Isabelle Cherney

Isabelle has served in multiple leadership positions at institutions of higher education. Over the past decade, she built and led several nationally acclaimed innovative academic programs, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels, on-the-ground and online, that have transformed students, the institutions, and the community. Under her leadership, graduate enrollment in the School of Education and Social Policy at Merrimack College has doubled and undergraduate enrollment has increased 20% in the past three years. As Dean, she also started a nationally recognized Early College program, the Merrimack Institute for New Teacher Support that supports new or current teachers in the region with free monthly workshops, the first competency-based M.Ed. program in Massachusetts, fellowship programs for Master’s students, and the first graduate certificates, and CAGS programs at Merrimack College. Prior to moving to the East coast, Isabelle served as the Associate Dean of the Graduate School and Professional Studies, and a professor of psychology at Creighton University in Omaha, NE. She is the founding director of their innovative and nationally ranked Ed.D. and Master’s programs in Interdisciplinary Leadership and undergraduate Honors Program. She also chaired the effort to change the Graduate School by-laws to allow the creation of a department and […]

Anne Hiskes

With over 40 years of experience in higher education, Dr. Hiskes offers extensive expertise in developing and cultivating interdisciplinary programs, interdisciplinary teacher-scholars, and administrative structures to support interdisciplinarity. As Dean of a College of Interdisciplinary Studies, Anne oversaw the creation and development of innovative interdisciplinary majors, minors, and certificate programs as well as programs that integrate community-engaged teaching and learning. She was also responsible for recruiting and developing interdisciplinary faculty. While at the University of Connecticut, Anne served as Associate Dean for Interdisciplinary Programs and Faculty Development in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Director of a new General Education Program. As a Fellow in the American Council on Education’s year-long Fellows Program, she studied best practices in the administration and organization of interdisciplinarity across a wide range of institutions. With a Ph.D. in the History and Philosophy of Science from Indiana University and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, physics, and philosophy from Hope College, Anne has enjoyed teaching collaboratively with faculty from the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and health professions.

Jenna Spinelle

In her current role, Jenna Spinelle is responsible for shaping the institute’s external communication, including website content, social media, multimedia, and media outreach. She holds a B.A. in journalism from Penn State and is an adjunct instructor in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications. Prior to joining the McCourtney Institute, Spinelle worked in Penn State’s Undergraduate Admissions Office and College of Information Sciences and Technology.

Kathleen King

Kathleen King has been a part of honors education for more than 16 years and has served as Honors Director at Hillsborough Community College for 5 years. She has served on the National Collegiate Honors Council Board of Directors two separate terms, is an NCHC Fellow, and is currently a member of the NCHC Finance Committee, co-chair of the NCHC Advocacy Committee, and an NCHC Program Reviewer. An advocate of NCHC Partners in the Parks, Kathleen has facilitated Director Retreats and student projects in Everglades, Acadia, Rocky Mountains, and Smoky Mountains. She fervently believes in the mission of the community college system and has seen honors serve as a valuable segue to four–year institutions, including ivy league and elite colleges and universities nationwide. Last year, students from the HCC Honors Program were offered more than $700,00 in transfer scholarships, largely due to coursework, community service, and other important honors programming.

John Tatum Grice

John began his career in philanthropy as a student foundation member at Kansas State University, serving within the K-State Proud Student Campaign. This experience jump-started his passion for higher education philanthropy. Following graduation, he began his tenure in KSU Foundation’s Annual Giving department, focused on direct mail, phonathon, student philanthropy, and student life fundraising. In April of 2014, he accepted a role at the Oklahoma State University Foundation focused on next generation philanthropy focused on engaging students, young alumni, and donors in all seasons of life through crowdfunding, days of giving, and peer-to-peer strategies. Currently, John leads the University of Wisconsin-Madison annual giving team.

Dr. Ed Steigerwald

Dr. Ed Steigerwald holds five jet aircraft type ratings and is a former FAA Designated Pilot Examiner in experimentally certified military jet aircraft. He is the former Dean of the School of Aviation and is now full-time faculty teaching advanced aviation courses and in the Regional Jet Flight Simulator. His MS degree is from American Military University in Aerospace Science – Space Studies with a Doctorate in Engineering and Technology Management from Northcentral University. Teaching in these technical fields led him to explore better ways to present course content, and he now designs, creates, and teaches all levels of interactive training courses using Articulate Storyline and PowerPoint.

Deb LoBiondo

Deb manages the overall operation of West Campus including the supervision of the residential staff and management of facilities and budgets. She has a B.A. in Health Education from Montclair State College and a M.Ed. with an emphasis in Counseling from the University of Georgia.

Kimberly Ernstmeyer

Kim is passionate about creating innovative strategies to enhance nursing student learning outcomes and ultimately improve patient safety in our communities. She has 15 years of teaching experience in nursing education and simulation, and holds several national certifications as a Nurse Educator, a Simulation Healthcare Educator, and a Nurse Practitioner. She was the curriculum project manager of the ARISE project, funded by the Department of Labor, that created 150 augmented reality simulations and serious games. The ARISE project won the second-place award in the Academics Category of Serious Games and Virtual Arcades competition at the International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare (IMSH) in January 2018. She co-authored “Impact of Interprofessional Education on Nursing Students’ Attitudes Toward Teamwork and Collaboration with Physicians” in the Journal of Nursing Education and has also presented at several international and national conferences, including: the International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare (IMSH), the International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning (INACSL), and the National League for Nursing (NLN) Summit. Kim is currently the grant project director of the Open RN project, funded with a $2.5 million dollar grant from the Department of Education, leading a statewide effort to create five Nursing OER textbooks and 25 […]

Dr. Julie Furst-Bowe

Dr. Julie Furst-Bowe currently serves as the Academic Vice President at Chippewa Valley Technical College (CVTC), a multi-campus institution serving more than 16,000 students annually in credit and non-credit programs throughout Wisconsin. Prior to her arrival at CVTC, Dr. Furst-Bowe served as the Chancellor of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville from 2012 to 2015 and as Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Stout from 2005 to 2012. She also served as a tenured faculty member, graduate program director, department chair, associate vice chancellor, and assistant chancellor for assessment and quality improvement at UW-Stout. While at UW-Stout, Julie led efforts in accreditation and continuous quality improvement using the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence. UW-Stout became the first and only university to receive the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Julie continues to be active as a senior Baldrige examiner and recently completed a term on the National Board of Overseers for the Baldrige Awards Program. She has written several articles and edited two books on the topic of quality improvement in education. She has presented and consulted on this topic in more than 15 countries. She served as a Fulbright Specialist assisting with the development of a new […]

Erika Boltz

Erika has spent the last eight years working to connect with students and to tell their stories on the internet through innovative content creation. Previously, she held roles at Virginia Commonwealth University and VCUarts, where she held a few different positions that touched different areas of higher ed, including admissions, recruitment strategy, crisis monitoring and communications, and training and development for large groups. She’s definitely the one to send your social media accessibility questions to. She is also an ally and activist in both the LGBTQIA+ and disability communities. You can find her on social at @EFBoltz.