Featured Speakers

The Future Was Yesterday: Higher Education’s Great Upheaval & the Needs of the New Learner
Tuesday, December 1 – 5:00 pm

Scott Van Pelt, along with Arthur Levine (President, Brandeis College), is co-author of “The Great Upheaval: Higher Education’s Past, Present, and Uncertain Future” and its 2026 sequel, “From Upheaval to Action: What Works in Changing Higher Education.” Drawing on the trends explored in these books, Scott has presented on the factors shaping the future of higher education to state education systems, faculty associations, and colleges and universities. Professionally, Scott has held diverse roles across higher education, including in areas such as academic advising, admissions, instructional technology, and teaching and learning. Currently, Scott is the Director of Research and Faculty Affairs at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, where he collaborates with colleagues across the University to support faculty at Penn GSE. Scott is also an experienced educator and facilitator, and has taught courses, workshops, and other learning engagements for organizations such as the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn GSE, and the Fulbright Scholars Program.

Emmanual A. Guillory is an advocate, policy expert, and motivational speaker who currently serves as the Senior Director of Government Relations at the American Council on Education (ACE). In this role, he manages an extensive portfolio of legislative and regulatory issues as a primary government relations resource for the broader higher education community to the United States Congress, the White House, the United States Department of Education, and other agencies as warranted. His portfolio includes a primary emphasis on the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA)—especially Title IV programs—and the budget and appropriations process. Other issues within his portfolio include accreditation; college costs; student aid; institutional accountability; institutional aid in Titles III and V of the HEA; oversight; privacy; technology; accessibility; and disability, among others. See his full bio here.

Coordinating Student Success Strategies to Strengthen Credential Completion
Wednesday, December 2 – 4:00 pm

Colleen Falkenstern serves as the Director of Evidence and Strategic Initiatives in WICHE’s Policy Analysis and Research unit. In her role, she leads the unit’s work on a range of postsecondary education data and research initiatives and the development of data resources to support better-informed decision-making in the West. During her time at WICHE, she has worked on projects supporting Native American Serving Nontribal Institutions, addressing healthcare workforce issues, improving alignment between higher education and the workforce, and advancing postsecondary completion. She received a bachelor’s degree in marketing and management from the University of South Carolina—Columbia and a master’s degree in higher education from the University of Denver.

You Can’t Say That: American Higher Education and the War on Freedom
Thursday, December 3 – 8:40 am

Jonathan Zimmerman is Professor of History of Education and Berkowitz Professor in Education at the University of Pennsylvania. A former Peace Corps volunteer and high school teacher, Zimmerman is the author of Whose America? Culture Wars in the Public Schools and eight other books. He is also a frequent op-ed contributor to the Washington Post, the Chronicle of Higher Education, and other popular newspapers and magazines. Zimmerman previously taught for 20 years at New York University, where he received its Distinguished Teaching Award. His next book, Schooling Citizens: How Education Can Save Democracy, will be published early next year.

Communication & Coalition Building for Higher Education Advocacy

Sue Balter-Reitz has published broadly on First Amendment argumentation, with a current focus on contested discourse in higher education. She teaches courses in public advocacy, communication law and ethics, and communication theory. She is a senior fellow at the University of California Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement (with Michael Bruner)

Communication & Coalition Building for Higher Education Advocacy

Michael Bruner studies and teaches collaborative argument and public policy in performative settings. He has published numerous university press books and award-winning articles on topics such as argumentation and free speech, argumentation in ideologically charged settings, and national identity construction.

Communication & Coalition Building for Higher Education Advocacy

Ben Cannon serves as Executive Director of Oregon’s Higher Education Coordinating Commission, where he sits at the center of the relationship between higher education institutions, workforce development, and state government. He brings the perspective of the state official who saw what worked, what didn’t, and why from both sides of the table.

Communication & Coalition Building for Higher Education Advocacy

Clay Christian has navigated higher education policy in one of the country’s most distinctive legislative environments — a part-time citizen legislature where relationships are the only real currency and every session is a sprint. His experience offers a masterclass in small-state advocacy, where the margin for error is thin and personal connections are everything

Communication & Coalition Building for Higher Education Advocacy

Scott Jenkins is the former strategy director for state policy at Lumina Foundation. He is a public policy consultant and strategist who has spent his career helping organizations navigate state and federal policy environments. He works at the intersection of advocacy, message translation, and pragmatic coalition-building, and helping leaders move from being right to being relevant.

Algorithmic Governance? How AI is Reshaping Institutional Norms and Quality Assurance Standards: Leading with Integrity in a Shifting Technological Landscape

Melanie Gottlieb is the Executive Director of AACRAO, where she leads the association’s work on admissions, enrollment management, and student records. She regularly speaks on emerging issues in higher education, including Learning Mobility, AI, credentials, and data and policy interoperability.

Practical AI Tools for Accreditation

Dr. Justin Gandy is the Assistant Provost for Accreditation and Institutional Research at Dallas Baptist University.  He is also a professor of Management, holding a PhD in Leadership, an MBA in Management, and an MDiv. He helped develop DBU’s master’s degree in ethical AI, serves on the AI Taskforce, and he’s the creator and instructor for the GENAI 1301 and 2301 “AI in the Classroom” faculty development courses.  Additionally, Dr. Gandy has served as a SACSCOC off-site and on-site evaluator.

Advancing Student Success: Strategic Prioritization for Student Success

Jill Robinson Kramer, PhD, serves as a Vice President at the Gardner Institute focusing her work on development, administration, and analysis of the Institutional Transformation Assessment survey; the Readiness, Willingness, and Ability survey; and student success strategic planning within the Transformation Process. Kramer’s previous positions include Vice President for Operation Strategies at Strada Education Network, Associate Vice President for Planning and Grants at Ivy Tech Community College, Senior Program Officer at Lumina Foundation for Education, and Assistant Director of Special Events at the Hudson Institute. Kramer continues limited work as President and Principal Consultant of JRK Consulting, LLC – a minority-owned, women-owned business conducting strategic planning and fundraising/grant writing for education and nonprofit organizations. Kramer holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication and Spanish from Hanover College, a Master of Arts in Philanthropic Studies from Indiana University, and a PhD in Education Leadership from Indiana State University.

Advancing Student Success: Strategic Prioritization for Student Success

Dr. Andrew “Drew” K. Koch has served as CEO of the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Higher Education since 2021 and has been a leader at the organization since 2010. A nationally recognized higher education scholar and practitioner, he has dedicated his career to transforming teaching, learning, and student success outcomes. His commitment to educational transformation is rooted in his own experience as the child of German immigrants and a recipient of need-based financial aid.

Over the course of his career, Dr. Koch has led more than 50 grant-funded initiatives supported by major philanthropic organizations and federal agencies, advancing large-scale institutional and system change. His research and writing focus on transforming higher education systems to better serve students, with notable publications including The Transfer Experience, Talking about Leaving Revisited, and his most recent book, Transforming the Gateway Course Experience: A Call to Action for Higher Education (2025). He holds degrees from the University of Richmond, the University of South Carolina, and Purdue University, and was named an American Council on Education Fellow in 2013.

Getting Ahead of OBBBA’S New AHEAD Regulations: From Compliance to Improvement Insights

Alexandria Walton Radford is an author, sociologist, and strategic advisor who helps higher education leaders turn research, data, and field observations into actionable insights that improve student outcomes and strengthen institutions. For more than 20 years, she has led research and evaluation efforts on college access, student success, postsecondary value, and institutional change for philanthropies, federal agencies, state systems, higher education organizations, and colleges nationwide.

Currently a principal at Sova, Dr. Radford partners with leaders to tackle complex questions, rethink assumptions, and design strategies and frameworks that drive learning, continuous improvement, and impact. Previously, she directed large postsecondary research and evaluation centers at RTI International and the American Institutes for Research.

Dr. Radford is the award-winning author of two books on higher education and has been featured in NPR, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, and The Economist. She holds a PhD in sociology from Princeton University.