James Roche is the associate provost for enrollment management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he is responsible for the admissions and financial aid offices. Before coming to UMass, he was the associate vice president for enrollment management at Washington State University, where he also served as director of institutional research. Prior to his 10 years at Washington State, he was director of communications and director of research at EDUCAUSE in Boulder, Colorado. EDUCAUSE is an international higher education information technology association. Roche received his bachelor’s degree from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, his master’s degree in journalism from Marquette University, and a PhD in mass communications from Indiana University. His research interests cover all aspects of admissions and financial aid, especially as they relate to student performance. He has been regular presenter at the annual AACRAO conference and his work has been published in SEM Quarterly, SEM Source, and the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Dr. Caldwell is responsible for professional development efforts and providing consultation to the Faculty Affairs and Academic Personnel administrators at the 23 California State University campuses. He also serves as a system representative on the California State University Unit 3 (Faculty) Collective Bargaining Team. In addition, he provides a wide array of workshops and training related to the responsibilities listed above. He previously served as the Associate Vice President for Faculty Affairs, Chair of the Academic Senate, and Chair of the Department of Music at California State University, Fresno. Dr. Caldwell was honored with the 2010 Provost’s Award for Faculty Service at Fresno State and the California Music Educators Association (CMEA) 2010 President’s Award Honoring Extraordinary Accomplishments in Music Education.
Deb served in a variety of career services leadership roles at University of Oregon Career Center for over thirty years first as associate director of the centralized Career Center, then as director of Career Services at the Lundquist College of Business supporting MBAs and finally as director of the Career Center. In each of these roles she excelled at innovative program development, relationship management both on campus and with employers and teaching/counseling, always putting the needs of students first. She also led the inaugural strategic planning process for the division of student affairs as well as internally at the career center. Although formally retired, Deb has discovered that she is not very good at retirement and remains active in the field consulting with the UO graduate students in the applied sciences and leading review teams of career services operations for two major universities. Deb has had the privilege of serving as president of the National Association of Colleges and Employers and the Western Association of Colleges and Employers where she grew as a leader, led many significant initiatives on behalf of the profession and developed friendships that will last a lifetime. She was inducted into the NACE Academy of Fellows […]
Dan Miller has taught at Niagara County Community College (NCCC) for over twenty years. He has taught mathematics courses ranging from developmental math to calculus as well as computer science courses. Dan has written over twenty solution manuals for a variety of college and high school mathematics textbooks and has authored content for MyMathLab/MathXL software. He led NCCC’s redesign of Introduction to Statistics (~20 sections) as part of the State University of New York (SUNY) Course Redesign Initiative, a collaborative effort between SUNY and NCAT (2007 – 2010). As part of this project, Dan designed a large computer lab that was built in the space formerly occupied by two underutilized classrooms. In 2009, he and his colleagues applied the principles learned to redesigning NCCC’s developmental Mathematics Literacy course (~50 sections). Because these two redesigns have now filled the new computer lab to capacity, Dan is working on creative solutions so that other courses can be redesigned in the future.
Dr. Miller is a cognitive psychologist whose research focuses on memory and attention, psychological impacts of technology, and student academic success. At Northern Arizona University, she has shaped redesign programs including the First Year Learning Initiative and the President’s Technology Initiative. She also helped lead the redesign of NAU’s Introduction to Psychology course, which was chosen as a “Course Redesign Exemplar” by the National Center for Academic Transformation. Dr. Miller has written and presented extensively on evidence-based pedagogy and course design, most recently, Minds Online: Teaching Effectively with Technology (2014, Harvard University Press). She specializes in mobilizing faculty to adopt teaching strategies that leverage principles from cognitive and brain sciences to create more effective and engaging learning experiences.
Greet Provoost’s career in international education spans more than thirty years. A citizen of Belgium, she joined the University of Mississippi in 2009. Prior to joining Ole Miss, Greet served as assistant graduate dean for international affairs at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte; assistant director of the Center for International Affairs and Programs at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh; director of international admissions and student services at Carroll University, and director of admissions Europe/Africa at Up With People. Greet’s professional associations include AIEA, NAFSA, IIE, AIRC and MAIE. She served as a mentor for IIE’s pilot program in Myanmar: Connecting with the World – International Relations at Higher Education Institutions; and chairs the AIRC working group on institutional transparency in international recruitment. She also served as mentor in the NAFSA Academy, and helped to establish StudyMississippi.
Melissa Smurdon has served the Butler University Office of Financial Aid for more than 20 years. Before becoming Director in 2010 she held various positions from counseling to systems and compliance oversight. She got her start as a student employee at University of Indianapolis followed by Ball State University where she completed a Master’s in Student Personnel Administration in Higher Education. Melissa is a member of National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA), Indiana Student Financial Aid Association (ISFAA), Midwest Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (MASFAA) and People Soft Higher Education Users Group (HEUG) and has served and presented for those organizations as well at College Board Regional and National Forums.
Ms. Meg Buchanan Foster assists with the integration of the quality enhancement plan (QEP) in the division of student affairs. Meg is also an adjunct instructor teaching online College Success Skills courses. Prior to her work with the QEP, she coordinated college orientation programming at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College. Meg’s areas of research include enrollment management, college preparation, online learning, and retention, and she has presented at numerous conferences on issues in higher education, student orientation, and college success. Meg previously served as an assistant dean of admissions at Salem College and Virginia Wesleyan College. She has an MA in College Student Personnel Administration from the University of Maryland.
Nicholas Vaskov serves as System Counsel and Director of Real Estate Planning for the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) – a unitary system composed of two universities, a state college, four community colleges, and a research institution that serves over 100,000 students. Prior to joining NSHE in 2013, Nicholas was in private practice with a major southwest regional law firm. Prior to that, he served as Assistant City Attorney, and later the appointed City Attorney, for the City of North Las Vegas focusing on land use and development during a period in which the city was one of the fastest growing in the country.
Eva is a vice president on Moody’s Higher Education and Not-for-Profit Team. She covers the ratings of higher education and not-for-profit institutions across the US, particularly in the western states. Eva has authored multiple publications including Moody’s higher education annual outlook and special comments on the topics of Title IX, sequestration, student loans, philanthropic giving and the impact of need-blind admissions. Prior to joining Moody’s, Eva held positions at Empire State Development Corporation, managing economic development financial incentives to New York State businesses and major institutions, and at New York University. Eva holds an A.B. from Middlebury College and an M.B.A. from New York University with a concentration in economics and management.
