Tom has over 20 years of experience working in higher education. Since 2001, Tom has held various leadership positions within Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) at UMUC where he helped establish and lead the original student recruitment and academic advising departments in SEM. As one of the largest public universities in the United States, these departments continue to serve civilian, military and veteran adult online learners at all points of the academic life cycle. Tom is also a certified call center manager where he helped establish a Quality Assurance department and performance management model that measures advising service levels to students. Currently, Tom creates and implements strategic and innovative retention initiatives with the purpose of increasing re-enrollment growth and driving student success through the use of data and predictive analytics. He has presented to national and international audiences on the strategic use of data and the prescriptive nature of student advising. Prior to his career in strategic enrollment management, Tom completed his undergraduate degree in Biology with a focus on molecular biology. Tom is now in the process of completing his Masters of Science in Project Management at UMUC.
A professional with more than twenty years of experience in connecting and serving women and volunteers, Michele joined the Indiana University Foundation team in 2014 as the Director of Women’s Philanthropy. She directs the Women’s Philanthropy program in partnership with IU’s First Lady, Laurie Burns McRobbie, and members of the Women’s Philanthropy Leadership Council. Michele began her professional career as Director for Chapter Services for Alpha Gamma Delta Women’s Fraternity in Indianapolis after working as a consultant while pursuing her master’s degree at The Ohio State University. She earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Duquesne University. Before moving back to Indiana, Michele held the position of the Director of the Rice Annual Fund at Rice University and prior to that as Associate Director for the Dartmouth College Fund at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. Prior to joining the development team at Dartmouth in 2000, she served as the Executive Director for the Alpha Gamma Delta Foundation. She also held the position of Assistant Administrator/Training Coordinator, Circle K International, a division of Kiwanis International.
Lori serves as a Vice President at the Western Association of Schools and Colleges with over 25 years experience in education. Prior to this role, she served as Provost and Accreditation Liaison Officer at Ashford University in San Diego. Previous positions include vice provost of curriculum development and innovation at Kaplan University, vice president of product strategy and development at Laureate Education, executive director of the center for student success at Walden University, and administrative roles at Saint Michael’s College and Middlebury College. Throughout her career, Lori has also taught extensively, serving as a professor, thesis advisor, and mentor.
Chris Nicholson has over two decades of leadership in higher education as an administrator, consultant, speaker, and faculty member. He currently serves as Assistant Dean of Enrollment, Marketing, and Partnerships for University College at the University of Denver, which offers over 100 academic programs and a robust portfolio of non-credit programing to over 8,000 learners across the world. Chris also serves as a consultant for RNL (formerly Ruffalo Noel Levitz), where he helped launch the firm’s adult, online and graduate practice, and actively consults with college and university leaders on strategic enrollment planning, online program strategy, academic program development, review, and assessment, marketing strategy, and organizational structure. Chris has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in marketing and higher education for nearly 20 years, and speaks around the world on a range of topics, including professional, online, and continuing education, enrollment management and marketing, and U.S. higher education structure and policy. He is active professionally, serving for several years as a volunteer leader for the University Professional and Continuing Education Association (UPCEA).
Jennifer has more than 20 years of experience in special events and higher education. In 2014 she was named Wake Forest University’s first Executive Director of the Wake Washington Center. In this capacity she partners with campus departments (Advancement, Alumni Engagement, Office of Personal and Career Development, the Provost, Deans, and academic departments) to develop and enhance programs for the entire alumni, parent and friend constituency in the D.C. metro area, as well as between and among faculty and students on campus, building a bridge from campus to one of the University’s key cities. She also led the development of a study/internship program for undergraduates who wish to study and work in the nation’s capital, which opened in Fall 2017. Prior to her current role, she was vice president of university events, where she was responsible for the overall strategy, production and execution of the signature events for the university. Her experience covers a wide range of events, from intimate donor dinners at the president’s house, to large-scale events including inaugurations, national presidential debates, campaign kickoffs, film screenings, tapings of NPR’s “Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me,” and ESPN’s Homecoming Show with Rick Reilly, as well as 12 years of commencements […]
Kim Wright has more than fifteen years of experience directing and performing market analysis, financial analysis, and strategic planning for clients in the public, private and nonprofit sectors. Her more recent engagements have entailed student housing master plans and feasibility analyses for on- and off-campus housing, strategic planning for institutions that are considering first-time on-campus housing or an expansion of existing housing, institutions in housing markets with high barriers to entry, and public-private partnership advisory services. An area of focus for Ms. Wright is community colleges where she has assisted a significant number of clients, performed extensive research, and presented at industry events and conferences. She directs Scion’s west coast office. She has an extensive national and international background in general real estate, including multifamily and mixed-use housing, transit-oriented development, and retail. This includes creating innovative development and revitalization strategies for real estate investors, developers, public agencies, universities, business improvement districts, and non-profit organizations Kim is a member of the Association of College and University Housing Officers International (ACUHO-I), Community College Business Officers (CCBO), and the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO). Ms. Wright’s most recent speaking engagement includes the Community College Business Officers (CCBO) annual conference. […]
Jonathan was appointed to oversee the University System of Georgia’s Public Private Partnership program in student housing in December of 2014. The P3 program includes 9,928 bed spaces across nine USG institutions. Jonathan has thirteen years of experience in higher education at various types of institutions, public and private. Jonathan’s areas of focus include public private partnership transition, operative agreements, mediation, performance standards, student accounts, housing information systems, and occupancy management. Jonathan attended Spring Hill College where he obtained his bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Appalachian State University where he obtained his master’s degree in Clinical Psychology.
Lotte Kaefer, an architect with over 18 years’ experience designs educational and cultural facilities. With a passion for the design of public buildings that teach and contribute to communities, she has cemented her experience through the complexities of high performance, sustainable buildings. She brings a sensitive approach to buildings fitting place with thoughtful interior design that can answer to the changing needs of users. Her diversity of experience ranges from libraries, to zoos and net zero energy buildings. She relishes anticipating challenges and navigating the appropriate solution with the design team and stakeholders alike. Lotte’s recent work includes the SFMOMA Expansion and the Packard Foundation Headquarters. She is currently working on the Library Renovation at University of Pacific in California. Lotte received her degree in Urban Design and Architecture from The Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, Denmark, including studies at both the University of Sydney and UC Berkeley.
Lotte is an architect with over 18 years’ experience in designing educational and cultural facilities. With a passion for the design of public buildings that teach and contribute to communities, she has cemented her experience through the complexities of high performance, sustainable buildings. She brings a sensitive approach to buildings that fit place with thoughtful interior design that can answer the changing needs of users. Her diversity of experience ranges from libraries, to zoos and net zero energy buildings. She relishes anticipating challenges and navigating the appropriate solution with the design team and stakeholders alike. Lotte’s recent work includes the SFMOMA Expansion and the Packard Foundation Headquarters. She is currently working on the Library Renovation at University of Pacific in California. Lotte received her degree in Urban Design and Architecture from The Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, Denmark, and has studied at both the University of Sydney and UC Berkeley.
Nancy Fried Foster is a design anthropologist who helps libraries, colleges, universities, and cultural institutions use ethnographic and participatory methods to understand their users and then design spaces, services, and technologies to meet their needs. Dr. Foster served for three years as Senior Anthropologist at Ithaka S+R and for ten years as director of anthropological research for the University of Rochester’s River Campus Libraries. Since 2009, she has worked through the American International Consortium of Academic Libraries (AMICAL) to introduce participatory design and work-practice study to colleges and universities around the world, and from 2007 to 2013 she delivered workshops in the US through the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR). Dr. Foster is an author with Patricia Steele, et al. of The Living Library: An Intellectual Ecosystem; edited Studying Students: A Second Look; and co-edited with Susan Gibbons Studying Students: The Undergraduate Research Project at the University of Rochester.
