Dr. Chapman is a professor of Economics with emphasis on labor economics, negotiations, and political economy. His research interests have been centered on explaining persistent poverty and discrimination in the United States economy. Currently he has developed and is working on implementing, improving, and assessing performance coaching as a process to enhance graduate studies in competency-based learning in Westminster College’s Project Based MBA program. He is also interesting in developing coaching and mentoring as a process to develop talent in organizations.
Dr. Dodge oversees program outcomes assessment, program review, curriculum processes, and the academic catalog. She serves as Brandman University’s WASC accreditation liaison officer and is a member of the WASC Substantive Change Committee. She was appointed for a three-year term to the WASC Interim Report Committee from 2010-2013 and was a member of the WASC Changing Ecology of Higher Education Task Force 2011-2013. Dr. Dodge is a graduate of the inaugural WASC Assessment Leadership Academy and is a key presenter for the academy and for WASC workshops on assessment, Lumina Degree Qualifications Profile, and competency-based education. Laurie was previously a professor in psychology teaching research, statistics, the senior capstone, and pediatric neuropsychology at Brandman. Over the last twenty years at the university, she has also served as interim co-vice chancellor of academic affairs, interim dean of arts and science, and department chair of psychology.
With a background in STEM and a passion for the liberal arts, Dr. Gentile has spent her time in higher education concentrating on the design of exceptional student-centered experiences. As the dean of arts and sciences at Westminster College, much of her recent attention has been focused on ways to support faculty and students involved in low-residency CBE programs. On the student front, these efforts include the design of multiple overlapping pathways for CBE degree completion, including prior learning assessment, advanced tracks for students having completed particular certificate programs, online pre-requisites, and a low-residency CBE liberal education core. On the faculty front, her focus has been on educating the broader faculty community, providing coaches and internal grants to design low-residency CBE courses, and providing the time for design and implementation of a graduate CBE program in communication. Dr. Gentile’s talk will discuss how aligning opportunities provided by a new strategic plan and a new liberal education core have allowed for development of a CBE liberal education option at Westminster College.
Nancy became the first president of The New American Colleges and Universities in 2011. Previously she served as chief executive officer of the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) in Washington, D.C. for seven years. As chief executive officer for CUR, an organization of over 600 higher education institutions, Hensel oversaw significant growth as her leadership guided it to a prominent place in higher education. She has been a passionate supporter of undergraduate research throughout her career, including serving as principal (or co-principal) investigator on seven National Science Foundation (NSF) grants and publishing several papers on the topic. Prior to becoming CUR’s chief executive officer, Hensel was the sixth president of the University of Maine at Presque Isle, at which she strongly advocated for the inclusion of undergraduate research in the curriculum. Under her leadership the University Day undergraduate research symposium was established. During her tenure, the university also adopted a theme of adventurous learning which encompassed intellectual, cultural, and outdoor adventures.
Dr. Wurdinger currently serves as the coordinator of the Educational Leadership Doctoral Program. His research interests focus on the use of project-based learning in developing life skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, and creativity. He has taught all ages of students in a variety of settings and has been teaching in higher education for the past twenty-two years. Dr. Wudinger serves as a cadre expert for Innovative Quality Schools, which is an organization that authorizes charter schools. He has published numerous research articles and several books on the topic of experiential learning and education reform.
In his role, Andy has oversight for the university’s fleet and fuel programs, PCI compliance, vending, warehousing and central receiving, surplus property and asset disposal, mail services, and purchasing. His work has allowed him to create significant savings within a $100 million dollar operating budget and has been the recipient of numerous awards at the collegiate level. Andy is also a member of the Inter-University Counsel for Procurement representing fourteen state schools across Ohio and an adjunct faculty member at BGSU. Prior to joining BGSU in 2002, Andy spent more than five years in the IT consulting and telecom industries serving in a variety of technical and business operation positions. Andy received a Bachelor Degree from the University of Toledo in management information systems minoring in management and received a Masters of Business Administration from Bowling Green State University.
Melanie Weaver is the Director of Financial Aid at Ohio Northern University. She has been at ONU for nine years, serving as a counselor and assistant director prior to taking the director position. In her role, Melanie oversees all financial aid operations and funding at Ohio Northern University. In addition, she is a member of the enrollment leadership team. Melanie’s work has been featured in the Chronicle of Higher Education “Head Count” blog and she has also presented at several state and national conferences on financial aid and enrollment topics. She is currently is pursuing her Ed.D degree in Higher Education and Organizational Change from Benedictine University in Lisle, IL.
Mr. Graham joined JLL in March 2014 as a Senior Vice President with the Public Institutions group. Located in San Diego, CA, he provides real estate, development and neighborhood revitalization advisory services to public sector and higher education clients in the western United States. He is currently managing a strategic engagement for the Port of San Diego in the redevelopment of its 530-acre waterfront master plan in the City of Chula Vista, which is anticipated to encompass thousands of hotel rooms, a convention center, and hundreds of thousands of square feet of retail and office space, parks and promenades, and a fire station. Other current assignments include a campus financing and development strategy for California State University Channel Islands and a downtown revitalization and implementation strategy for the City of Lynnwood, Washington.
Mr. Hunt is a member of JLL’s Public Institutions group located in Seattle, WA and is responsible for representing the team in the Western United States. His core focus is to help organizations link their real estate and facilities strategy to their overall business strategy. He is skilled at translating organizational needs into business cases and actionable performance criteria to support the planning, implementation and measurement of real estate and workplace strategies.
As a Librarian, Project Leader and Manager at Aaron Cohen Associates (ACA), Alex Cohen heads a library-consulting firm with over 40 years of experience working with all types of libraries. His expertise includes space-planning assessments, improving efficiency, and special collection/archives management; academic libraries worldwide have benefited from his work. His goal is to ensure that user needs are better met, through service innovations and changes to functions, collections and physical space. Some highlights of Alex’s career include: the University of Maryland (Hornbake Library); Stanford University Master Library Plan; University of Texas, Austin; Hillsborough County Library System; and the National Library of Greece. He is currently at work on the new Central Library in Dubai.
