Dr. Behrens has nearly twenty-five years of higher education and private industry experience, and he holds a doctorate in higher education management from UCLA. After serving as a career counselor with the University of Arizona’s Career Center, Dr. Behrens was appointed the director of career services for Roosevelt University in Chicago. In 2006, he joined SMU in Dallas, where he is assistant vice president of student affairs, dean of residence life and student housing, and executive director of the Hegi Career Center and the community engagement and leadership departments. He currently oversees student conduct and community standards, oversees new student orientation, is a member of the VPSA’s emergency on-call rotation team, and serves as vice president in-absentia. His AVP portfolio includes management of 90+ employees, 115 student workers, 8 graduate assistants, 18 buildings that house 3,200 students, 33 apartments, 13 fraternity houses, $39M in operating funds, and 33 endowments worth $15M.
Jim has worked in student affairs and student housing for nearly forty years. For the last twenty-six years, he has been at the University of Miami serving as an assistant and associate director in housing, as well as director of the Toppel Career Center, prior to returning to his “roots” in housing in 2009. For the last two years Jim has led a housing facilities strategic planning process in collaboration with a team of outside consultants and a collaborative team from within the university. Their efforts have recently moved into the design and permitting for the first phase of a three-phase, $400 million housing renewal program.
Laurence N. Smith is a founder and Senior Partner of New Campus Dynamics with 40 years experience as a senior university administrator and as a national leader in higher education. He is emeritus Vice President for University Marketing and Student Affairs at Eastern Michigan University and holds an honorary doctorate from that institution. He has been a leader in the innovation of effective enrollment management practices since the 1970’s. Among his extensive activities, he was founder and chair of the NASPA National Academy for Leadership and Executive Effectiveness and executive editor of NASPA’s on-line management magazine. He has also been on the national faculties of College Board, ACT and Noel/Levitz. Mr. Smith has achieved national recognition as a pioneer in marketing of non-profit and service institutions and organizations as well as for his work in executive development. He was an early leader in whole system change and transformational management for mobilizing institutions, communities and organizations for revitalization and renewal. He has written numerous articles, manuals and books. He is author of the chapter “The Student Affairs Innovation Imperative” in the book, The Effective Senior Student Affairs Officer (NASPA, 2011). He is lead author of Mobilizing the Campus for Retention: An […]
Reporting directly to the president, Dr. Morrobel-Sosa serves as chief academic officer of the college and serves as the executive office in the president’s absence. Dr. Morrobel-Sosa works closely with the deans of five academic schools (arts and humanities, continuing and professional studies, education, health sciences, human services and nursing, and natural and social sciences), and vice presidents and associate provosts in the offices of enrollment management, academic programs, academic personnel, research and external support, international programs and global partnerships, institutional research, planning and assessment, and the library to promote the college’s academic vision across and beyond the campus, and contribute to building the institution’s academic reputation and national and international visibility. A native of the Dominican Republic, Dr. Morrobel-Sosa has held prior faculty and administrative positions at University of Alabama, California Polytechnic State University, Georgia Southern University, and University of Texas at El Paso.
Dr. Marlo Rencher is an entrepreneur, anthropologist, and educator with over two decades of experience in startup and small business development. She is TechTown Detroit’s Diversity and Inclusion Entrepreneur-in-Residence, working to ensure that their tech programs are as diverse, inclusive, and equitable as possible. She has founded or co-founded three tech startups and is also a co-founder of Detroit Regional Angels, an angel investment group developed for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs. Dr. Rencher was the co-author of digitalundivided’s 2016 #ProjectDiane report, which provided groundbreaking insight into the funding gap for Black women tech founders. She previously served as vice president of innovation, entrepreneurship and diversity at Cleary University. Her responsibilities at Cleary included entrepreneurial programming, mentorship of student-run businesses, and operations at the on-campus entrepreneurial community and coworking space. She also served as the faculty chair of the entrepreneurship department at the business-focused university. Dr. Rencher earned an undergraduate degree in marketing from Michigan State University, an MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, and a PhD in business and organizational anthropology from Wayne State University. She frequently speaks on technology entrepreneurship and inclusion and has been a presenter at TedxDetroit and SXSW.
Shawn Nason believes that, “Innovation isn’t work, it’s a lifestyle.” At Xavier University, Shawn leads the strategy and implementation of the innovation process within Xavier, while developing a portfolio of innovation clients and partners, which will drive non-tuition based revenue within the university through the Center for Innovation. Prior to Xavier, Shawn worked for three years at Humana leading strategic and consumer innovation with a focus on design. Additionally, Shawn spent six years at The Walt Disney Company in various capacities within Disney Cruise Line and Walt Disney Imagineering. An inspirational leader, Shawn has a proven record of gaining confidence from key executives, stakeholders, peers, and employees at all levels. Shawn has a BS in business management and finance and an MBA in international business and finance. Shawn is currently working on his DBA in organizational leadership and change. Shawn states, “I have the amazing honor to ignite teams, organizations, and individuals to tap into their creative mind and spark ideas and solutions they never dreamed of!”
Sarah has worked in higher education fundraising for more than eleven years, initially at Baylor College of Medicine and now at the University of Denver. In her current role, she helped to tell the story of ASCEND’s impact when the $490M fundraising campaign came to a close last year. She worked on communications for the campaign from its beginning, including the comprehensive case statement, college case statements, campaign talking points, and launch speeches. Her passion for communicating the impact of philanthropy expresses itself through her work in internal communications, collateral for the campaign and other fundraising efforts, donor stories, and executive level communications, among other responsibilities.
Andrew Dixon has over ten years of professional marketing and communication experience in fields as diverse as wastewater management, consumer electronics, and higher education. Andrew serves at Colorado State University-Global Campus, an independent online state university offering bachelor’s degree completion and master’s degrees designed for working adults. He earned his master’s degree in organizational leadership with a project management specialization from CSU-Global in 2013.
Holly Norton is a communications professional specializing in digital strategy and social media production, analysis, and marketing. She is currently the Digital Content Manager for the University of Delaware, as well as a co-instructor in the top-ranked non-credit Social Media Marketing Strategy Certificate Program through the Department of Professional and Continuing Studies. She works with her colleagues to develop the curriculum and methodology for the course and guides students on best social media practices, digital storytelling, brand and crisis management, content optimization and more. The University of Delaware also serves as the higher education representative on The Conference Board’s elite Social Media Council, which includes brands such as Johnson & Johnson, The Mayo Clinic, Procter & Gamble FedEx and more. Before taking on her latest role at the University of Delaware, Holly was the Digital Editor for Main Line Today magazine, part of the Today Media Company, which owns Delaware Today magazine. She handled all digital content optimization, social media strategy and wrote features and profiles.
Sarah Montès is passionate about the power of advising to help students reach their full potential and achieve academic success. During the past seven years, she has served as the principle academic advisor for hundreds of Tulane University’s undergraduate students across a wide-range of disciplines. Additionally, she has successfully transformed a variety of advising, retention, and graduation processes. One program she developed, “MAP- Maximizing Academic Potential,” was an academic success program for students facing loss of scholarship or academic probation. This program is the grandparent of Tulane’s innovative “Tulane Academic Success Center” which now offers professional success coaching, supplemental instruction, tutoring, academic recharge, and other academic support services for a wide range of Tulane’s full-time undergraduate students. She has also developed a robust system for improving the response of various university units to students who are demonstrating academic risk factors. Montès leads the liberal arts and exploratory advising team, a team of twelve advisors, and has partnered with Amjad Ayoubi and others to integrate career and academic advising, with the aim of achieving “career advising for all,” a holistic approach to advising students from freshman year to senior year. This integration creates a proactive dynamic that guides students to find […]
