Office Hours with John Gardner

Steve MacQueen is the Executive Director of the Vermont International Film Festival, a position he has occupied since June of 2023. He has been a curator and arts administrator since 1998, heading multidisciplinary programs in Georgia, Florida and North Carolina before coming to Vermont. He was the Artistic Director for the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts and Burlington Discover Jazz Festival...

Dr. Kerri Kearney is a professor of higher education and student affairs at Oklahoma State University (OSU). Her research and service primarily focuses on hidden student populations in higher education (students with backgrounds of socially stigmatizing, complex trauma) and organizational behavior, theory, and structure in higher education. Using her evolving research and practice experience, she...

Dr. Doris J. Fields is the Interim Associate Provost and Associate Vice President of Academic Programs and Initiatives and Professor of Communication at Eastern Michigan University. Dr. Fields completed both a Bachelor of Science degree (1990) and a Master of Arts degree (1992) from Eastern Michigan University. Dr. Fields later pursued a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Communication Education from...

Dr. Steven P. Dandaneau is Associate Provost at Colorado State University and Executive Director of the Association for Undergraduate Education at Research Universities (UERU ). In these roles, Dr. Dandaneau provides executive leadership for a national consortium of leading research universities focused on innovation in undergraduate education and collaborates with colleagues to strengthen the und...

Stephanie M. Foote is the Vice President for Teaching, Learning, and Evidence-Based Practices. Prior to joining the Institute staff in August 2017, Stephanie was the founding director of the Master of Science in First-Year Studies, professor of education in the Department of First-Year and Transition Studies, and faculty fellow for High-Impact Practices at Kennesaw State University. Stephanie M. F...

Dr. Robert Blanc has taught in medical schools, universities, colleges, high schools, and a primary school during his 70+ years in education. Bob is a long-time collaborator with Deanna C. Martin. He helped Deanna develop the “supplementary instruction” (SI) program and practices around the world. SI programs are commonly named “Peer Assisted Study Session” (PASS) programs in schools in Europe, Af...

Dr. Tonya C. Bailey (she/her/hers) is an accomplished executive leader with over 25 years of experience in higher education and corporate settings, leading transformative programming, and implementing award-winning diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, coaching, & teaching services. Dr. Bailey is a sought-after speaker, workshop presenter, life coach, and inclusionist skilled in...

Dr. April Perry (she/her) is an Associate Professor in the M.Ed. Higher Education Student Affairs program and serves at Department Head/Chair for Human Services at Western Carolina University. Her research is primarily on college student identity development, career development, student transitions, and institutional initiatives for student success. She is the co-editor of the recent book - A Prac...

Kevin Kelly, EdD, works with colleges and universities as a consultant to address distance education, educational technology, and organizational challenges. He teaches online courses as a Lecturer in the Department of Equity, Leadership Studies, and Instructional Technologies at San Francisco State University, where he also previously served as the Online Teaching and Learning Manager. Kevin is th...

Dr. Jillian Kinzie is Associate Director of the Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research and the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) Institute. She conducts research and leads project activities on effective use of student engagement data to improve educational quality, and serves as senior scholar with the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA) project. ...

Dr. Phyllis Curtis-Tweed earned her Ph. D. at Emory University in Educational Studies with a focus on educational leadership and issues in psychology, specifically agency development, and moral development.  She pursued postdoctoral training in psychology in the Clinical Research Training Program in Social Psychiatry at Harvard University where she was also an instructor for five years and taught...

Steve Smith is a Professor of Psychology at Saint Mary’s University. He has previously held the roles of Associate Vice-President Academic & Enrollment Management, Dean of Science, and Registrar, all at SMU. As an administrator, Steve’s focus was on initiatives to support student success. In partnership with his SMU colleagues, he launched (and assessed) several new initiatives. The research h...

Denise Bartell is Associate Provost for Academic Affairs at Kent State University, where she facilitates strategic initiatives related to access, retention, completion, and student success with a focus on improving equity of outcomes for historically underserved students and empowering faculty as key stakeholders in this work. Her scholarship takes a systemic and explicitly relational approach, mo...

 Dr. David L. Graham is the Assistant Vice-Provost for Student Academic Success at The Ohio State University. He has been at Ohio State since 2006 and has over twenty-five years of higher education experience in academic affairs, student life, and intercollegiate athletics. Dr. Graham was a 2013-2014 American Council on Education (ACE) Fellow and earned a bachelor’s degree in Electronic Engineerin...

Paul LePore is the associate dean for Student and Academic Programs in The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and a clinical professor in ASU’s T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics. His appointment began in December 2008. As associate dean, LePore focuses on issues involving student success, including new student recruitment; improving student retention and time to graduation; a...

Professor Sally Kift is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (PFHEA), a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law (FAAL), and President of the Australian Learning & Teaching Fellows (ALTF). She has held several Australian university leadership positions, including as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) at James Cook University (JCU) and inaugural Director, First Year Experience at Qu...

 His 30 years of experience in teaching, research & executive leadership, includes being a 2003 Fellow of the American Council on Education. Currently, he is the Northwest region President at the Community College of Allegheny County in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. Previous roles included President, Campus CEO and Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management. He was the recipient o...

Stephen J. Handel, PhD, oversees a portfolio of grants designed to solidify ECMC Foundation’s commitment to the systematic and widespread improvement of students' postsecondary education outcomes, especially students from underserved groups. Steve’s special focus is on college and university transformation as a key lever in substantially increasing student degree and credential completion and...

Dr. Amy Salazar currently serves as the Associate Vice Provost of Student Success at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, TX. In her current role, she oversees several functional areas related to student success including Academic Advising, Academic Support, First Year Experience, Career Success, Global Engagement, First Gen Student Center, and Academic Redesign & Course Enhancement. In...

Jeffrey Baylor, who has successfully led enrollment efforts at institutions across the U.S., joined the University of Virginia’s College at Wise in 2022 as Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management.  Baylor spent three years at West Texas A&M University (WTAMU) as the Associate Vice President for Student Enrollment Engagement and Success. During his time at WTAMU, he led the University’s recru...

Dr. Andrew Koch is a child of immigrants who came to the United States in pursuit of a better life. His first language was not English, and postsecondary education was valued by his family as a means for realizing the American Dream. A recipient of need-based aid while in school, Koch is a staunch advocate for and leader of efforts that increase student access to and, ultimately, completion of pos...

Brooke Barnett, Ph. D., Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, previously served as Dean of the College of Communication at Butler. Brooke earned a Bachelor of Arts in English and Communication Studies at Georgetown College, a Master of Arts in Journalism and doctorate in Mass Communication with a concentration in Law and Visual Communication at IU-Bloomington. Prior to her arrival at Bu...

Dr. Alexandra Perry is the Interim Dean of the McDonough Center for Leadership and Business and an Associate Professor of Leadership and Ethics at Marietta College.  Dr. Perry teaches undergraduate classes in leadership and ethics, oversees the McDonough Center's academic and community engagement offerings, and serves on the College's faculty council and as the faculty advisor to the Stu...

Frank Cuevas serves as the vice chancellor for the Division of Student Life. Student Life departments provide the daily support students need to learn, lead, and serve on campus and in our community. We provide students with transformational experiences that are critical to realizing their academic and personal aspirations. The vice chancellor is the chief student advocate for the campus. This rol...

Artist Sabrina Fadial is known for making the impermanent permanent and the minute monumental. She forges iron into delicate organic forms that are larger than life. The strength of the metal becomes malleable in her hands, yielding graceful passages of iron that unfurl in space. Fadial asks us to consider the minute facets of our lives that tend to be taken for granted. Reflecting on this moment...