Operations Division Brittany Brown is the Associate Director of IT and Business Operations at AACRAO. She is in her final semester of graduate school at American University pursuing her Masters in Public Administration with a concentration in state and local government and public financial management. She began her journey with AACRAO in the membership division before joining the IT team where she brings her passion for higher education and her dedication to serving others. Brittany is committed to promoting diversity and inclusion in technology and education, and is eager to contribute to AACRAO’s efforts to create more equitable and inclusive higher education systems through her work with the Accessibility Taskforce.
Brittany helps manage the Association's IT systems. She evaluates business processes, anticipating requirements, uncovering areas for improvement, and developing and implementing solutions for each department.
CollegeSource
Newsoul Deus, Ph.D., is a Program Manager at Florida International University. She is also an Adjunct Lecturer at Miami Dade College as well as Florida International University, teaching American federal government, public budgeting, and analytical tools for public service. She had more than a decade of experience working in higher education, specifically in enrollment services and with students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Dr. Deus earned her Ph.D. in Higher Education from Florida International University in 2020. She has both a master’s degree in public administration and a bachelor’s degree in business administration, with a concentration in management and finance, from Florida International University. Dr. Deus is currently enrolled in AACRAO's Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) Endorsement Program.
Cultural Integrity in College Bridge Programs: A Cultural Analysis
Dawn Aubry is Vice President for Enrollment Management at Oakland University. Aubry previously served as the university’s director of undergraduate admissions and has held positions in enrollment management, admissions, housing and residence life, student conduct, student orientation, and student programming during her career. Prior to joining OU in 1998, Aubry gained valuable career experience working at Kent State University and the University of Cincinnati.
Active on campus as a chairperson or member of more than 70 university committees, Aubry has made dozens of presentations at professional conferences and belongs to several professional organizations. They include the Michigan and Detroit College Access Network groups; the National and Michigan Associations for College Admissions Counseling; the American and Michigan Associations of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers; the Collegiate Information and Visitor Services Association (CIVSA); the NAFSA Association of International Educators; the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators; and the Detroit Economic Club. In addition, Aubry has been a member of the College Board Enrollment Management Leadership Academy, the Oakland University Leadership Academy and a Harvard Summer Institute on College Admissions participant. She has been honored as a Timothy G. Larrabee SOGI Equity and Inclusion Award winner and chosen as the Outstanding Oakland University Administrative Professional of the year award recipient during her career.
Aubry received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Oakland University, her Master of Education in Higher Education Administration & College Student Personnel from Kent State University, and is currently a doctoral student in Educational Leadership at OU’s School of Education and Human Services.
Interview with John Gardner
Nowai Keleekai-Brapoh, Ph.D., RN, NPD-BC, has been a nurse for eighteen years with more than ten years of experience in hospital nursing leadership in the areas of research, quality improvement, and professional development. Her research covers a range of topics relevant to providing quality nursing care in the acute care setting and across the care continuum. She has been adjunct faculty at the University of Phoenix College of Nursing for ten years where she facilitates graduate courses in nursing research, nursing theory, and evidence-based practice.
Supporting Nontraditional Student Persistence in Practitioner-Based College Programs: A Literature Review
Sushil Jindal, Ph.D., has more than 35 years of teaching and mentoring experience in higher education. Dr. Jindal has taught in a university in India and several online schools in the United States. She has been an adjunct faculty at the University of Phoenix for 23 years. She has mentored 25 students for their Ph.D. or doctoral dissertation.
Marlene Blake, Ph.D., has more than eighteen years of career experience in online higher education focusing on faculty training, development, mentoring, and holistic support. She also has extensive expertise in student support resource development, academic operations, and student services. Dr. Blake enjoys teaching doctoral level leadership and research classes while serving on dissertation committees. She has fourteen years of experience motivating, empowering, and teaching undergraduate student success along with critical thinking courses, workshops, and orientations. Dr. Blake is currently a Fellow in Residence for the Center for Educational and Instructional Technology Research (CEITR) in which her research interests include faculty/student connectedness, leadership, and learner centeredness.
Amanda Kruzona, MSE.,is the Interim Director of Institutional Research at Grand Rapids Community College in Grand Rapids, MI. She spent the last eight years in the registrar’s office at the same institution creating and revising student policies to reduce barriers and be more efficient. She earned her master’s of science in engineering degree through Western Michigan University, where she focused graduate work on the retention and success of students participating in the College of Engineering’s STEP (STEM Talent Expansion Program) grant. She is a natural problem-solver and strives to use that passion to make institutions of higher education a better experience for students and staff alike.
Bringing Services to the Student by Building Institutional Relationships
Mark E. Butt is the Director of Admission at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and has spent nearly 20 years in the field of college admissions. Butt was a former admissions officer at Johns Hopkins University and holds degrees from the University of Delaware, the University of Pennsylvania, and is a doctoral candidate at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa.
It’s Time that Colleges Invest in their Undergraduate Admissions Staff
Tara P. Nicola is a doctoral candidate at Harvard University. Her research focuses on issues concerning access, choice, and equity in higher education, especially in relation to the college admissions process.
Rethinking Recommendation Letters: A Critical Tool in Holistic Admission
Rocky Christensen, Ph.D., is the Director of Financial Aid at Johnson University in Knoxville, TN. Christensen has been in higher education for almost twelve years. He previously served as the executive director of Admissions and then director of financial aid at Central Christian College of the Bible where he began to see the importance of working collaboratively within a SEM framework. Christensen completed his Ph.D. in higher education leadership from the University of Missouri. He earned his masters of arts from Biola University, his masters in public affairs from the University of Missouri, his graduate certificate in educational policy, his graduate certificate in clinical bioethics from the Medical College of Wisconsin, his bachelor’s in theology from Ozark Christian College, and his bachelor’s of biblical leadership from Ozark Christian College. Christensen earned the SEM Endorsement Badge through AACRAO and is a Certified Financial Aid Administrator through NASFAA. His current research interests are centered around the role of financial aid in SEM, college pricing, and tuition discounting implications for greater net revenue and enrollment. In his current role, he is passionate about partnering with students and families to promote access to and afford the educational training each student is passionate about.
The Financial Aid Office as an Essential Strategic Partner in SEM
Luca Lantero is the Director General of CIMEA, the Italian Information Center on Academic Mobility and Equivalence. He is one of the leading experts at the Italian and international levels on higher education, bogus diplomas, and accreditation mills, foreign higher education systems degrees, TNE institutions and accreditation, digitalization of processes and blockchain technology applied to recognition. From 2018 and 2020 he was the Head of the Bologna Follow-Up Group (BFUG) Secretariat of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). Since 2019 he has been the President of the Lisbon Recognition Convention Committee and the current Head of the ASEM Education Secretariat. In 2022 he was elected member of the Bureau of the Ethics, Transparency, and Integrity (ETINED) platform of the Council of Europe.
Jelger de Boer has been active in the Groningen Declaration Network since 2016. He was chair of the GDN taskforce on cross border enrollment verification before becoming a director of the board in 2019. He started his tenure as President of the Board of Directors in October 2022.
Jelger has been working for DUO since 2005. DUO is the Dutch executive agency for the department of education and handles government funding of both students and institutions in the Netherlands. He is currently the account manager of the national student database that holds record of every student in the Netherlands from primary education to Higher education. DUO is one of the founders of GDN and very much focused on learner centricity by giving students access to their own data.
Jelger has studied Law at the Hanze university of Applied Science in Groningen, the Netherlands with a specialization in Government Law and policy, graduating in 2015.
Dr. Cristobal Salinas Jr. is an associate professor in the College of Education at Florida Atlantic University. He is also the founder and editor-in-chief of the Journal Committed to Social Change on Race and Ethnicity. He’s published more than 70 manuscripts in print, including 6 books, and has delivered over 250 presentations and lectures. His prolific writing and research has illuminated the importance of understanding and addressing Latino/a/x student identity and development, and made Salinas sought after by media outlets such as CNN, NBC News, NPR, Telemundo, National Review, Chemistry World, Good Morning America, and the Chronicle in Higher Education. The New York Times said his research is “futuristic,” and Diverse Issues in Higher Education said, “Salinas’ a rising star in academe, [and] An expert on Latinx students in college,” in their special issue where he was named one of the top 15 scholars of the year. A distinguished scholar and advocate, Salinas has been awarded over 30 international and national awards for his commitment to social justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Renise serves as the assistant director of systems innovation for the CWDC Office. Serving as an active leader for the CWDC Office, Renise represents the CWDC Office at state and national conferences and continues to innovate and be a thought leader in the talent development landscape in Colorado and nationally. She is responsible for critical relationship development with external partners and provides management and alignment of CWDC's efforts to lead and support industry-led networks, develop and strengthen career pathway systems, and implement stimulus-funded initiatives in support of Colorado's economic recovery.
Prior to joining the CWDC in 2015, Renise led the backbone efforts of a collective impact initiative working to advance affordable housing, workforce development, and economic mobility for underserved populations in the nation’s capital. Walker believes strongly that enacting large-scale social challenges requires a willingness to innovate, break down silos, and collaborate across traditional boundaries. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Colorado College and a master’s in public administration from the University of Colorado Denver School of Public Affairs. As a proud third-generation Coloradan, Renise cares deeply about the future of Colorado and creating and sustaining opportunities for Colorado residents.
Sean Murphy is a Director on the Opportunity team at Walmart.org, where he supports Walmart’s philanthropic efforts in developing the infrastructure needed to empower the development of a skill-based workforce system, which will enable all learning to count. In doing so, his work has led to Walmart investments in efforts such as the U.S. Chambers T3 Network, AACRAO, WGU’s Open Skills Network, among others. Before joining Walmart.org in 2019, Mr. Murphy gained experience in the workforce space as an associate director at a workforce board in Washington state, leading projects that focused on populations such as veterans, justice involved youth, and others, as well as having worked within public policy/community engagement for U.S. Senator Patty Murray, and other congressional and statewide elected leaders in Washington state. He holds an AA from Highline Community College, BA in Government from Eastern Washington University, and an MBA from both Queens University and Cornell University. He now resides in Rogers, Arkansas.