Cobane received his B.S. in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, where he was awarded the Chancellor’s Leadership Medallion. His M.A. and Ph.D. are from the University of Cincinnati, both in Political Science. His areas of expertise include international relations theory, terrorism/counter-terrorism, and international security policy. He has published over 100 articles, essays, and reviews. As Executive Director, Cobane grew the College from several hundred to over 1,300 scholars. He created the Office of Scholar Development, which assists students in applying for nationally competitive awards. WKU was recognized as a “Top Fulbright Producing” university, among master’s comprehensive institutions, five out of the last six years. He is the Principal Investigator on the National Security Education Program (NSEP) funded Chinese Language Flagship Program. Between January 2012 and September 2017, Cobane served concurrently as WKU’s Chief International Officer (CIO), growing education abroad participation by 37 percent. Based on success during his time as CIO, Diversity Abroad recognized WKU with the 2018 Excellence in Diversity & Inclusion in International Education Award. Cobane is the recipient of multiple teaching awards. He was selected by the U.S. Atlantic Council to spend time at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. During the 2004-05 academic year, […]
Prior to her current position, Sara served as the director of the Center for Identity, Inclusion and Social Change (formerly known as the Center for Intercultural Programs) at DePaul University. In her current role, she is responsible for creating and facilitating diversity and social justice education initiatives for students, faculty, staff, and community partners. Before becoming the director, Sara served as the assistant director of Multicultural Student Success at DePaul. Prior to her work at DePaul University, Sara served as the director of Intercultural Development at Mount St. Mary’s University. Additional experiences include work at Fordham University in New York City and Loyola College in Maryland. Over the past 10 years as a professional in Student Affairs, Sara has been actively engaged in all aspects of college life and has specifically lead and served in the functional areas of residential life and housing operations; multicultural affairs and intercultural development; and judicial programs. She has always remained passionate about social justice education and helping students become agents of change. Sara holds her PhD in Higher Education from Loyola University Chicago. She received her bachelor’s degree in public policy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and masters of education […]
Jake has spent over fourteen years working in development, with the last five as Vice President for Advancement at Bradley University. During his time at Bradley University and previously at Saint Louis University, Jake has experience working in major gifts, planned giving, annual funds, corporate and foundation relations, stewardship, alumni relations and has also worked as a consultant for other universities and nonprofits. He has had the chance to work with many first time and also long serving Deans to develop their fundraising priorities and build development plans. Jake also has had the pleasure of working as a member of the Bradley University Strategic Planning Committee and has been involved with university program prioritization efforts.
Joe recently joined the team of Chicago-based nonprofit Partnership for College Completion. He advises and consults with community colleges and four-year universities who participate in the Illinois Equity in Attainment Initiative, a cohort-based program with a goal to narrow graduation gaps that persist among Black, Latinx, and low-income students across partner institutions. Prior to this role, Joe spent eight years at Loyola University Chicago engaged in student diversity initiatives. He was responsible for leading a department tasked with multicultural education, mentorship, and fostering social belonging for students from underserved communities including first-generation, students of color, LGBTQIA, and undocumented students. Joe developed expertise in cultural competency training and development for students, staff, and faculty across Loyola’s Chicago lakeside and global campuses. He also integrated a strengths-based approach to mentoring students and cultivating classroom and co-curricular spaces where marginalized students can be successful. At Loyola, Joe served on the Dreamer Committee advising the University President on policies and practices necessary to effectively meet the needs of undocumented students. He facilitated the Share the Dream Undocumented Student Ally training designed to equip stakeholders with greater fluency around issues affecting undocumented immigrants and families. Joe earned his B.S. in Marketing at Georgetown University and […]
Jeffrey Resetco is responsible for managing the development, design, and construction of collegiate housing properties, coordinating closely with the financing and management teams. With 20 years of construction and development experience, including high‐ and mid‐rise residential, mixed-use, and hotel facilities, he is responsible for evaluating and hiring the architect and contractor for new projects. In close association with the development team, he works with the university committee, architect, and contractor to design the new facility. He has both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in architecture. His recent projects include tax exempt and equity financing for on and off campus housing for both public and private institutions. He has overseen P3 projects at Cornell University, University of Connecticut, West Chester University, East Stroudsburg University, and The University of South Carolina.
Jeremy Thomas, Senior Director of Real Estate for Cornell University, is responsible for managing and directing Cornell University’s Real Estate Department including strategic planning and oversight of acquisition, sale and leasing of all of Cornell’s real property assets. He manages an annual $30 million portfolio of transactions, acquisitions, dispositions, real estate gifts, leases, licenses, easements and construction projects. Recently, Jeremy managed the leasing of 15 acres of university land to a third-party owner and developer for the creation of an 872 bed graduate student residential community, and serves in a leadership role in the development of an additional 2,000 bed residential community on Cornell’s North Campus. Prior to joining Cornell, Thomas served as Director of Real Estate Development for City of Philadelphia’s Deputy Mayor for Economic Development. supporting the approval and financing of key real estate development projects, and strategic approaches to the revitalization of urban corridors and neighborhoods. He currently serves on the board of directors for Tompkins County Area Development and is Vice President of the board of directors for Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services.
James has over 27 years of experience in higher education. In his role at Shepherd University James provided oversight and operational management for auxiliary enterprises, information technology, public safety, facilities management, planning, and construction. His recent projects include leading a successful public private partnership initiative to modernize Shepherd’s housing inventory, the construction of a soccer complex, and the design, business plan development, construction, and financing for a campus recreation center and a satellite campus. James received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from St. Thomas University and a Master of Arts in organizational and corporate communications from West Virginia University.
Lisa Smith has been with the Chemistry Department at North Hennepin Community College since 2008. She has worked on initiatives that include First Year Experience, Closing the Achievement Gap, and most recently became the Institutional Assessment Coordinator. Motivated to improve the student pass rate, Lisa took a successful STEM mentoring model she had worked on at the University of Minnesota and applied it to North Hennepin Community College. The program impacted 93 of 113 students to help them pass general chemistry and biology. It has been a huge success, and she is tweaking the program all the time to meet the needs of the students. She holds a Masters degree in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of Minnesota, has completed graduate-level education courses in Course Design for Adult Learners, Assessment, and Learning Theory and Instructional Strategies, as well as participated in a year-long NSF funded program doing Chemical Educational Research. Her most recent accomplishments include publishing an institution-specific First Year Experience textbook, being awarded Educator of the Year from Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, and Innovation of the Year from North Hennepin Community College. Her research interests include the utilization of predictive measures for student success, and the investigation and […]
Daniel T. Hickey is Professor with the Learning Sciences Program at Indiana University and a Research Scientist at the IU Center for Research on Learning and Technology. He completed his PhD in Psychology at Vanderbilt University and completed a two-year Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Center for Performance Assessment at Educational Testing Service. He studies new approaches to assessing, motivating, and recognizing learning, mostly using cutting-edge technology. He has been deeply involved in research of Open Badges and other forms of web-enabled credentials since 2011. His research has been supported by the MacArthur Foundation, the US National Science Foundation, Google, the US Department of Education, and Indiana University.
For almost 20 years, Beth Douthirt-Cohen (she/her/hers or they/them/theirs) has developed educational environments as tools of social and political change. Currently, Beth is the Executive Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Frederick Community College in Frederick, Maryland, where she is responsible for strategic planning, assessment, benchmarking, and faculty/staff leadership and development. Previously, she was the Deputy Chief Diversity Officer at the University of Maryland (UMD) where she was responsible for strategic diversity, equity, and inclusion planning as well as various prejudice reduction efforts and educational initiatives to further social justice, including UMD’s Intergroup Dialogue program. Beth is a part of the Calico Hill Collective, a group of social justice educators who seek to further justice, healing, and processes of truth and reconciliation across all dimensions of identity and intersections of oppression in our homes and communities. Beth has her undergraduate degree in from Barnard College of Columbia University, her MEd from Harvard University, and her PhD from UMD. Beth teaches graduate level courses in educational policy, research methods, and social justice education. Her research examines how relatively privileged populations enact solidarity across identity differences and the role of education in that process.
