Dr. Nate Bryant currently serves as the Vice President and Chief of Staff to the President at Salem State University in Salem, MA. As VP and Chief of Staff, Nate is responsible for the oversight of the president’s office including the day-to-day activities of the President’s Office, coordinating the work of the president’s senior leadership team, and coordinating the University’s strategic planning efforts. Additionally, Nate oversees the areas of Athletics, Enrollment Management, Marketing and Communications, Public Relations, Center for Civic Engagement, External Affairs, and Grants. Nate has over 30 years of experience in higher education and during that time, has overseen the areas of admissions, financial aid, multicultural affairs, academic advising, tutoring, and both institutional and federally funded college retention programs. Nate also has considerable experience in the areas of crisis management, fundraising, and strategic planning. In addition to his work in higher education, Nate has worked with many non-profit organizations. Nate is currently serving on the Board of Trustees for the North Shore Medical Center, Board of Directors for the Salem Boys and Girls Club, Board of Directors for the Salem Chamber of Commerce, Executive Committee for the Salem Partnership, Corporator for Marblehead Bank, volunteer for Haven from Hunger […]
Durice assumed her current role at Arcadia University in 2020 and brings over a decade of experience working in University Advancement and higher education in roles supporting alumni engagement, annual giving, alumni communications, and major giving. Prior to Arcadia, Durice served as the senior executive director of alumni engagement for the University of California – San Diego. She led a team of 20+ professionals to provide programming, engagement, and lifelong learning opportunities for the institution’s 200,000+ alumni base. She has also worked at Duke University as the interim associate dean of development and alumni relations for the Sanford School of Public Policy and in progressive roles within advancement at her alma mater, Elon University. She received both her undergraduate and graduate degree from Elon University. Durice has become a decorated professional, recognized for her professional accomplishments by her alma mater and our industry’s professional association, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, where she serves on the CASE Alumni Relations Commission. A driving force in her work is her personal grounding in equity, diversity, and inclusion. She has devoted herself to ensuring that all alumni community members feel welcome, supported, and represented. To that end, she is intentionally focused […]
Alex is a University of Waterloo alumnus who has worked in the University’s Office of Advancement, specifically in Alumni Relations, for just shy of 7 years. She was the first person to hold the position of Alumni Officer, Volunteer Engagement and has been involved in creating a service-based approach to both the students and alumni who volunteer for Alumni Relations. Alex has a certificate in Volunteer Management and uses her background to create meaningful opportunities for volunteers and incorporate volunteer engagement best practices into her advancement team’s work. She was the 2017 recipient of the CCAE (Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education) Rising Star award for her work in developing a volunteer engagement strategy within Alumni Relations at Waterloo.
Prior to her current role, Ms. Chang served as the Title IX Officer for Radford University. She came to these Title IX Officer positions from her role as Associate Counsel in the Office of University Counsel for East Tennessee State University advising the Title IX Office, Student Affairs Division, Human Resources department, among others. Prior to higher Education, Ms. Chang served as a litigation attorney for the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, and in her own law firm practicing before federal courts and administrative agencies. Her areas of legal practice included, employment, equal opportunity, and administrative law. Throughout her career, she has strived to reduce legal risk and meet legal compliance, and she has encouraged best practices for colleges, universities, and other employers in the areas of Title IX and employment law.
Dr. Samels is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of The Education Alliance and The Samels Group, a full service higher education consulting firm. He is also the founding partner of Samels Associates, a law firm serving independent and public colleges, universities, foundations, non-profit, and for-profit higher education organizations. Dr. Samels has served on the faculties of the University of Massachusetts and Bentley College, and as a guest lecturer at Boston University and Harvard University. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science, a master’s degree in Public Administration, a Juris Doctorate, and a doctoral degree in Education. His publications include scholarly works appearing in such journals as the Chronicle of Higher Education, The Christian Science Monitor, The London Guardian, and The Boston Globe, among many others. He is the co-author of Merging Colleges for Mutual Growth (Johns Hopkins), and First Among Equals: The Role of the Chief Academic Officer (Johns Hopkins). Dr. Samels has consulted on projects and presented research papers at academic institutions and ministries of education around the world.
Dr. Susan Poser has served as the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Illinois since February 2016. She is responsible for the university’s academic enterprise, including the planning, implementation, and assessment of UIC’s academic programs. Dr. Poser received her bachelor’s degree with honors in Ancient Greek and Political Science from Swarthmore College, and both her J.D. (Order of the Coif) and Ph.D. in Jurisprudence and Social Policy from the University of California, Berkeley. During her three years at UIC, Provost Poser has initiated many programs for faculty and students, including increased opportunities for faculty research collaborations and professional development, and data-driven approaches to enhancing students’ academic success in order to increase student retention and graduation rates. She is the principal investigator on a $1 million grant from the Andrew Mellon Foundation to promote the engaged humanities at UIC, and she is currently creating a campus-wide teaching center. Dr. Poser’s academic career prior to the University of Illinois was at the University of Nebraska, first as a member of the law faculty and director of the Robert J. Kutak Center for the Teaching and Study of Applied Ethics, then as Associate to the Chancellor, and finally […]
Dr. Megahed has worked in higher education for over twenty-five years. She has served as a faculty member, a dean, and a president. In addition, she has overseen the administration of operations of multiple campuses for a number of proprietary institutions. Dr. Megahed has demonstrated a track-record of success relative to institutional growth and development. Her passion is building student centered organizations focused on student success and empowering our most underserved to achieve social and economic mobility through education. Since 2010, Dr. Megahed has served as the 11th president of National Louis University, a 140 year old institution recognized for its leadership in professional preparation, most notably teacher preparation, and for its commitment to closing the post-secondary attainment gap through innovative cost effective scalable models of education. She earned her bachelor degree in psychology from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1981, graduating summa cum laude and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Her master and doctoral degrees in clinical psychology were earned at the University of Rochester in 1984 and 1987 respectively. Dr. Megahed has been sought out internationally to present on issues related to the democratization of education, women in leadership, innovation in education […]
Prior to her current role, Elizabeth served on faculty at the University of New England where she was the Dean of the Westbrook College of Health Professions. During that time, she oversaw twelve academic programs, undergraduate through doctoral programs, a clinical simulation center, state of the art motion analysis laboratory, and the Interprofessional Education Collaborative. Prior to UNE, she was at Eastern Michigan University for 23 years and served as the Director of the School of Health Sciences. She received her PhD in Sociology from the University of Michigan, a Master of Science in Occupational Therapy at Boston University, and her Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy at Quinnipiac University. Her research has focused on mothering across the life course and academic mentoring & leadership.
Jacqui has over 30 years of leadership experience in higher education. She was formerly Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at Mary Baldwin College, Associate Vice President of Institutional Advancement at Bridgewater College, and Vice President for Enrollment Management at Tusculum College. She most recently served in an academic appointment with the University of Missouri—St. Louis, where she was Clinical Assistant Professor in the College of Education and International Liaison Specialist in International Studies and Programs. She currently holds dual roles as the President of enrollmentFUEL, a student search and enrollment consulting firm in North Carolina, and chief enrollment specialist with Marion Military Institute. She also conducts faculty development training for leaders of universities throughout the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under the auspices of the Academic Leadership Center (ALC) of the Ministry of Education. She was the first female faculty appointment at the all-male King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) in Saudi Arabia.
During his 15 years at UNBC, Dr Payne has held a number of administrative positions including Assistant Dean for Education and Research with the Northern Medical Program. Dr. Payne maintains his research program in area of vascular physiology where he is a Full Professor in both the Northern Medical Program and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Programs. He came to UNBC in June 2004 as founding faculty of the medical school following a post-doctoral fellowship at Yale University in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology and John B. Pierce Laboratory. Dr. Payne holds a Ph.D. from Memorial University of Newfoundland in the field of cardiovascular and renal physiology. In addition to his biomedical research, he has also an interest in medical education in the areas of curriculum, assessment, and admissions.
