FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AACRAO Contact: Joseph Beam
Director, Marketing & Communications
Communications@aacrao.org
Community college leader will succeed Jack Miner following his final conference as director in November 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. – September 29, 2026
AACRAO has named Brian Gann the incoming director of the AACRAO Conference on Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM). Gann will succeed Jack Miner, whose final conference as director will take place in November 2026.
Gann is Vice President of Enrollment and Student Services at Wake Technical Community College in Raleigh, North Carolina. A first-generation college student and community college graduate, he has spent 24 years serving students across five community colleges in three states. He has attended the AACRAO SEM Conference for more than a decade and has presented at multiple conferences.
“The SEM Conference has long been one of the places where enrollment leaders come together to learn from one another and to make sense of what is changing across our field,” Gann said. “I’m honored to have the opportunity to help shape the conversation and build on the strong foundation AACRAO has established.”
Before joining Wake Tech, Gann served as Vice President of Student Services at Jackson State Community College in Tennessee. His career also includes leadership roles in recruitment, retention, student success, and other areas of college operations.
“I am so excited to welcome Brian into this role,” Miner said. “As we think about the evolution of the SEM Conference and past directors, Brian will bring such a wonderful new and fresh perspective, especially with his connection and experience with Community Colleges.”
“Jack has helped make the SEM Conference a place where enrollment professionals learn from one another and find a community of colleagues,” said Dr. Tina DeNeen, AACRAO’s Associate Executive Director for Education and Member Development. “I’m grateful for his leadership and for the support he has given Brian during this transition. Brian brings deep experience in student and enrollment services and a perspective grounded in community colleges. I’m excited to see how he will build on that foundation.”
Gann assumes the role as the field marks 50 years of SEM as a strategy. He wants the conference to continue offering ideas attendees can use at their institutions while creating space to address changing demographics, technology, affordability, access, and students’ evolving pathways through higher education.
“My goal is for the conference to remain deeply practical while also looking to the future,” Gann said. “I want attendees to leave with ideas they can take back and use at their institutions, but I also want us to create space for the larger conversations that will shape enrollment management and higher education over the next years and decades.”
Gann also hopes to extend the connections and professional support that begin at the conference, including helping first-time attendees become continuing members of the SEM community.
About AACRAO
AACRAO is a non-profit, voluntary, professional association working to make higher education more responsive to learners. With a membership of more than 22,000 higher education professionals at approximately 2,100 institutions in more than 30 countries, collectively representing over 16.4 million enrolled learners, the association provides advocacy, research, and policy-based guidance and training to higher education professionals to smooth the path for learners at every stage of their journey.
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