CBO Speaks

Sherry Mondou is the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. In this episode, Mondou joins our host Donna Schiele to talk about her 31 years in higher education at Puget Sound, changes she's seen over the years, and things that haven't changed.   "You never know what's going to come up on any given day in higher education," she s...

Teri Zamora is the Vice Chancellor of Fiscal Affairs at San Jacinto College in Pasadena, Texas. In this episode, Zamora joins our host Donna Schiele to talk about connecting to varied community college populations, giving your team what they need to become what you want them to be, and building in SMORs - Small Moments of Reflection - to your schedule.   "I try to build in five to 10 minutes betwe...

Bradley Kendrex is the Executive Vice President for Finance and Operations at Chandler-Gilbert Community College and Mesa Community College in the Maricopa Community College system in the Phoenix, Arizona area. In this episode, Kendrex joins our host Donna Schiele to talk about the challenges of being CBO at two colleges simultaneously, how continuing as an instructor helps him stay current, and t...

Dr. Sara Thorndike is the Senior Vice President for Finance and Business Treasurer at The Pennsylvania State University in University Park, Pennsylvania. In this episode, Thorndike joins our host Donna Schiele to talk about keeping the pulse on the needs of your team, finding ways to create work/life balance, and why people skills may outweigh the technical skills in this role.   "Understanding th...

Randy Livingston is the Vice President of Finance and Administration at Thomas University in Thomasville, Georgia. In this episode, Livingston joins our host Donna Schiele to talk about his transition from the public sector and adapting to a different system, learning to get everyone's endorsement, and the importance of learning to communicate with those who don't speak the language of finance.  ...

Christina Dalton is the Vice President for Business and Finance at West Virginia State University in Institute, West Virginia. In this episode, Dalton joins our host Donna Schiele to talk about advocating for diversity in higher ed institution roles, particularly accounting roles, and why it's important for students graduating to understand financial literacy.   "Being empathetic to your team memb...

Shahrooz Roohparvar is the Vice President of Administration and Finance at Humboldt State University in Arcata, California. In this episode, Roohparvar joins our host Donna Schiele to talk about turning every crisis into an opportunity, and working more toward investment and innovation for the student experience.   "We can always look back and think about those enjoyable memories of the college-go...

Dr. Janet Wormack is the Vice President for Administration and Finance at Salisbury University in Salisbury, Maryland. In this episode, Dr. Wormack joins our new host Donna Schiele to talk about navigating as an African American female in a role that's generally male-dominated, and the power of mentors and networks to find the strength to stay on the path to a successful career. "I am a big suppor...

As we kick off Season 8, our host Megan Strand bids us adieu as she heads off to start a new career. Here, she introduces us to Donna Schiele, our new host of the show.

Welcome to this special bonus episode of CBO Speaks. We've been asking each of our interviewees to sum up their thoughts, in less than a minute, on various topics that are top-of-mind for our listeners right now. We've collected their responses to share with you in these mini topical episodes and today we're hearing from business officers about analytics. Colleges and universities are embracing an...

Welcome to this special bonus episode of CBO Speaks. We've been asking each of our interviewees to sum up their thoughts, in less than a minute, on various topics that are top-of-mind for our listeners right now. We've collected their responses to share with you in these mini topical episodes and today we're hearing from business officers about the economic model. When higher education leaders env...

In this special episode, Megan Strand joins Jill Creighton, host of the SA: Voices From the Field Podcast, and two former CBO Speaks guests, Nicole Trufant and Gerald Hector, to look at how student affairs officers and business officers can work together towards mutual success. The discussion ranges from seeing business officers as human to how student affairs and business office professionals can...

Welcome to this special bonus episode of CBO Speaks. We've been asking each of our interviewees to sum up their thoughts, in less than a minute, on various topics that are top-of-mind for our listeners right now. We've collected their responses to share with you in these mini topical episodes and today we're hearing from business officers about collaboration. We often hear that success isn't found...

Kevin Davenport is the Vice President of Finance & Administration at Virginia State University in Petersburg, Virginia. In this episode, Davenport joins Megan Strand to talk about the value of learning from every opportunity and why the saying 'if you've never failed then that must mean you're not trying hard enough' means so much to him. "CBOs need to be able to really challenge themselves and to...

Welcome to this special bonus episode of CBO Speaks. We've been asking each of our interviewees to sum up their thoughts, in less than a minute, on various topics that are top-of-mind for our listeners right now. We've collected their responses to share with you in these mini topical episodes and today we're hearing from business officers about advocacy. Whether it's regarding legislative or agenc...

David Gingerella is the Vice Chancellor of Administration & Finance and Chief Financial Officer at UMass Dartmouth in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. In this episode, Gingerella joins Megan Strand to talk about learning to connect in the remote digital world and why it's still important to have spontaneous conversations NOT about work, as hard as it may be. "I have regular meetings with everyone but the...

Greg Sanial is the Vice President for Finance & Administration and Chief Financial Officer at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan. In this episode, Sanial joins Megan Strand to talk about more frequent but shorter Zoom meetings can help everyone support each other and get things done, and why communication and decision-making skills are so critical. "You're never going to know eve...

Melissa Hopp is the Vice President for Finance & Administration at the Community College of Baltimore County in Baltimore, Maryland. In this episode, Hopp joins Megan Strand to talk about the early days of being a CBO and why knowing how to learn and grow with the times is one of the most important development skills for any CBO, no matter where they are in their career. "The skills, they change,"...

Rebecca Vazquez-Skillings is the Vice President for Finance & Administration at Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio. In this episode, Vazquez-Skillings joins Megan Strand to talk about navigating COVID as a marathon, not a sprint, and learning the ropes through the program review process. "The first leg of the marathon came out of the program review," she says. They were able to learn to move student...

Welcome to this special bonus episode of CBO Speaks. We've been asking each of our interviewees to sum up their thoughts, in less than a minute, on various topics that are top-of-mind for our listeners right now. We've collected their responses to share with you in these mini topical episodes and today we're hearing from business officers about transformation. Although higher education institution...

Beth Reissenweber is the Vice President for Administration & Finance at Midwestern State University in North Texas. In this episode, Reissenweber joins Megan Strand to talk about being an essential employee, keeping COVID off campus, and leading with empathy. "It's about enjoying the work, engaging folks, and making this a great experience," she says, "because we spend a lot of our waking hours to...

Welcome to this special bonus episode of CBO Speaks. We've been asking each of our interviewees to sum up their thoughts, in less than a minute, on various topics that are top-of-mind for our listeners right now. We've collected their responses to share with you in these mini topical episodes and today we're hearing from business officers about leading through change.  Change management is often c...

We've been asking each of our interviewees to sum up their thoughts, in less than a minute, on various topics that are top-of-mind for our listeners right now. We've collected their responses to share with you in these mini topical episodes and today we're hearing from business officers about diversity. Hearing and valuing input from people with all types of experiences, perspectives, skills, inte...

Bill Guerrero is the vice president for finance and administration at Ithaca College. This week on the show, Guerrero joins Megan Strand to talk about cash vs. crisis management and the rise in sharing services between higher ed institutions, and how these initiatives are critical in these times. "That was kind of unheard of years ago to think of three completely different institutions saying, 'Le...

Ron Cortez serves as Chief Financial Officer and Vice Chancellor, Division of Finance and Administration, at the University of California at Irvine . This week on the show, Cortez joins Megan Strand for a conversation on the best foot forward in the long run with COVID as a CBO. "It's important to try to provide vision during this time of chaos," he says. "As we're making lots of change or we're a...