Paul C. Johnson is the 17th President of the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado. MINES is world-renowned for producing highly sought-after scientists and engineers, innovations, and objective analyses, especially in fields relevant to earth, energy, and the environment.
Dr. Johnson’s career reflects his strong passion for innovation, education and student success. He began his career at Shell Development in Houston, developing novel approaches for managing and restoring contaminated soil and groundwater sites. He then joined the faculty at Arizona State University to continue this work and share his experiences with students. He was attracted to the presidency at Colorado School of Mines because of its focused mission, long history of rich industry partnerships, use-inspired research programs, reputation for producing outstanding graduates, and strong alumni affinity.
He has received awards recognizing his contributions to education and research, including the Fair Distinguished Engineering Educator Award from the Water Environment Federation, the Brown and Caldwell Lifetime Achievement Award in Remediation, and the National Ground Water Association’s Keith E. Anderson Award. A chemical engineer, Dr. Johnson earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of California-Davis and master’s and doctoral degrees from Princeton University.
April Ruiz is currently Dean for Academic Equity, Inclusion, & Success and serves as interim Vice President for Equity & Inclusion at Wesleyan University. Prior to this, she held other dean roles at Williams College and Yale University, all of which allowed her to serve and center FGLI students. As someone who attended a highly-selective university as a first-generation and low-income student herself, she finds meaning in work that allows her to help FGLI students navigate these institutions as they are, while also effecting change at these institutions to make them more inclusive from within. She holds a PhD in Psychology from the University of St Andrews and a BA in Cognitive Science from Yale University.
Dr. Nichole S. Prescott is Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Texas System. She is responsible for leading and supporting student success initiatives system wide. Her work addresses the student success continuum, PK-20 and into the workforce, with special focus on strategy, policy, data, and partnerships. Equity-minded in her work, she targets historic inequities and systemic racism, including opportunity and achievement gaps for minoritized student populations. In 2019, Dr. Prescott was awarded the Friend of Education Award from CSOTTE, the Consortium of State Organizations for Texas Teacher Education. She is a proud citizen of the federally recognized Miami Nation of Oklahoma, and lives in Texas with her wife, two kids, two dogs, and four cats.
Kelly Campbell is the Interim Vice Provost, Accreditation Liaison Officer, and Co-Chief Diversity Officer at California State University, San Bernardino. She is responsible for student success, academic programs, curriculum development, the academic master plan, program review, accreditation, Graduate Studies, the Office of Academic Research, university libraries, the university strategic plan, academic scheduling, the Office of Community Engagement, the General Education program, the University Honors program, the university calendar, and DEI initiatives for Academic Affairs.
Mr. Olivier Boasson is the Head of the French schools department (USA and Canada) at French Embassy to the United States, Washington DC.
Previous assignments :
Graduate of :
Maria Kohnke is the Associate Vice President of Academic Services & Registrar at California Lutheran University. She has worked in the Registrar filed for 36 years. Maria has been Registrar at Cal Lutheran since Fall 1999.
Passionate about making social science relatable to real-time political events, Dr. Victoria DeFrancesco Soto is an analyst, academic, and social scientist with expertise in campaigns and elections, immigration, Latinos, women, racial and ethnic minority politics, and political psychology. A contributor to MSNBC and Telemundo, she is currently the Dean of the Clinton School of Public Service at the University of Arkansas – working with university leadership to cultivate and expand diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Exclusively represented by Leading Authorities speakers bureau, Victoria brings an interdisciplinary lens to understanding policy development and its intersection with institutional and political contexts. Applying high-quality social science research to on-the-ground political realities, she provides a unique, outside-the-Beltway view to today’s real-world issues. Using her nuanced understanding of key electorates – including women, Latino, and youth demographics – she thoughtfully unpacks the factors shaping the political landscape and expertly analyzes the state of the nation’s politics and elections.
For close to a decade, Victoria has been a contributor to MSNBC and NBCNews.com, as well as Telemundo. Translating social science research into more relatable information for a wide variety of audiences, Victoria has previously provided on-air analysis for CNN, Fox, PBS, Univision, NPR, and has appeared on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher. She is also published in both academic and popular outlets such as The Hill, POLITICO, and Talking Points Memo.
Previously, Victoria served as Assistant Dean of Civic Engagement at the University of Texas’ LBJ School of Public Affairs. In this role, she led a portfolio to build out civic life on and off campus with programs such as the LBJ Women’s Campaign School and the LBJ Civic Engagement Certificate program. She was selected as one of the University’s Game Changing faculty and oversaw the cultivation of a space that intentionally bridges communities and further integrates the policy world with the classroom. Victoria also served on the executive committee of the University of Texas’ Center for Mexican American Studies and chaired the campus climate committee for the Provost’s Council on LGBTQ+AEI.
Named one of the top 12 scholars in the country by Diverse magazine, Victoria previously taught at Northwestern University and Rutgers and received her Ph.D. in political science from Duke University, where she was a National Science Foundation fellow. A native of Southern Arizona, Victoria is of Italian-Jewish-Mexican heritage and lives in Austin, Texas with her husband and their children.
Taylor K. Odle, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Educational Policy Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His research concerns issues in the economics of education with a specific focus on college access and success for traditionally underrepresented populations. Much of this work focuses on college admissions practices, financial aid, and advising and is done in close partnership with institutions, states, and nonprofit organizations.
Direct Admissions: Policies and Principles
Thong M. Trinh is an Edwin J. O'Leary Fellow and currently pursuing a doctorate study at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His research interest is higher education policy with a focus on finance. Thong has published on student willingness to pay, university budgeting, and related topics of higher education policy.
Jennifer A. Delaney, Ph.D., is a Professor of Higher Education in the Department of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she is also the Director of the Forum on the Future of Public Education and Director of the Higher Education Program. In addition, Dr. Delaney is a member of the Illinois Board of Higher Education. She earned a Ph.D. in higher education administration from Stanford University, an Ed.M. in higher education from Harvard University, and a B.A. in English from the University of Michigan.
AACRAO Bio
2020 SEM-EP Graduate
Brenda Schumann has over twenty years of experience in higher education and the enrollment management profession. She currently serves as the Assistant Vice Provost for Enrollment Services and University Registrar at the University of Texas at Austin and previously served as the Deputy University Registrar and Director of Operations and Compliance at UT Austin and Director of Registration and Records (Registrar) and Assistant Director of Admissions at Texas Lutheran University. Brenda’s professional experience includes all aspects of the enrollment management portfolio -- registrar, admissions, and financial aid – which allows her to apply her knowledge and skills in support of students and the University community. Brenda maintains active participation and membership in AACRAO, SACRAO, and TACRAO and presents frequently at various conferences on succession planning, leadership, learning organizations, enrollment management, competency based-hiring and evaluations, strategic planning, and project management. She participated in the AACRAO Baden-Wurttemburg seminar in 2017; is currently serving as an AACRAO content contributor; served on the local arrangements committee for SACRAO 2013 and chair of the SACRAO information technology program committee in 2015-2016; and served as local arrangements committee chair for TACRAO 2016 and TACRAO Secretary 2017-2019.
Capstone Project: The capstone literature review focused on an outcomes-based approach to achieve results in supporting students for success. The literature review applies an outcomes based approach to the development and assessment of a Strategic Enrollment Management unit within an institution, in developing programming and support to assist in student persistence, and in developing an outcomes based approach for the changing role of the Registrar in the support of new teaching models, student mobility, learning outcomes, and academic credit and calendars.
Review of: Rethinking College Admissions: Research-Based Practice and Policy
Pathway to Student Success.
Christopher W. Tremblay, Ed.D., is Editor-in-Chief of C&U as well as Executive Director of Enrollment Management and Student Affairs at the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. He also serves as Director of AACRAO’s Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) Endorsement Program. Tremblay has nearly 30 years of experience in college admissions and enrollment management, having served as vice chancellor for enrollment management at the University of Wisconsin-Superior, associate provost for enrollment management at Western Michigan University, and assistant vice chancellor for enrollment management at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, among other positions. Tremblay earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Western Michigan University. He has a post-master’s certificate in enrollment management from Capella University, and doctorate of education in educational leadership from the University of Michigan-Dearborn.
100 Credits: My First Job as a Registrar
Review of SEM in Action: Implementing and Sustaining Your Plan