Grace is a creative leader who has worked in Information Technology for over 20 years, most of which has been in Higher Education. She started at the ground floor answering the help desk phone and worked her way up to her current position of Director of Business Analytics and Process Improvement for the School of Dental Medicine at Case Western Reserve University. Outside of work, she enjoys many hobbies including historical reenactment research, art and crafts, and is always amused by how the lessons we learn in painting can apply to our professional career as well!
Jason is an award-winning scholar, public higher education leader, and noted developer of leaders. Before his current appointment, he held previous roles including Vice Provost and Senior Associate Vice Chancellor of Academic Planning and Strategic Leadership for the SUNY System. In this latter role, he led the Office of Presidential Leadership and Searches and had primary responsibility for leadership development for the SUNY system. Jason, a professor of educational policy & leadership, is the Founding Executive Director of SUNY’s Strategic, Academic, and Innovative Leadership (SAIL) Institute and leads several national efforts to strengthen and diversify the leadership pipelines in higher education. These pursuits include directing the Association of Governing Board’s Institute for Leadership and Governance; the National Association of System Heads (NASH) System Leadership Academy; and SUNY’s Hispanic Leadership Institute. Jason’s Six Domains of Knowledge for Higher Education Leaders has become a go-to framework for many college and university leaders and his award-winning leadership development programs have prepared hundreds of current and future leaders. Jason has published more than 75 papers and ten books focused on the changing role of colleges and universities. His books include Academic Leadership and Governance of Higher Education (Stylus Press), Multi-National Colleges and Universities: Leadership […]
Deirdre has over 30 years of experience in Human Resource administration in the areas of retail management, health administration, municipal government, and higher education. In her current role, Deirdre is responsible for the coordination of programs that assist faculty in the advancement of their career paths, including the successful achievement of promotion and tenure. Her role also involves oversight of faculty and staff professional development programs and the school’s diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Deirdre is a certified Cook Ross Unconscious Bias Trainer. In addition to Unconscious Bias, she facilitates several sessions surrounding creating cultures that support inclusive excellence; “How to say something when you see or hear something”, Calling In vs. Calling Out, managing microaggressions utilizing a non-threatening approach. In 2017 Deirdre was awarded Oakland University’s “Dissertation of the Year” for her work entitled: “The Academic Search: Unconscious Bias and its’ impact on the recruitment and evaluation of faculty candidates”. As a part of her research efforts and with the support of leadership, she lead the charge for the initiation of OUWB’s Diversity Liaison program, a model which has been adopted throughout the University. Deirdre holds a BSBA from Central Michigan University, a MAOM from Spring Arbor University, and […]
Jennie directs the Leadership in Academic Matters Program for academic leaders and leads equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives for faculty. She created and leads the Teaching Race at UVA Place-based Faculty Development Seminar and oversees programs to empower faculty to thrive throughout all stages of their careers. She is the author of Engaged Teaching in Theology and Religion (Palgrave, 2015) and of Feminist Mysticism and Images of God: A Practical Theology (Chalice, 2011) as well as multiple articles. Her scholarship and teaching are in Moral and Spiritual Development, Transformative, Engaged Education, and Psychology of Religion—with emphases in gender and race. Jennie earned her Ph.D. in Religion and Education with a concentration in Women’s Studies from Emory University.
Dr. Romero became the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs in January 2019. She is the lead administrator on faculty matters related to professional development, career advancement, and support which include hiring, promotion, annual and five-year reviews, leadership development, and diversity initiatives for tenure-track, career-track, continuing status professionals, and academic administrators. She is co-owner of two initiatives in the Office of Strategic Initiatives: Our Best Work Environment and Hispanic-Serving Institution Faculty and Research Initiatives. Dr. Romero’s scholarly work has examined community-based participatory action research methods to end health disparities in underprivileged communities. In addition to authoring two books and publishing numerous research articles, her externally funded research agenda has looked to build community partnerships to help find solutions with the common goal of equity and social justice. She has received numerous awards for her leadership and service, including the Cesar Chavez Award, the Dr. Alfredo De Los Santos Award for Service and Teaching, Mujer en la Lucha Award, the Woman of the Year Award by the Hispanic Professional Action Committee, and the Richard Ruiz Diversity Leadership Faculty Award. She is currently President-Elect for the National Latinx Psychological Association. She was a member of the 2017-2018 Academic Leadership Institute cohort. Dr. Romero […]
She is the co-editor of the scholarly journal, a/b: Auto/Biography Studies, and editor of the Routledge Auto/Biography Studies book series. Her book publications include the co-edited volumes: The Routledge Auto/Biography Studies Reader; Life Writing Outside the Lines: Gender and Genre in the Americas; and, The Untied States: Unraveling National Identity in the Twenty-First Century (forthcoming). She has also edited two books: Auto/Biography across the Americas: Transnational Themes in Life Writing and Auto/Biography in the Americas: Relational Lives. Currently, she is completing an edited collection of oral histories of Hurricane María, which is under contract with Haymarket Books for inclusion in the Voice of Witness book series. Her forthcoming children’s book, Maxy Survives the Hurricane/Maxy sobrevive al huracán, was co-authored with a student and is forthcoming from the children’s imprint of Arte Público Press, Piñata Books. She is the recipient of the 2019-2020 Oral History Association Post-Secondary Teaching Award for her public humanities project, “Mi María: Puerto Rico after the Hurricane.” This project also won an inaugural Modern Language Association Innovation in the Humanities Award for outstanding course design.
Jessica joined the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School Career Development Office (CDO) in 2017 as the Assistant Director and then transitioned to Associate Director in 2019. In her role, she supports a team of 20 by providing project and event support for the office, as well as internal reporting and assessment. Prior to her work at the Carey Business School, Jessica worked at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), supporting leadership, diversity and inclusion, residence life, and student engagement initiatives. While at MICA, she developed the graduate housing program, a community engagement living learning program, and raised thousands of dollars for the LGBT student scholarship program. Prior to moving to Maryland, Jessica worked at the University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa supporting new student orientation, multicultural affairs, student engagement, and residence life. Jessica also has experience assisting with leadership and professional development courses. She originally went to school for architecture and loves to apply her design thinking skills in unique ways to help solve issues that arise in higher education.
Michael has served as executive director of the Florida Consortium of Metropolitan Research Universities since July 2015, where he works with Florida International University, the University of Central Florida (UCF), and the University of South Florida on collaborative projects designed to increase retention, improve graduation rates, and ensure graduates are career–ready. Prior to taking on this role, he served for four years as the director of the Office of Student Involvement at UCF, where he oversaw a comprehensive involvement program including entertainment programming, student organizations, volunteer and service programs, and student government. Michael has worked in higher education for nearly 20 years and is regularly asked to speak and present on such topics as student affairs assessment, personal career development, student engagement practices, and developing student leadership competencies. In addition to his work in student affairs at UCF, he is a faculty member in the higher education and policy studies department, where he teaches on the subject of organization and administration in higher education. He is a graduate of East Carolina University and Southern Illinois University Carbondale and earned his Ed.D. in higher education administration and policy studies at Texas A&M University–Commerce in 2011.
Dr. Adam Peck has been a student affairs professional for more than 25 years. He is the author of more than forty scholarly publications and has presented more than 100 national and international webinars. He is a frequent keynote speaker at conferences and on campuses around the U.S. and internationally, and he served as editor and co-author of the book Engagement & Employability: Integrating Career Learning Through Co-Curricular Experiences in Postsecondary Education (NASPA Press, March 2017). He recently co-edited “Leadership Development in Student Employment, New Directions for Student Leadership” with Kathleen Callahan and currently serves as editor of the Scholarship to Practice section of The Journal of Campus Activities Practice and Scholarship. Dr. Peck earned his Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from Lewis University, a Master of Arts in Communication Studies from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Higher Education Administration from The University of Texas at Austin.
Director of Academic Support at the University of Mount Union, uses evidence-based approaches, collaborative partnerships, and effective learning strategies to help her students achieve more.
