Eric has worked in higher education for the past 11 years. He was a full-time, tenured assistant professor at Central Wyoming College in Riverton, Wyoming for six years and taught in the areas of business, management, and criminal justice. Eric also spent time as a Director and Workforce Training Coordinator during his time with Central. He has spent the past four years as an academic administrator, with the past two years as the Associate Dean and currently the Interim Dean of the School of Applied Technology and Technical Specialties at Salt Lake Community College. Eric has overseen and is currently leading the School of Applied technology to a transition from a clock hour format into Competency Based Education modality. Eric has spent the past five years working in the area of Competency Based Education and Curriculum Development and has been involved in helping to change over 15 academic programs during that time. Prior to moving to Salt Lake City, Eric also served 2.5 terms as an elected member of the Riverton City Council in Riverton, Wyoming, including two terms as the Council President. Eric Holds a Ph.D. in Higher Education Leadership from Colorado State University.
Galloway is responsible for managing the daily operations of UC Santa Cruz (UCSC). She works closely with Chancellor George Blumenthal and is the administration’s primary liaison with the Academic Senate. Galloway joined the UCSC faculty in 1990. She has held several administrative appointments, including most recently that of Vice Provost and Dean of Academic Affairs and University Extension. She served as chair of the Anthropology Department, as well as chair and vice chair of the UCSC Academic Senate. She earned her Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Arizona and her B.A. in anthropology from UC Berkeley. Galloway is also one of the nation’s leading forensic scientists. She is frequently asked by law enforcement officials to analyze and identify human remains. Because many of the cases she works on are homicides, she has referred to her work as “giving voice to victims.” A frequent expert witness in court cases, she intends to continue her research while serving as CP/EVC.
Shari McMahan, PhD, is the 27th president of Eastern Washington University. As EWU’s chief administrative officer, Dr. McMahan supervises all operations and programs of the university and is especially passionate about being a champion of student support and success at Eastern. Before coming to EWU in July 2022, Dr. McMahan served for six years as provost and vice president for academic affairs at California State University, San Bernardino, where she played a key role in university governance while leading its core teaching and research units. She was the first woman provost in the institution’s history. Prior to joining CSUSB, Dr. McMahan served for 16 years as a faculty member, dean and deputy provost at California State University, Fullerton. You can read more about her professional experience at ewu.edu/president In addition to her administrative attainments, Dr. McMahan also has a long track record of scholarly achievement. She has been awarded more than $5 million in external grant funding, authored more than 50 peer-reviewed publications, delivered dozens of scientific and community presentations, and served on numerous professional task forces. A Southern California native, Dr. McMahan has both a bachelor’s degree and a doctoral degree in social ecology from the University of California, […]
Eda Roth is an actress and consultant who for over twenty years has been bringing theatre-based skills to executives in various industries. Through her highly creative work, tailored to the specific needs of each individual she coaches, she helps leaders become more effective in every area of their work. Eda helps clients break through inhibitions so that they become more expressive of who they really are, enabling them to communicate more meaningfully and with greater results in a variety of situations. The range of her expertise includes helping individuals develop better presentation skills, executive presence and one-on-one communication abilities – thereby strengthening their talents in engaging others and building supportive relationships.
Dr. Peter Smits is Vice President Emeritus at California State University, Fresno, where he was responsible for Fresno State’s programs in development and fundraising, university communications, endowment management, and alumni relations. Under Peter’s leadership, Fresno State surpassed the $200 million campaign goal of its first comprehensive campaign, reaching $214.2 million. Prior to Fresno State, Peter served as Vice President for Advancement at Indiana University of Pennsylvania; Executive Assistant to the Chancellor at Louisiana State University in Shreveport; Vice President for College Relations and Development at the State University of New York at Brockport; and Dean of Students at The College of White Plains in New York. Peter is currently a Senior Fellow of CASE International, where his research interests include the ways in which campuses identify, measure, and grow their culture of philanthropy.
Rachelle Clarke serves as the Dean of Enrollment Services in the Division of Student Affairs at Rio Salado College. In this role, she leads strategic and operational initiatives that directly impact student, staff and institutional success. Clarke has over 15 years of progressive operations experience in the community college and specializes in systems thinking, high quality services scaled to serve large populations at a distance, leveraging technology, process improvement and leadership. Areas of responsibility have included Academic Advisement, Admissions, Registration and Records, Early College programs, Financial Aid, Military Advisement, Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, Student Life, Testing, and Quality Assurance. Clarke began her higher education career at the Peralta Community College District in the California Bay Area. She went on to earn her B.A. in Humanities with an emphasis in Architecture, Culture and Society from Arizona State University and her MEd in Community College Leadership from Northern Arizona University.
Angela has extensive management, development and stewardship experience. In her current role she supervises annual giving, donor relations, research and prospect management, proposal services, marketing and communications, and development recruitment. Prior to UC Davis, Joens was Vice President of Development Operations for the Mercy Medical Center Foundation in Des Moines, Iowa. She also served as the Senior Director of Donor Relations for the Iowa State University Foundation and worked for RuffaloCODY a for-profit company that assists the non-profits with fundraising. Her career began as a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. Joens is also a non-profit consultant, an executive coach, and speaks nationally on topics related to stewardship, development and leadership. She has been featured in several industry publications including CASE Currents Magazine and the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Joens earned her BA from the University of Iowa, her MPA from Iowa State University, and her Professional Life and Work Coach Certificate from UC Davis. She is a proud volunteer for the Association of Donor Relations Professionals (ADRP) and the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).
Formerly the Executive Vice President for the University of Central Oklahoma, Steve joined MSU Denver in August of 2013. His prior career was in economic development, non-profit management, and fund raising. His current responsibilities include budget and finance, accounting and audit, talent management, facilities, grants and contracts, extended campus, project management, process transformation, and institutional research. On an interim basis, Steve has been responsible for the MSU Denver Foundation, the MSU Alumni Association, and Athletics.
Laura DiChiara is an experienced professional with more than fifteen years in higher education. Presently, she is the Director of Salem State University’s one stop student service center, known as the Student Navigation Center. After having participated in the discovery, planning and implementation phases of the service center, DiChiara is now responsible for managing the integrated service office where she continuously seeks to identify efficiencies in processes and services amongst the functional areas of the registrar, student accounts, financial aid, and ID card services. Previously, Laura served as the Associate Registrar at Salem State University where she oversaw the delivery of registration, course scheduling and enrollment planning, technology, and customer services. From 2005-2008, she held the position of Associate Director of Student Accounts responsible for collection services. Laura has also worked 20 years in the hospitality industry last serving as an Operations Manager for Marriott International. DiChiara is currently ABD pursuing an Ed.D at Northeastern University and holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Salem State University. She specializes in service management, organizational change, process improvement and leadership.
Amy is a Senior Learning & Development Manager for our leadership focused programming and joined AI in 2022. With over twenty-years of experience in higher education administration, Amy was in the role of Vice President of Enrollment Management & Student Services at Owens Community College in Toledo, Ohio immediately prior to joining our team. With experience leading areas such as athletics, records and registration, service-learning, enrollment management, veteran services, and one-stop service areas her focus has been on developing processes that foster student success and completion while developing staff members. Amy earned a Bachelor’s in History, Master of Labor and Human Relations and a Master of Arts in Higher Education Administration all from The Ohio State University and is currently enrolled in the Higher Education Administration Ph.D. program at Bowling Green State University. To nurture joy, she spends time with her humans, cats and nature.
