The Standards for Accreditation are best understood within the context of the seven-year accreditation cycle. The Standards are interconnected and build upon each other in a recursive cycle of continuous improvement.
The Standards for Accreditation are statements that articulate the quality and effectiveness expected of Accredited institutions, and collectively they provide a framework for continuous improvement within institutions. The standards also serve as indicators by which institutions are evaluated by peers. The standards are designed to guide institutions in a process of self-reflection that blends analysis and synthesis in a holistic examination of:
Each of the Standards for Accreditation is designated by a number and title (e.g., Standard One – Student Success, and Institutional Mission and Effectiveness), and is further defined by elements of the standard, which are designated by the number of the standard followed by the letter of the element (e.g., 1.A Institutional Mission). The criteria for evaluation more specifically define the elements and are identified by the number of the standard, followed by the letter of the standard element, followed by the number of the criterion (e.g., 1.A.1). Each standard is introduced by a narrative summary intended only to provide direction, not to be addressed as a criterion.
Taking the approaches used yesterday to budget reduction in today’s volatile environment no longer works. Institutions need new strategies that are dynamic, comprehensive, and practical. This session will introduce participants to The Budget Reduction Tool designed to help budget decision-makers take a student-centered approach to implementing a consistent and effective budget reduction strategy that considers streamlining processes in addition to allocating resources effectively. The Budget Reduction Tool helps budget decision-makers assess and make decisions to invest in initiatives and programs that align with strategic initiatives, have the greatest positive impact on student success and creates the least amount of disruption to realizing operational efficiencies.
Session Date/Time: Friday, November 10, 10:00 a.m. – 10:50 a.m. PST
Link to Budget Reduction Tool.
Institutional Speakers:
Dr. Ana Karaman is an accomplished higher education administrator with broad, deep, and diverse experience and expertise in institutional planning, finance, and operations at both public and private non-for-profit universities. Ana’s expertise and experience include developing multi-year financial plans to support implementation of strategic plans, overseeing annual operating budgets in access of $400M and endowments in access of $300M, working with various budgeting models including RCM, financing institutional needs via various vehicles including bond issuances, PPPs, and other financial facilities. Ana led successful legislative requests, developed and implemented master plans and oversaw delivering diverse major capital projects. In addition, Ana has overseen offices of human resources, public safety, procurement, enterprise risk management, facilities management, and others.
Ana serves as Vice President for Finance & Administration and CFO at Western Oregon University.
Tressa is passionate about helping institutions of higher education become more diverse, equitable, inclusive, and efficient deliverers of education. In addition to being a higher education strategist, Tressa is also a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) thought partner and influencer. Tressa helps organizations create long lasting systems and policies that identify and remove barriers that impede student success and institutional effectiveness. Tressa currently serves as a Project Director with Sova helping build capacity for large-scale change in higher education and workforce development.
Tressa has more than 20 years of middle and senior level leadership experience at various types of higher education, private industry, and non-profit institutions. Prior to joining Sova, Tressa served in various capacities including, Senior Consultant at Anderson Blake Consulting; Vice Provost at Strayer University; Vice President for Administration and Director of Institutional Research at Arkansas Baptist College; Campus College Chair for Graduate Business Programs at the University of Phoenix, Vice President of CFA International, and President of Detroit BAEO.
Tressa earned a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Political Theory & Constitutional Democracy and a Master of Arts (MA) in Higher Educational Administration from Michigan State University. She also earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and a Doctor of Management (DM) in Organizational Leadership from the University of Phoenix.
Almost every day, we see headlines trumpeting that Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) is going to destroy higher education, as we know it, or be the savior, if only faculty and staff learn about it and embrace it. Despite these dire predictions and, instead of generative AI being viewed as the enemy, human ingenuity and creative intelligence can harness its power in support of democratizing higher education to promote student success and close equity gaps.
During this session, you’ll have an opportunity to listen to representatives from some of our member institutions on their efforts and approaches to capitalizing on the power of Generative AI in and out of the classroom to create an environment on campus in which ALL students thrive.
Session Date/Time: Thursday, November 9, 2:35 p.m. – 4:05 p.m. PST
Moderator: Aaron Reed, Neumont University
Panelists:
In 2020, Washington State University’s general education program launched Core to Career, a faculty development program that helps faculty recognize how a focus on career readiness can increase student engagement and equips faculty with the language and facilitation strategies to deliver a classroom and curricular experience that students see as intentionally focused on their career and self-development. However, with its focus on faculty, the program has often been less-than-intentional about its relationship with student-facing career professionals. Audience members will learn about and discuss the challenges to and steps for growing career readiness campus-wide in intentional, equitable, sustainable, and meaningful ways.
Session Date/Time: Friday, November 10, 10:00 a.m. – 10:50 a.m. PST
Institutional Speakers:
Thabiti Lewis is Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at WSU Vancouver and Professor of English whose books include Ballers of the New School: Race and Sports in America and Conversations with Toni Cade Bambara. Dr. Lewis earned his Ph.D. from Saint Louis University, in St. Louis, Missouri, where he is also from, and joined the faculty at WSU in 2007. At WSU Vancouver, Dr. Lewis leads campus-wide efforts to foster cultures of inclusion and equity for students, staff, and faculty alike. Dr. Lewis teaches courses in multi-cultural and Black American literature.
Amanda Morgan is Associate Director of the Academic Success and Career Center at Washington State University, where she leads the Career Services and Employer Relations team. Morgan is a first-generation college student who earned a master’s in education administration and has over fifteen years of student services experience.
Clif Stratton is Vice Chancellor for Academic Engagement at WSU Pullman and Associate Professor of History, whose books include Education for Empire: American Schools, Race, and the Paths of Good Citizenship and Power Politics: Carbon Energy in Historical Perspective. Dr. Stratton earned his Ph.D. from Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia, where he is also from, and joined the faculty at WSU in 2010. The former director of WSU’s University Common Requirements program, Dr. Stratton led efforts to design and implement Core to Career at WSU Pullman. Dr. Stratton teaches courses on modern American and global history with emphases on histories of race and empire.
If we can’t improve what we don’t measure, assessment is essential for continuous improvement. Three institutional teams of Mission Fulfillment & Sustainability Fellows will share their work to assess key areas of interest at each institution.
Session Date/Time: Thursday, November 9, 2:35 p.m. – 3:35 p.m. PST
One way to address “initiative fatigue” in the pursuit of Mission Fulfillment is integration of the various planning, assessment, and reporting processes driving continuous improvement at the institutional level. Three institutional teams of Mission Fulfillment & Sustainability Fellows will share their progress toward integrated planning and assessment process design on their campuses.
Session Date/Time: Thursday, November 9, 3:45 p.m. – 4:45 p.m. PST
Students’ sense of identity-based belonging helps determine their success in higher education. Three institutional teams of Mission Fulfillment & Sustainability Fellows from three different institution types (TCU, HSI, and faith-based) will share their work toward assessing their institution’s efforts to increase student learning and success by improving students’ sense of identity-based belonging.
Session Date/Time: Thursday, November 9, 10:55 a.m. – 11:55 a.m. PST
Our project, the Course Learning Outcomes Worksheet tool, brings evidence together regarding student achievement of program and course learning outcomes. In addition, the worksheet asks the user to look at the student DFWI rates along with disaggregated class data all in the same class. The user looks for achievement gaps and is asked to make improvement decisions based on this data. Those improvement strategies are documented and implemented prior to the class being offered again.
Session Date/Time: Friday, November 10, 11:00 a.m. – 11:50 a.m. PST
Institutional Speakers:
Dr. Afjeh’s research successes include increasing departmental external research funding to over $4 million annually; building an on-site research program with more than 20 researchers at the NASA Glenn Research Center; recruiting faculty and providing resources to enhance strength in advanced materials and biomedical engineering; and developing a master’s degree program in engineering with an energy engineering focus, with participation of faculty and industry partners; and developing professional master’s degree programs for industry, as well as a multi-disciplinary, collaborative energy engineering program in partnership with the colleges of Business and Law.
Dr. Afjeh’s research projects have been sponsored by industry as well as leading federal agencies such as NASA, Department of Energy and National Institutes of Health. His research focus areas include computational fluid dynamics in turbomachinery, propulsion systems, experimental investigation of bearings and rotating components, wind turbine design and analysis, and aerodynamics of phonation, a research project sponsored by the NIH.
Dr. Afjeh earned his Ph.D. and MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Toledo; and his B.S in Mechanical Engineering from Arya Mehr University of Technology (now Sharif University of Technology) in Iran. He is also a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
Dr. Janette Isaacson is a graduate of Seattle University, where she earned a doctorate in educational leadership plus a Masters in Counseling (2001), a graduate of the University of Phoenix, where she earned a Master’s in Education teaching diverse learners (1986), and a graduate of the University of Washington where she earned a Masters in Health Informatics and Health Information Management (2023).
20+ years Medical Imaging / Health Sciences, Online Program Director, OIT Teacher Excellence Nominee (2021-2023), Past Institutional Assessment Chair, Accreditation Committee Member, DEI Data Scorecard Committee, NWCCU Mission Fulfillment Fellow, NWCCU Data Equity Fellow, NWCCU Accreditation Site Visitor, spearheaded the development of on-campus faculty data dashboards to present disaggregated underrepresented student data for all programs to aid in the identification of institutional equity gaps in student retention, graduation, DFWI, and post-graduation success.
Vic Klatt is a prominent figure in Federal education policy with over two decades of experience. He currently serves as a Principal at Penn Hill Group and has been recognized by Washingtonian magazine in 2022 and 2023 as one of the 500 most influential people shaping policy in Washington, D.C. Klatt has held significant roles in the executive branch and the U.S. House of Representatives, including serving as GOP staff director for the U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor. He began his career in education policy in 1989, working at the U.S. Department of Education and contributing to President George H.W. Bush’s education policy. Klatt also has political campaign and legislative experience and holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Kalamazoo College in Michigan.
The Idaho State Board of Education recently adopted major amendments to its policy on academic freedom – the first substantive updates since the 1980s. The revised policy now defines the academic freedom and responsibility of students. Clear policy language provides a framework to institutional leaders for navigating the complex intersection of academic freedom and learning environments in politically fraught times. Students can boost their understanding of academic freedom to become successful in their endeavors, and to participate as engaged citizens in today’s world. How can we, as administrators, leaders, and instructors, facilitate student empowerment by increasing their literacy of academic freedom?
Session Date/Time: Thursday, November 9, 3:45 p.m. – 4:45 p.m. PST
Institutional Speakers:
TJ Bliss is a higher education administrator and educational researcher. He is the Chief Academic Officer for the Idaho State Board of Education and a member of the alumni board for Brigham Young University. Bliss was formerly the Chief Advancement Officer at the Wiki Education Foundation, an Education Program Officer at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Director of Assessment and Accountability at the Idaho State Department of Education. Bliss’ writing, research, and advocacy for Open Educational Resources has been reported on in various outlets, including the Washington Post, EdSurge, and Inside Higher Ed.
Torrey Lawrence is the Provost and Executive Vice President of the University of Idaho. In this role he serves as the university’s chief academic officer, directly responsible for the general direction of all academic programs, endeavors, and instructional services on the Moscow campus as well as the university’s statewide academic, outreach, and research initiatives. He has served in this role since 2020 but has been a faculty member at UI since 1998. He earned music degrees from Northwestern University and the University of Oregon.
Amy Vecchione is the Assistant Director of Research and Innovation at eCampus Center, Boise State University. As an educational leader, Amy works to improve student success through emering and high-impact practices. She recently co-authored the book From At-Risk to At-Promise: Academic Libraries Supporting Student Success.
Session Date/Time: Thursday, November 9, 3:45 p.m. – 4:45 p.m. PST
Institutional Speakers:
Kate is an associate professor in the School of Biological Sciences. She received her PhD in Biochemistry from the University of South Carolina and completed postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Washington and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory before joining the faculty at WSU. Dr. McAteer attended the HERS Leadership Institute in 2019 and in 2021 completed the first AASCU Student Success Institute for Provosts, a program designed for provosts ‘to lead and implement the type of transformational change necessary to meet the evolving needs of today’s increasingly diverse student body.
Rilie supports rpk’s clients in fulfilling mission and student success under a sustainable financial model. Her work with clients focuses particularly on optimizing academic portfolios and developing best practice academic and administrative business processes, along with applying a deep understanding of change management and support for capacity building.
Dr. Tricia Bertram Gallant, Director, joined UC San Diego in August 2006 as the University’s first Academic Integrity Coordinator. She is now the Director of the Academic Integrity Office and the Triton Testing Center. Dr. Bertram Gallant is an internationally known expert on integrity and ethics in education. She has consulted with or presented at high schools, colleges, universities and professional associations throughout the U.S. and around the world, including in Australia, Canada, Chile, Egypt, England, Jamaica, Mexico, Montenegro, Singapore, and Ukraine. She is the author of numerous journal articles and book chapters, as well as author of “Academic Integrity in the Twenty-First Century” (Jossey-Bass, 2008), co-author of “Cheating in School” (Wiley-Blackwell, 2009), editor of “Creating the Ethical Academy” (Routledge, 2011), section editor for the Handbook of Academic Integrity (Springer, 2016), and co-editor of Cheating Academic Integrity: Lessons Learned from 30 Years of Research.
Tricia is a long-time leader with the International Center for Academic Integrity (ICAI), of which UC San Diego is an institutional member, including serving as their Advisory Council Chair (2008-2010), Transition Co-Chair (2015-2017) and member Board of Directors (2017-2020). In 2018, Tricia was the first recipient and namesake of the Award for Service presented by ICAI. Tricia is also an active member of the National College Testing Association (NCTA), serving on the Academic Integrity Community of Practice and a regular conference speaker.
The Oregon Transfer Pathways to the Liberal Arts grant has been exploring innovative ways to facilitate transfer from community colleges to private liberal arts institutions. As we talk with students and review data, we have come to understand that many community college students believe a private college education is out of their reach. This is particularly true for culturally diverse students who often rely on trusted friends and family members for information. Reaching the right audience with the right message at the right time is challenging. Doing this well is a goal of our grant. We will share our progress.
Session Date/Time: Thursday, November 9, 10:55 a.m. – 11:55 a.m. PST
Institutional Speakers:
Linda Samek is a former faculty member, dean, and provost at George Fox University. She is currently the project director for the Oregon Transfer Pathways to the Liberal Arts project. Samek has experience in PreK-12, community college, and public and private four-year post secondary education.
Gerardo Ochoa is vice president for enrollment management and student success at Linfield University. He has served Linfield in multiple capacities since 2004. Ochoa holds a formal appointment as an officer of the board and has served in various university-wide committees, including the President’s Diversity Advisory Committee (chair) and the university strategic planning and budget council.
In addition to being a college administrator, Ochoa is a co-author and independent consultant of Path to Scholarships®, a college readiness curriculum. Since 2006, he has worked with thousands of diverse students from urban and rural high schools, community colleges, private colleges and state universities on college access and affordability. He consults with higher education institutions on the inclusion of Latinx students, best practices to engage and serve undocumented students, and teaching strategies that draw on talents and address the needs of first-generation students. He believes in the power of personal stories to build empathy, create opportunities and influence change. As keynote speaker, his story of perseverance has reached audiences convened by organizations such as the Hispanic Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, the Northwest Public Employees Diversity Conference, the Ford Family Foundation, Portland State University, including a TEDx Talk.
Ochoa holds an Education Master from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts in sociology and minor in Latin American history from the University of Oregon. He is an American Leadership Forum Fellow and an alumnus of the Senior Leadership Academy sponsored by the Council of Independent Colleges and the American Academic Leadership Institute. He is a contributing author for Latinx/a/os in Higher Education and a guest education writer for the Somos Timbers Magazine.
Erika Masaki is an instructor of political science at Lane Community College . Her teaching and research interests are political theory, international relations, and environmental politics.
Teamwork and collaboration are among employers’ highest-rated skills. However, the act of teaching and assessing these skills is often limited to courses explicitly addressing them. We envisioned creating a toolkit from a multifaceted team of faculty that can help ANY instructor understand some of the fundamentals of teaching and assessing student teamwork and collaboration in their courses. This toolkit has built-in ready-to-go components that can be deployed by any instructor that wants to more effectively teach and assess student teamwork and collaboration skills. Our group will share the toolkit we made as well as the process of creating it.
Session Date/Time: Friday, November 10, 11:00 a.m. – 11:50 a.m. PST
Institutional Speakers:
Elaine is a full-time instructor in the Basic and Transitional Studies Department and Co-Chair of Ensure Learning, Seattle Central’s program review and assessment committee.
Who defines “success” for students at any institution? Shouldn’t it be the students? Following Board-approved guidelines and well-defined outcomes, this session will discuss what can happen when students are allowed and expected to take charge of their educational experience. Results and evidence will be presented describing the significant learning and transformation that took place in a General Education College Success Course. Participants will be engaged in imagining the “what ifs” at their own institutions when control shifts from faculty to learners. Could that be what success in college is really all about?
Session Date/Time: Thursday, November 9, 2:35 p.m. – 3:35 p.m. PST
Institutional Speakers:
Alynda Kusch currently serves as the First Lady of Ensign College. At Ensign College since 2016, Alynda has led a variety of studies focused on improving the student experience. In addition she has taught courses in Culinary Arts, Religious Education, and Student Success. Alynda holds a bachelor’s degree from BYU-Idaho and served there as an adjunct faculty member in the Culinary Arts program.
This presentation discusses the challenges small, non-profit colleges and universities face in developing processes aimed at closing student achievement gaps and systematic inequities in learning outcomes. Overworked faculty, weak assessment data, lack of technological infrastructure, conflicting priorities, and strategic confusion all conspire to keep institutions entrenched and student achievement inequitable. Yet despite this landscape, Bastyr University devised and embarked on an ambitious one year plan to identify and begin closing equity gaps for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) students in recruitment, retention, completion and learning related to information literacy, critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and professional behavior.
Session Date/Time: Friday, November 10, 11:00 a.m. – 11:50 a.m. PST
Institutional Speakers:
Dr. Erika Lorenzana Del Villar (she/her/siya) is the Associate Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Bastyr University. She is a DEI practitioner, educator, and sociologist specializing in human rights, international relations, social movements, and building inclusive climates in higher education. Erika earned her Ph.D. and M.A. in Sociology with a Certificate in Human Rights from the University of Connecticut, her M.A. in International Relations from New York University, and her B.A. in Political Science, minor in French Studies from the Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines. She is a proud Filipino-American, wife, and mother of two beautiful daughters.
Wendy Gordon is an associate professor and Chair of the Department of Midwifery at Bastyr University in Kenmore, WA. Dr. Gordon’s teaching and research interests include the provision of midwifery care in home and birth center settings; the role of racism in perinatal health disparities; and the ability to translate and evaluate research. Dr. Gordon holds a BS in Chemical Engineering, an MPH from Oregon Health & Sciences University with a focus in health disparities, and a Doctorate in Midwifery from Jefferson University in Philadelphia.
Based in Kenmore, WA, Ann Kenady is Senior Instructional Designer for Bastyr University. Ann holds a certificate in instructional design and a certificate in online teaching and is an active member of Quality Matters. Ann works collaboratively across divisions to establish metrics and mileposts for creating equitable, accessible, and inclusive online learning experiences, while assisting faculty with online and hybrid course design and instructional best practices.
Susan Seymour is the Director of Institutional Effectiveness at Bastyr University. Her entire career has been focused on learning assessment and she is particularly interested in measuring learning that is “difficult”. Her dissertation investigated learning related to social consciousness and her current interests are in ensuring diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives are tied to observable and measurable outcomes rather than performative activities and aspirational statements that lack accountability and impact. She earned her B.S. in Construction Management and M.S. in Technology Education from Colorado State University and her Ph.D. in Education – Curriculum and Instruction from Utah State University.
As a way to combat the college completion crisis, particularly among the most underserved student populations, BYU-Idaho and Ensign College have taken a certificate-first approach to help students stay on track and complete their degrees. Learn how placing the focus on skills first has yielded increased retention & persistence rates.
Session Date/Time: Thursday, November 9, 10:55 a.m. – 11:55 a.m. PST
Institutional Speakers:
Boyd Baggett serves as the Accreditation Liason Officer. He came to BYU-Idaho in 2008 to teach Religious Education and received the Exemplary Faculty Award in 2017. Boyd earned a Bachelor of Science from Brigham Young University and a Juris Doctorate degree from the J. Reuben Clark Law School, graduating Cum Laude.
Previous to Brigham Young University-Idaho, Boyd practiced law in Idaho and Utah. He also taught seminary for the Church Education System.
Jon Nichols serves as the Assistant to the President for Strategy, Planning, & Assessment at Ensign College. He received his bachelor’s in Marketing and his Executive MBA from the University of Utah.
Jon spent over ten years at the University of Utah overseeing their Professional, Online, and Executive MBA programs. He led the design, development, and launch of the Online MBA program, the first fully online program at the University of Utah. He would go on to become a senior product manager for WGU Labs, where he worked closely with early-stage ed-tech companies and community colleges around the country.
Drs. Aman and Barber will explore the critical role of both futuring and strategic planning in improving institutional effectiveness. Attendees will be presented with insights into the differences between futuring and strategic planning approaches and how they complement each other. Futuring allows colleges and universities to anticipate potential changes and disruptions, fostering creativity and adaptability. Strategic planning provides a structured framework for implementing specific goals and ensuring efficient allocation of resources toward mission fulfillment. The presentation will emphasize the importance of prioritizing futuring before strategic planning in higher education institutions to develop comprehensive and achievable strategies toward fulfill of Standards 1.B.3 and 1.B.4.
Session Date/Time: Thursday, November 9, 2:35 p.m. – 3:35 p.m. PST
Institutional Speakers:
Lori Barber is Vice President of Academic & Student Affairs at College of Eastern Idaho (CEI). Prior to this position, she served in various leadership roles at the College. She led the creation of the General Education transfer degrees at CEI, first as Dean of General Education. She holds a doctorate in Educational Leadership and Innovation from Arizona State University. Lori completed her Master’s Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies where she researched the history and anthropology of food. She serves on numerous state level education committees in Idaho, including the Idaho Workforce Development Council and Council on Academic Affairs and Programs (CAAP).
In 2017, a delegation of community members from Cottage Grove, Oregon came to see the president at Lane Community College to explore how the college could help southern Lane County create a FQHC to address a lack of affordable, accessible healthcare. Data showed there was a decline in students coming from that area as well as a shortage of healthcare workers. The college brought together stakeholders to discuss the idea and by 2022, plans were established to create a FQHC/Allied Health Training Facility. This presentation will demonstrate how the power of collaboration can help colleges solve even the most insurmountable problems.
Session Date/Time: Thursday, November 9, 2:35 p.m. – 4:35 p.m. PST
Institutional Speakers:
Dr. Margaret Hamilton retired from Lane Community College in Oregon in 2022 as President Emeritus after a 40 year career in higher education. While at Lane, Dr. Hamilton led the college through a new Strategic Plan, a seven-year Self-Study leading to full accreditation, and a successful $121.5M bond campaign-all during a pandemic. Dr. Hamilton holds a Ph.D from Widener University, a MSN from University of Delaware, and a BSN from SUNY, Plattsburgh. Her collaborative work with the community led to the development of a Federally Qualified Health Center in southern Lane County. Dr. Hamilton now serves as an independent consultant.
Over the last almost two years, legislation regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and transgender and LGBTQ+ issues is either being considered or has been passed in several states in America. Considering these actions, offices and programs focused on DEI and LGBTQ issues have been shuttered or curtailed at a number of institutions, while other, highly successful institutions have doubled down on their efforts in support students, staff, and faculty from such underserved and underrepresented communities.
A characteristic shared by exceptionally successful institutions is that they create an environment of inclusive excellence by offering programs to promote the complete moral, emotional, intellectual, and civic transformation of the individual student by removing obstacles to ensure students have access, feel a sense of community and belonging, and, thus, secure their success. Strategies to promote student access, belonging, and success can indeed result in measurable improvements in addressing inequities, enhance diversity, and create a sense of inclusion on campus.
During this session, you’ll have an opportunity to listen to presidents of some of our member institutions on their efforts and approaches to create an environment in which ALL students thrive.
Session Date/Time: Friday, November 10, 1:15 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. PST
Moderator: Kevin Worthen, NWCCU Commissioner and former president of Brigham Young University
Panelists:
Metrics of institutional success have been based on student completions, and completions are based on finishing prescribed degree programs. What if there were a category for helping students complete exactly what they needed in the first place? Shouldn’t that be a “success”? This session describes a new way of thinking about 1.C and redefining success for the future of higher education.
Session Date/Time: Thursday, November 9, 10:55 a.m. – 11:55 a.m. PST
Institutional Speakers:
As VP of Compliance & Accreditation at Western Governors University (or “WGU”—America’s leading competency-based, online, non-profit university with 140,000+ students and 305,000+ graduates in each of the USA’s states and territories), Lucas Kavlie’s team of compliance professionals maintains trust through engagement between the university and external agencies (i.e., accrediting bodies, state authorization bodies, professional licensing/certification agencies, and other quality frameworks) in all American jurisdictions (states, commonwealths, territories, and the District of Columbia). In his career, Lucas has overseen the submission of hundreds of compliance or regulatory affairs applications—without rejection. He is a member of CHEA’s Committee on Recognition.
There is “Renewed Hope for Students in Prison with Reinstatement of Pell Grants.” Starting July 2023, Pell grants are accessible for students who are incarcerated. Hear from a student regarding the impact of higher education in prison, learn about the latest developments in the regulations from Michael Cagle, their implementation from Belinda Wheeler, and gain the institutional perspective from Deb Conrad.
Session Date/Time: Thursday, November 9, 2:35 p.m. – 3:35 p.m. PST
Moderator: Gita Bangera, Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities
Panelists:
Dr. Leonard Taylor is an Associate Professor of Higher Education and Student Affairs and Director of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) at Indiana University. Leonard has taught in college contexts for nearly a decade in various teaching roles, working with undergraduate and graduate students. His scholarship is focused on investigating and improving how student success commitments are enacted at higher education institutions. Through research, teaching, and consulting he works to understand, interrogate, and inform how administrators, faculty and staff members, and other post-secondary stakeholders use research, data, and promising practices to enhance post-secondary outcomes.
His research is deeply informed by his previous experiences facilitating High Impact Practices as a practitioner, and his ongoing research projects related to the implementation of student success practices in various institutional and disciplinary contexts. His work has been funded through the National Science Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Lumina Foundation, College Student Educators International (ACPA), as well as other national and local entities. Recent examples of his scholarship can be found in the Review of Higher Education, The Journal of Higher Education, and in a recently published volume of New Directions for Higher Education titled, Enacting Student Success: Critical and alternative approaches for practice.
Charag Krishnan is a Partner with McKinsey & Company’s Education Practice. He supports institutions on improving student outcomes, developing sustainable business models, operational turnarounds, capability building, advanced analytics applications, M&A as well as international expansion. He primarily works with universities in the US but has also served institutions across the spectrum of education – impact investors, non-profits, governments, and philanthropic foundations in India, Europe. Middle East and Australia.
Charag is a founding cohort Teach for India fellow where he taught grades 2 and 3 at a low-income municipal school, and was involved with setting and scaling up India operations of Generation, a non-profit focused on youth employment founded by McKinsey Social Initiative. He has also been a UNICEF Innovation Unit Fellow and currently serves on the Boards of Teach for India U.S. and Mantra4Change US. He graduated with an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management as a Youn Scholar, Tata scholar and Dean’s Award recipient and holds a Bachelors degree in Electronics from National Institute of Technology, India.
Dr. Nasser Paydar currently serves as the Assistant Secretary of Education for Postsecondary Education.
Dr. Paydar is chancellor emeritus of Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) and executive vice president of Indiana University (IU). An IU faculty member for more than 36 years, he has held various administrative and executive leadership positions at the university. Paydar joined IUPUI in 1985 as an assistant professor of mechanical engineering. From 1989 to 2003, he held a number of positions in the school, including chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, associate dean for graduate programs, associate dean for academic programs, and executive associate dean. From 2004 to 2007, he served as vice chancellor and dean of Indiana University–Purdue University Columbus. Paydar was appointed chancellor of Indiana University East in 2007, serving in that role until he returned to IUPUI in 2012, when he was named the campus’s executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer. He became IUPUI’s fifth chancellor in 2015.
As an IUPUI faculty member, he has served as principal and co-principal investigator on research grants from federal and state agencies and private companies, including Cummins Electronics, DePuy, the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Army, and the U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center. His research in the area of solid mechanics, with applications in biomechanics and electronic packaging, has been published widely in scientific journals. Paydar earned bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in mechanical engineering from Syracuse University.
Anthony Salcito works to help empower educators and inspire students to achieve more. He aims to transform the way we learn with the support of the best technology to help build critical skills for the modern, global workplace.
In his role as Chief Institution Business Officer at Nerdy, Anthony works to support institutions and educators with solutions for high-dosage tutoring, homework help, test prep, and enrichment all with the goal of driving student outcomes and helping transform education.
Anthony is a recognized leader in driving education transformation and has worked globally with education leaders and organizations to support new approaches to delivering student impact and supporting learners. Prior to joining to Varsity Tutors, Anthony served at Vice President of Worldwide Education for Microsoft, leading the worldwide execution of the company’s vision for education, and pioneering many core programs and education offerings including Live@EDU which evolved to be Office 365, Partners in Learning, Microsoft Innovative Educator program, and Showcase Schools.
Anthony has served as an active board member at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, and Teach.org. He has also helped author a book on Education Transformation which serves as a reference guide for schools looking to drive innovation to enhance student outcomes. You can engage with Anthony Salcito at @AnthonySalcito.
Dr. Bridget Burns – Named one of the “Most Innovative People in Higher Education” by Washington Monthly magazine, Dr. Bridget Burns is the founding CEO of the award winning University Innovation Alliance (UIA), a multi-campus national laboratory for student success innovation that helps university leaders dramatically accelerate the implementation of scalable solutions to increase the number and diversity of college graduates across the country. Dr. Burns is a frequent keynote speaker, and her work has been highlighted in national outlets like The New York Times, Fast Company, 60 Minutes, and she was featured in the documentary “Unlikely.” She received her Doctorate of Education in Higher Education Leadership & Policy from Vanderbilt University.
Paul N. Friga, PhD, is one of the foremost higher education thought leaders and strategists. With 20 years of experience as a professor, researcher and consultant at UNC CH and Indiana University, Friga understands how public education really works and how it should change. His former experience as a consultant with PwC (earned CPA and CMA designations) and McKinsey (including projects in public higher education) round out additional relevant experience. He has also served as a Trustee at Saint Francis University and the Board Chair at Saints Francis and Clare Church in Greenwood, Indiana. He has an MBA and Ph.D. from UNC Chapel Hill.
Chris Moloney, PhD, serves as AGB Consulting’s Associate Vice President and Associate Managing Principal. In that supervisory role, he manages strategy development offerings for colleges, universities, and their governing boards and leads business development efforts with private institutions, while providing internal connectivity among consulting team and other AGB units. Moloney previously held the roles of Senior Director, Consulting, and Director of Strategy and Transformation Consulting within AGB, where he led the development of external engagement and business development strategies, digital initiatives, and oversaw operations. Moloney began his tenure with AGB in a business and partnership development role under the affiliated entity AGB Institutional Strategies, with significant responsibility for the operations and business development of that unit. Prior to joining AGB, Moloney served as the associate director of the College Division at Global Maximum Educational Opportunities (GMEO), an international education company, where he led a team engaged in building international education partnerships with colleges and universities across the United States.
Stephen P. Hundley, PhD, is Senior Advisor to the Chancellor for Planning and Institutional Improvement at IUPUI, where he is also a Professor of Organizational Leadership. Stephen provides strategic advice and consultation to the Chancellor, the Chancellor’s Cabinet, and the Council of Deans on a range of matters pertaining to IUPUI’s strategy, effectiveness, and future directions. He leads the Office of Planning and Institutional Improvement, including facilitating the administrative and program review processes; directing campus-level strategic planning activities; handling the executive search function for the campus; promoting various improvement-oriented initiatives; and serving as executive sponsor of IUPUI’s Program Review and Assessment Committee.
Stephen chairs the annual Assessment Institute in Indianapolis, which is the oldest and largest U.S. event focused on assessing and improving higher education. He is executive editor of Assessment Update, an award-winning bimonthly periodical from Wiley with a national readership, and he serves as host of Leading Improvements in Higher Education, an award-winning podcast profiling people, initiatives, institutions, and organizations improving conditions in higher education.
Stephen has addressed a variety of audiences in more than 30 countries on six continents and throughout the United States. He has been recognized for his accomplishments through teaching, publication, and service awards and has received competitive funding from private foundations and state and federal agencies to support his work, including continuous funding from the National Science Foundation for more than a decade. Stephen earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Virginia Commonwealth University and a doctorate from American University in Washington, D.C.
Louisa Hunkerstorm joined NCHEMS in April 2022 as a Research Associate. She has particular interests in translating data into actionable insights for decision makers and in fostering climates of improvement and growth. She previously served as the Director of Institutional Effectiveness at Central Wyoming College where she was responsible for institutional research, served as the institution’s Accreditation Liaison Officer, and oversaw multiple accreditation-related visits and reviews. She has degrees from the University of Washington and Dartmouth College.
Brian Prescott is President at NCHEMS, where he sets the organization’s strategic direction and leads a team of accomplished and committed policy experts, information analysts, and creative thinkers working to improve how postsecondary education serves the nation’s needs. He also leads and supports projects on behalf of states, state agencies and systems, and institutions related to state strategic planning, postsecondary finance and affordability, governance and organization, demographics, and student success and workforce outcomes. Before joining NCHEMS in 2016, he served as Director of Policy Research at the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. He is a current board member of the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center and a past board member of the National Association of College Admission Counseling. He has degrees from the University of Virginia, the University of Iowa, and the College of William and Mary.