed. in College Student Personnel.
Emily received her Bachelor of Arts in Classical Studies from the University of Pennsylvania and her Master of Philosophy, also in Classics, from Cambridge University. Emily currently serves as Senior Director of Knowledge Management at the Global Health Workforce Development Institute, a division of CGFNS International. Active in the field of international comparative education for over 20 years, Emily has presented at many conferences at the regional, national and international level, such as those held by American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO), the Groningen Declaration Network, and NAFSA – the Association of International Educators.Emily has also contributed to numerous publications, which include IERF’s Country Index series and AACRAO’s 2021 Guide to Bogus Institutions and Documents. She currently serves on AACRAO’s International Education Standards Council (IESC). In 2008, she was a recipient of the Pioneer Research Grant for her comparative study on credentials evaluation in four countries. In 2019, she was named by NAFSA as the recipient for the Annual Award for Outstanding Contributions to International Enrollment Management.
Bill is one of the founders of EDGE and assisted in the design of the original architecture and software. He has been Vice President of International Education for AACRAO, served on the NAFSA Board, TOEFL Board and the National Council on the Evaluation of Foreign Credentials and retired from the University of Texas where he as an Assistant Dean and directed the Graduate and International Admissions Office.
Jennifer is Assistant Director of Admissions in the District Admissions and Records Office at Tarrant County College in Fort Worth, Texas. Prior to her current position, she worked in the Admissions Office at Texas A&M University-Kingsville in Kingsville, Texas, the Graduate Admissions Office at the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho and in the International Admissions Office at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas. Jennifer has been working in the field of international admissions and credential evaluation for more than 25 years. She has been a member of AACRAO since 1995. As an AACRAO member, she has served as a member of the International Publications Advisory Committee since 2004, chairing that Committee from 2011-2016, and she served as a member of the International Admission Committee. In March 2016, Jennifer was selected to be a member of the AACRAO International Evaluation Standards Council (IESC). She was elected to the Board of Directors as VP for International Education for a three-year term starting in March 2018.
Jennifer is the author of the “Belgium” and “Canada: New Brunswick” profiles for AACRAO EDGE. She provided the “Resource Organizations, Agencies, and Institutions” and “Publications and Other Useful Resources” appendices for the 2001 edition of The AACRAO International Guide, and was a co-author on Chapter Twenty-Two: The Art of Credential Evaluation in the 2016 edition of The AACRAO International Guide for which she was also asked to provide the Introduction.
Jennifer served on the NCAA International Student Record Committee 2009-2018, serving as Chair of that committee from 2015-2018. She was a member of NAFSA from 1995-2007 and has previously served on both the Physician Assistant Professional Standards Committee and the Credentials Committee for the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing (now known simply as CGFNS). She holds a bachelor’s in Anthropology from the University of North Texas and a master’s in Anthropology from the University of Idaho.
Nancy is Special Consultant, AACRAO – International Education Service. Nancy Katz has been active in the field of international education for over twenty years in both academic university settings as well as credential evaluation services. A regular presenter at regional and national conferences, Nancy has vast experience in training individuals in the field of foreign credential evaluation and detecting altered documents. Nancy has published numerous articles and chapters on credential evaluation, including a chapter for Kaplan/Newsweek Access America’s Guide to Studying in the USA (1997), and co-author of Thailand: A Study of the Educational System of Thailand and Guide to the Academic Placement of Students in Educational Institutions in the United States (2000). Previous work experience includes the University of Michigan, Fairleigh Dickenson University in NJ, World Education Services, AACRAO - IES, and The College Board. Nancy is currently a Director of Evaluation Service, Inc.
Johnny is Director of Foreign Credentials Evaluation Services of America (FCSA), based in Austin, TX. He has 45 years’ experience in international education which includes administrative and teaching positions at two-year and four-year colleges and universities, both public and private, in the United States, Asia and the Caribbean. He has consulted with colleges, universities, government and private sector organizations, and has written or edited 33 publications and made more than 120 conference presentations in the fields of international education and student affairs. Research, conference presentations, and business and leisure travel have taken Mr. Johnson to more than 80 countries.
Jasmin is the founder, President and CEO of Academic Credentials Evaluation Institute, Inc. (ACEI) based in Los Angeles, CA. She is the author of AACRAO’s Country Guide Series Reports on Senegal (2000) and Cameroon and co-authored the 1998 publication on the system of education of Hong Kong. She was a participant in the PIER Reports on Central America (1987), Canada (1987), and the United Kingdom (1990). She has been dedicated member of AACRAO and NAFSA and chaired various Committees at these organizations. She is a frequent presenter on world education systems and the recognition of international credentials at conferences and symposia in the United States and abroad. She holds the BA in Political Science from the University of San Diego and MBA from Pepperdine University. She is currently serving as Chair on the International Education Standards Council (IESC) of AACRAO and serves as President on the Board of the Association of International Credential Evaluators, Inc. (AICE).
LesLee Clauson Eicher has been an International Credential Evaluator since her graduate-school days at the University of Maryland in the late 1980s. Although she considers herself a generalist, she has a special interest in the countries of Anglophone Africa, the German-speaking countries, the UK, and Canada.
In 2000, LesLee began a 20+-year career with AACRAO, where she evaluated international credentials, created and administered AACRAO programming, and provided training in international credential evaluation topics to colleagues at colleges and universities around the U.S. and the world. LesLee’s publications include contributions to a number of AACRAO publications, including The AACRAO International Guide: A Resource for International Education Professionals, AACRAO EDGE, AACRAO College & University, and AACRAO Connect, as well as a contribution to NAFSA’s Guide to Educational Systems Around the World.
LesLee is a co-award-winner of the 2020 IERF Sepmeyer Award for Excellence in Credential Evaluation Research. This award recognizes her research on the recognition of private higher education institutions in Anglophone Africa. She is Past President of TAICEP and currently chairs the TAICEP Governance and Finance Committee.
In her spare time at home in Tacoma, Washington, LesLee loves to cook, eat, read, travel, and garden. She also serves as President on the Board of her local branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW).
Dr. Dennis R. Livesay is an expert in graduate enrollment management and the evolving credentialing landscape. His career prominently features a number of successful new program development activities, including broad adoption of stackable certificates and other types of alternate credentials. He is currently the dean of the College of Engineering at Wichita State University, and has served in many different academic roles, including Associate Vice President of Research and Technology Transfer, Dean of the Graduate School (both also at Wichita State), Provost Faculty Fellow, Interim Dean of the College of Computing and Informatics, Founding Director of the Bioinformatics and Computational Biology PhD program, and Founding Director of the Charlotte Research Scholars (the last four all being at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte). Dr. Livesay received his Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2000 and started his academic career immediately thereafter at California State Polytechnic University at Pomona. Dr. Livesay is also a successful researcher, having published over 50 peer-reviewed journal articles integrating physical, analytical, and computational methods to study protein family evolution. His lab was continuously funded by external grants, primarily from the National Institutes of Health and MedImmune, a large biotech company. He has been a grant reviewer for the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Research Corporation, and the W.M. Keck Foundation, and has served on the editorial board of seven journals, including BMC Bioinformatics and PLOS Computational Biology, two of the top journals in his research discipline.
Known for his thought-provoking coverage and commitment to exceptional storytelling, Byron Pitts is a multiple Emmy award-winning journalist and co-anchor of ABC’s Nightline. In 2013, Pitts became an anchor and the Chief National Correspondent at ABC. Prior to working for ABC, Pitts was the Chief National Correspondent for CBS Evening News With Katie Couric. He was also CBS’s lead correspondent at Ground Zero immediately following the September 11th attacks and won an Emmy for his coverage.
A news veteran with over 20 years of experience, other major stories Pitts has covered include the war in Afghanistan, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the military buildup in Kuwait and the refugee crisis in Kosovo, to name but a few. Pitts realized a life-long goal when he was named a Contributing Correspondent to CBS’ 60 Minutes in 2009. Pitts’ many achievements are all the more extraordinary when he tells of the many obstacles he faced as a child. Raised by a single mother in a working class neighborhood in Baltimore, Pitts was illiterate until the age of twelve and had a persistent stutter. Capitalizing on his desire to play football, his mother mandated he receive B’s or above in school in order to play. With that focus, Pitts learned to read and went on to attend Ohio Wesleyan University. With the help of his roommate and a college professor, Pitts found the support and encouragement necessary to pursue a career in broadcast journalism—a field that demands excellence in writing and speaking. By staying focused, setting simple and achievable goals and finding strength in faith, Pitts overcame powerful odds. He graduated in 1982 with a BA in Journalism and Speech Communication.
Diane Auer Jones serves as principal deputy under secretary at the U.S. Department of Education. In this role, she is delegated to perform the duties of under secretary and assistant secretary for postsecondary education.
Jones’ 30-year career in science and education policy began when she became a laboratory director and biology instructor at the Community College of Baltimore County. She then moved on to hold senior leadership roles at Princeton University and the Career Education Corporation.
Jones also brings to the Department extensive experience in public policy, having served as a program director at the National Science Foundation, as a professional staff member and acting staff director for the Research Subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, and as the deputy to the associate director for science at the White House Office on Science and Technology Policy. In 2006, Jones was nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the Senate to serve as assistant secretary for postsecondary education at the U.S. Department of Education.
While serving as assistant secretary, Jones became interested in the need to expand postsecondary education options, including through apprenticeship programs. Over the next decade, she authored a number of papers about the importance of apprenticeship opportunities and served for two years as a senior fellow at the Urban Institute. In that role, she co-led a project to develop occupational frameworks for apprenticeships in healthcare, advanced manufacturing, information technology, cyber security, transportation, and other areas. Jones returned to government service in 2017 to serve as a senior policy advisor to the secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor, and then moved back to the Department of Education to serve as a senior policy advisor before transitioning to her current role.
Since 2013, Keith David Watenpaugh has directed an international multi-disciplinary research project to assist refugee university students and scholars fleeing the war in Syria. This project has garnered support from the Carnegie Corp. of New York, the Open Society Foundations and the Ford Foundation.
His team developed and deployed in the Middle East, the Article 26 Backpack™ - The Universal Human Rights Tool for Academic Mobility. At its core, it provides refugee young people with a way to safely store and share with universities, scholarship agencies, credential evaluation services, and even employers their educational background, employment history, professional achievements and goals. The Backpack builds connection and inclusion.
Watenpaugh is an expert on human rights and refugees in the Middle East. He is author most recently of Bread from Stones: The Middle East and the Making of Modern Humanitarianism (California, 2015) - an Ahmanson Foundation Book in the Humanities. His articles appear in the American Historical Review, Perspectives on History, Social History, Journal of Human Rights, Humanity, International Journal of Middle East Studies, Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Education, and the Huffington Post. He has lived and worked in Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, Armenia, Iraq and Egypt.
Watenpaugh teaches courses in Human Rights, Genocide, and Humanitarianism.
Stephanie Henning is responsible for coordinating and leading registrar and student records work across the College of Liberal Arts, the Crummer Graduate School of Business, and the Hamilton Holt School at Rollins College. Henning has 18 years of registrar experience at Grinnell College, Kalamazoo College, and most recently, Central College.
“Her broad range of experience with student record systems, federal reporting, student retention, planning, and leadership will enhance our ability to serve all of our students,” says Dr. Susan Singer, vice president of academic affairs and provost.
Henning’s work is informed by her extensive professional engagements, including serving on the faculty of the Registrar 101 training offered by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO).
Aleks Morawski is the Director of Evaluation Services at Scholaro Inc. He holds a BA degree from Marquette University and an MA degree from San Diego State University. His professional experience includes credential evaluation at private agencies, international undergraduate and graduate admissions and recruitment at major US universities, and training and consulting on various topics in international education. Aleks served on NAFSA leadership and Trainer Corps since 2009. He is also one of the co-authors of NAFSA's Managing a Successful International Admissions Office, and is the chairman of scholarship and publications for AICE, the Association of International Credential Evaluators. He is a regular presenter at local, national, and international professional conferences. Beyond credential evaluation, Aleks enjoys mentoring new professionals in international education and advising academic organizations in the United States and around the world.
Menah Pratt-Clarke is the Vice President for Strategic Affairs and Vice Provost for Inclusion and Diversity at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech). She is also Professor of Education in the School of Education in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, with affiliations in Africana Studies, Women’s and Gender Studies, and the Department of Sociology.
She has more than 20 years of administrative, academic, and legal experience in higher education, with a focus on executing and coordinating large-scale strategic initiatives that promote institutional transformation. Prior to joining Virginia Tech, she had senior administrative positions and faculty positions at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Vanderbilt University. As a scholar-administrator, she believes in the importance of praxis and using scholarship to inform and lead change in higher education.