Candice Wilson-Stykes, Ph.D., engages in independent research projects to support institutions of higher education and their students. Her research interests are the intersection of institutional culture and student success, cultural capital in higher education, and academic course failure. She has also worked as a K-12 and higher education practitioner, primarily focusing on the high school to college transition and first-year success. Dr. Wilson-Stykes received her doctorate in higher education leadership and policy studies from the University of Houston.
Understanding an Institution’s Culture
How Students Experience Failing a Course
Steven D. Roper, Ph.D., is a Professor of Political Science at Florida Atlantic University. Dr. Roper has extensive experience in international education and has served as a consultant on the Bologna process and models of national accreditation. He previously served as dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan working with faculty to design quality assurance programs for undergraduate and graduate recruitment and retention. He is the author of four books and more than 50 articles and book chapters.
Recruitment and Retention at the Department-Level: What Measures Can Departments Implement to Positively Impact Student Enrollment?
Rema Reynolds Vassar, Ph.D., is a Professor in the College of Education at Wayne State University. Dr. Vassar earned her doctorate from UCLA in Urban Schooling and is the author of many scholarly journal articles. Her research interests include parent-school partnerships; race, gender, and class implications in schools; implications of policy and practice on student achievement and outcomes; and equity, justice, access, and inclusion for minoritized communities. She was recently elected to the Board of Trustees for Michigan State University and appointed to the state of Michigan’s MiSTEM Advisory Council to promote STEM engagement across the state.
Attracting and Retaining Transformative Leaders in Enrollment Management
Lisa Emery, Ph.D., serves as the Senior Associate Registrar at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. She is the chair of the Michigan Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (MACRAO) Enrollment Management committee and a member of AACRAO’s Information Systems and Technology Committee. Emery holds a doctorate in educational leadership from Eastern Michigan University, where her dissertation examined factors impacting job satisfaction and retention of chief enrollment management officers.
Boyd Bradshaw, Ed.D., is Vice President for Enrollment Management at Towson University. Dr. Bradshaw is a nationally recognized leader in higher education, with more than 25 years of strategic enrollment management experience
Previously, he served as associate vice chancellor for enrollment management and chief enrollment officer at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) and prior to that, as the vice president for enrollment management at Logan University in St. Louis, MO. His experience in enrollment management also includes leadership positions at Valparaiso University, Saint Louis University, the University of Louisville, and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
Bradshaw earned his doctorate in education, with a focus on higher education administration, from Saint Louis University. He has a M.S. in education and a B.S. in business, both from Eastern Illinois University.
Building A Foundational Approach for Strategic Enrollment Management
Rebecca Mathern, Ph.D., is Associate Vice Provost- Academic Affairs and University Registrar at Oregon State University where she leads both the Office of the Registrar and the Curriculum Management team. Mathern has worked in higher education for more than 25 years at both two- and four-year institutions. Her interests are in shared governance and policy implementation.
Putting on our Reality Glasses: Policy Review and Project Management through an Equity Lens
Autumn Landis is Senior Assistant Registrar – Projects and Communications at Oregon State University. Landis has worked at OSU in the Office of the Registrar for seven years. She has experience in records and registration, athletic and veteran compliance, and currently oversees the registrar’s office project portfolio and communications. Since stepping into the project world, she has helped to streamline projects that the registrar’s office manages. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are at the forefront of her work.
Kristin Benson is Deputy University Registrar – Compliance at Oregon State University. Benson has worked in higher education for 21 years and in registrars' offices for more than seventeen years. In her current role, she oversees degree completion, veterans and athletic compliance, projects and communications, and the office's technology team. She's committed to bringing equity, inclusion, and anti-racist concepts into registrars' offices by focusing on policy review, embedding equity analysis in project management and finding ways to remove barriers for students, staff, and faculty.
Adrienne McDay has been a part of AACRAO for more than 30 years. Within her time in higher education she has carved out a career serving in multiple roles within academic and enrollment services for AACRAO and for the institutions for which she worked. Before retiring from William Rainey Harper College as Coordinator of Enrollment Services she served in nearly every position in the registrar’s office. Adrienne’s varied expertise was lent to various program committees and caucuses with AACRAO and her regional Illinois AACRAO. She made a particular and outstanding mark in ACRAO with regards to diversity, and access and equity; serving on the Diversity Task Force and later serving a three year term as Vice President for Access and Equity on the Board of Directors, a position which she helped to develop. Adrienne’s natural leadership and dedication to service helped her to rise to the position of AACRAO President in 2014 when she helped to establish AACRAO’s Core Competencies and sought to engage students and young professionals in the organization. Having also served as President with IACRAO Adrienne’s competency as a leader is unflagging. She is a role model to those in the profession and a distinguished colleague to us all.
Whitney N. West has been in higher education for 15+ years and is currently Director of Student Records at LSU Law. She has worked at universities in DC, Maryland, and Louisiana. Whitney is a two time graduate of The George Washington University and has a graduate certificate from University of Maryland Baltimore County. She is also an DEI/Disability awareness advocate and speaker who was diagnosed with a chronic illness in 2014 that almost took her life. From there Whitney set out to make the most out of life and live her best and most authentic life. Whitney is now a doctoral student at University of Southern Mississippi who studies the intersection of race, gender, and disability specifically focusing on Black women with chronic illnesses in Higher education. She uses her platform and her position in HE to help people appreciate their lives and advocate for themselves even when unexpected and uncomfortable things happen. Whitney wants people to know there are always options.
Higher Education Has a Problem: Holistic Disability Inclusion and Belonging
With over two decades of experience in higher education, Rhonda has developed expertise in instructional design, organizational management, strategic planning, and project management. Her passion for lifelong learning and creating successful student environments drives her to utilize technology to support transfer students. Throughout her career, Rhonda has held various roles, including policy administrator, adjunct instructor, academic advisor, and trainer. She is an advocate for the use of technology in higher education and has made significant contributions to the advancement of technology for transfer students. Currently, Rhonda serves on the Maryland Higher Education Commission's Student Transfer Advisory Committee, which addresses transfer-related issues and modifies policies.
Roxane Gay is an author and cultural critic whose writing is unmatched and widely revered. Her work garners international acclaim for its reflective, no-holds-barred exploration of feminism and social criticism. With a deft eye on modern culture, she brilliantly critiques its ebb and flow with both wit and ferocity.
Words like “courage,” “humor,” and “smart” are frequently deployed when describing Roxane. Her collection of essays, Bad Feminist, is universally considered the quintessential exploration of modern feminism. NPR named it one of the best books of the year and Salon declared the book “trailblazing.” Her powerful debut novel, An Untamed State, was long listed for the Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize. In 2017, Roxane released her bestselling memoir, Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body, which was called “Luminous…intellectually rigorous and deeply moving” by the New York Times. She also released her collection of short stories, Difficult Women. The Los Angeles Times says of the collection, “There’s a distinct echo of Angela Carter or Helen Oyeyemi at play; dark fables and twisted morality tales sit alongside the contemporary and the realistic…”
In 2018, she released Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture, a valuable and searing anthology that has been described as “essential reading” and a “call to arms” by its readers. In 2020, Roxane released the short story Graceful Burdens, as an Amazon Single, as well as a graphic novel called The Sacrifice of Darkness. Roxane was the first black woman to lead a Marvel title, writing a comic series in the Black Panther universe called World of Wakanda.
Roxane hosts the Webby Award winning podcast The Roxane Gay Agenda where she has interesting conversations with interesting people. She also pens the “work friend” advice column for the New York Times, and in 2021 she began her own publishing imprint with Grove Atlantic, “Roxane Gay Books.” She has several books forthcoming including How to Be Heard, on writing advice and how to use your voice as well as The Year I Learned Everything, a YA novel. She is also at work on television and film projects including a film adaptation of Hunger and a television adaptation of her comic book The Banks.
Roxane fronts a small army of avid fans on social media and when she finds the time, she dominates the occasional Scrabble tournament. In 2023, Roxane Gay presented at the 108th AACRAO Annual Meeting in Aurora, Colorado, as speaker of the closing general session.
BD Wong is a celebrated actor and activist with over three decades of excellence on stage, on television, and in film. His experiences as an openly gay Asian-American actor in Hollywood have shaped his career and inform his ongoing advocacy work. Having faced rejection, typecasting, racism, and homophobia in his journeys through the entertainment industry, he has a sharp perspective on the importance and necessity of diversity and representation in the media and beyond. In his heartfelt, inspirational, and often amusing talks, he addresses issues like racial self-image, the “model minority myth,” moving beyond preconceptions and seeing everyone’s full humanity, the beauty and challenges of owning multiple identities, and the importance of passing the torch of all of the above to younger people.
BD made his Broadway debut in M. Butterfly in the leading role which earned him a Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Clarence Derwent Award, and Theater World Award. To this day, he is the only actor to win all five major New York theater awards for a single role. In addition to performances on Broadway, off-Broadway, and in regional theatre, BD is also known for his roles in popular TV shows including Law & Order: SVU, Mr. Robot, Oz, and most recently, Awkwafina is Nora from Queens. Some of his most immediately recognizable work on the silver screen includes four films of the Jurassic Park franchise, Mulan, and Netflix’s Bird Box.
Following much success as an actor, BD is making a name for himself as a theater director. His directorial debut was The Yellow Wood at the 4th annual New York Musical Theatre Festival. In 2022, he co-authored and World Premiered the stage adaptation of the Oscar-nominated film Mr. Holland’s Opus at Ogunquit Playhouse and is currently directing Yes, I Can Say That!, starring actor-writer and stand-up comic Judy Gold at Primary Stages in New York City.
BD often speaks to the importance of mentorship and intergenerational collaboration in every stage of his life and career. Without the stewardship of his high school drama teacher who told him, “You must not waste this potential,” BD would not have so effectively connected to his calling. Mrs. Chanes steered his love for performing from a casual hobby into a legitimate career choice, and other mentors along the way helped develop him into the star he is today. As a veteran performer who has achieved great success, he sees mentoring future generations as a sworn duty. Originally involved as a guest teaching artist, he currently serves on the board of Rosie’s Theater Kids, an arts education organization providing free performing arts instruction, life skills development, and tutoring to underserved students in New York City’s public schools.
His support for and pride in being a member of the Asian-American and LGBTQ+ communities extend beyond fighting for respectful and nuanced representation in Hollywood. He used his celebrity to elevate the Stop Asian Hate movement, appearing in national PSAs and social media campaigns. He is an advocate for The Trevor Project and its “It Gets Better” campaign and has also received community service awards from GLAAD, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Empire State Pride Agenda, Marriage Equality NY, the Asian American Legal Defense & Education Fund, and the Museum of Chinese in the Americas, among many others. In 2023, BD Wong was the opening general session speaker for the 108th AACRAO Annual Meeting in Aurora, Colorado.
Dr. Charas is the Founder and CEO of HC Moneyball, an Adjunct Professor, and a governance researcher and thought-leader.
Dr. Charas’ SaaS product – HCMetrix™ – delivers capabilities for subscribers to quantify the material impact of human capital on corporate performance and understand the effectiveness of human capital programs in generating HCROI. She is an expert in the area of human capital disclosures required a variety of ESG governance frameworks, the SEC and ISO 30414 and 30415.
She has served on public company boards and has held the Chairperson role for Audit and Compensation Committees. She has also served on private for-profit, non-profit and higher education boards.
Solange is an Adjunct Professor in the Master’s Programs of Human Capital Management at Columbia, USC and NYU. She also is a Distinguished Principal Research Fellow at The Conference Board, leads the Strategic Human Capital Institute in the Human Capital Center, and serves as a Board Advisor to the Center.
Solange held the CHRO position at three global public companies and was part of the leadership team (National Director) at EY and Arthur Andersen.
Dr. Charas earned a PhD in Management (focused on Board Governance) from Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management, an MBA in Accounting and Finance from Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management, and a BA in International Economics from the University of California, Berkeley.
She has been published or cited in more than 250 research and practitioner publications including 70+ academic citations. Some of her noteworthy publications includeHarvard Business Review, Forbes, Agenda Magazine, Financier Worldwide, NACD, Fast Company, USA Today, LA Times, Boston Globe, Entrepreneur Magazine. She has contributed chapters for all three editions of The Handbook for Board Governance and Coaching the Team at Work: Team Coaching Handbook. Her book, Humanizing Human Capital: Invest in Your People for Optimal Business Returns was published in September 2022. She is a frequent speaker at events addressing human capital governance issues.
Dr. Rubina F. Malik is a scholar, strategic advisor, thought leader and a mentor. As a champion of career sponsorship and leadership development, she is an expert in helping organizations enhance the engagement, retention, and promotion of diverse candidates.
Competitive edge-driving organizations from start-ups to Fortune 500 global brands depend on her support and expertise to propel programs such as mentoring, career sponsorship and leadership development. She is a Tedx speaker and a popular guest speaker at conferences and podcasts. She is frequently published in industry magazines, including highly respected academic and business journals such as The Harvard Business Review. To fulfill her passion and commitment to the community, she is on several non-profit boards that actively support education and equity-based incentives.
Dr. Lauren L. Griffeth is a triple dawg graduate of the University of Georgia with a Ph.D. in Adult Education and certificates in Human Resources and Organizational Development and Qualitative Research. After a 10-year career in fundraising while working through graduate school, Dr. Griffeth joined the Public Service Faculty of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the University of Georgia to direct leadership programs.
Today, Dr. Griffeth is an Extension Leadership Specialist where she facilitates internal and external leadership programs and serves as a graduate faculty member. Dr. Griffeth has authored more than 50 publications for peer review and popular press. She has been published in the Harvard Business Review for her research on women’s leadership. Dr. Griffeth’s interest areas include women’s leadership in agriculture, generational differences in communication, and organizational development.
Dr. Griffeth also works with teams across the US through her company, Focused Leadership Solutions, where she commits to helping people operate to their highest potential.
Lauren is married to Tim Griffeth, an agriculture education teacher at North Oconee High School. They have two children, Tanner (10) and Lilli (7).
AACRAO Bio
Sarah has spent her entire career in higher education in various leadership roles in student affairs and academic affairs and more than a third of her career as a law school registrar. She has served on numerous academic, curricular, diversity and inclusion, FERPA, and other policy and senate committees. Her experience as a PACRAO, NNLSO, and AACRAO member has been career-enriching; she enjoys learning from and presenting with her colleagues whenever possible.
Sarah has a keen interest in investigating the intersection of personal and professional lives. She looks forward to engaging with Doug McKenna as the fellow Co-Host of AACRAO's For the Record podcast.
Sarah lives in the California Bay Area with her husband and is happiest when she's learning and creating. She spends most of her free time sewing clothing, adores all things HGTV, secretly hopes to learn how to cook well, and is eager to get back into her first love—rowing
Dr. Kayla Charles is the Director of Enrollment Management at Hillsborough Community College (HCC) in Tampa, Florida. Since starting this role in 2017, she has managed the adoption of multiple technology systems to improve the student experience. She has also served in diverse roles at HCC and The University of Tampa in IT, Admissions, Financial Aid, and the Registrar's Office. Dr. Charles earned her MBA from The University of Tampa and her Doctor of Education in Higher Education Administration from the University of Florida.
Tim Winders serves as the Vice Chancellor of Information Services (VCIS) at Purdue University Northwest. In his role, Winders provides leadership for the service delivery and integration of information technology across the institution. He provides strategic oversight of campus wide information technology activities and the sponsoring of IT committees. He works with IT service units across campus by delivering direction in preparing PNW in making appropriate choices in new and developing information technologies to foster high quality research learning services that meet curricular and scholarly needs of faculty, students, staff and community.
As VCIS, Winders has implemented IT strategic planning, zero-based budgeting, and IT governance. He established the IT Security department, implemented digital accessibility standards and training, established student employee standards and benchmarks, and hosted the first-ever Northwest Indiana CIO Roundtable at PNW. Winders is an executive sponsor of system-wide IT initiatives and was instrumental in the success of the Purdue System Cloud (PSC) resulting in a system-wide annual savings of over $4M.
Winders represents the University’s information technology interests by serving as a member of the PNW Senior Leadership Team, PNW Web Advisory Committee, PNW University Budget Committee, PNW HLC Resource, Planning and Institutional Effectiveness Committee, PNW Emergency Planning Committee, PNW Strategic Enrollment Management Committee, Purdue IT Operational Oversight Committee and Purdue System-wide Summit Task Force. He chairs both the Chancellor’s AccessAbility Committee and the PNW IT Governance Committee.
Winders has presented to the Association of College and University Telecommunications Administrators (ACUTA), Jenzabar Annual Meeting (JAM), South Central POISE Users Group (SCPUG), Purdue University Northwest Information Services Student Association, Fourth International Conference on Lean Six Sigma for Higher Education, Crowe Horwath Risk Consulting Summit, and RTM Higher Education Congress conferences.
Additionally, Vice Chancellor Winders’ community outreach includes the South Shore Arts Board of Directors, Northwest Indiana Symphony Committee, South Shore Arts Education Committee, and South Shore Arts Finance Committee. He is past president of Levelland Morning Rotary Club, founding member of Youth Orchestras of Lubbock in Lubbock, Texas, and served as President of the YOL Board of Directors.
Prior to PNW, Winders served as Associate Dean of Information Technology at South Plains College in Levelland, Texas. He has more than 30 years experience in technology and business and a successful, demonstrated background with over 25 years executive and hands-on experience in higher education technology management. The solution-oriented enterprise is a result of his visionary leadership.
Winders is a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) candidate in Technology, Leadership, and Innovation at Purdue University, in West Lafayette, Indiana. He holds a Master of Science (M.S.) in Business, Information Technology Management and a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), in Biology, both from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. He may be contacted at winders@pnw.edu.