| Presenters (sorted alphabetically by last name) |
|
 Dr. Constance M. Carroll has served as chancellor of the San Diego Community College District since 2004. The District serves over 100,000 students through its three colleges, City, Mesa, and Miramar Colleges, and its six Continuing Education campuses. The district provides instruction and training to an additional 50,000 service personnel at 31 military bases throughout the nation. Prior to her service as chancellor, Dr. Carroll was president of three community colleges: San Diego Mesa College, Saddleback College, and Indian Valley Colleges. She held administrative posts at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Maine, Portland-Gorham (now the University of Southern Maine). She has served on significant professional boards, including the American Council on Education, the American Association of Community Colleges, and the League for Innovation, and is a past chair of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges. Dr. Carroll earned a B.A. in Humanities from Duquesne University; an M.A. and Ph.D. in Classics (Ancient Greek and Latin) from the University of Pittsburgh; and a Certificate in Hellenic Studies from Knubly University in Greece. She also attended the Harvard University Institute for Educational Management. In 2007, Dr. Carroll received the Association of Community College Trustees “Marie Y. Martin CEO Award.”
|
|
|
 For nearly three decades, Dr. Gina Cortes-Suarez has held key positions at Miami Dade College. She is presently the president of the InterAmerican Campus, located in the heart of Miami’s Little Havana on S.W. 27th Avenue, one block north of S.W. Eighth Street, the historic Calle Ocho. More than 17,000 students are currently enrolled at this dynamic campus.
During her distinguished career at the college, Cortes-Suarez has provided leadership as project director, associate registrar, director of the Hialeah Center, department chairperson, associate dean, dean of academic affairs, associate provost for college accreditation, a member of the faculty and associate provost for faculty initiatives, her most recent role. In addition, she is often tabbed to serve on important collegewide committees and special projects.
Prior to her employment at Miami Dade College, Cortes-Suarez was an elementary school teacher in the Miami-Dade County Public Schools system.
She earned a B.S. and M.S. in Education from the University of Miami and completed the Ed.D. in Higher Education Administration at Florida International University. Her dissertation examined attributional style and academic achievement in mathematics. Dr. Cortés-Suárez serves on the boards of Early Learning Coalition, The Children’s Trust, Citrus Health Network, Symmetry Foundation, CAMACOL, Viernes Culturales and the National Community College Hispanic Council.
|
|
|
![]() Dr. Anna DiStefano joined the faculty of the EdD in Educational Leadership & Change in 2010. Before that, she served as the Provost for Fielding Graduate University from 1996 to 2010. She has been a part of the Fielding community since 1983 serving in several senior executive capacities including Vice President of Academic Planning & Program Development, and Dean, Human and Organization Development (HOD). Dr. DiStefano’s specialized areas of interest are higher educational leadership and governance; accreditation; educational equity; new learning environments; feminist research. Her most recent accomplishments include: Commissioner & Chair, Policy & Planning Committee Western Association of Schools & Colleges; completion of 14 years as provost and diversity champion; Co-author, (2010). Leadership and Management of Online Learning Environments in Universities. In K.E. Rudestam and J. Schoenholtz-Read (Eds.) Handbook of Online Learning, 2nd edition.
|
|
|
 Leila González Sullivan joined Fielding Graduate University in 2008 as an adjunct faculty member in the School of Education Leadership and Change, where she also provides faculty support for the New York Student Cluster. Recently she retired from her position as the W. Dallas Herring Professor of Community College Education in the Department of Adult and Higher Education at North Carolina State University, where she continues as an adjunct faculty member. Prior to her time at NCSU, Dr. Sullivan was the Interim Director for Community College Relations at The College Board, and before that she held community college presidencies in CT and MD. Her degrees include an Ed. D. in vocational education administration, an Ed. S. degree in adult education, an M. A. in Spanish and a B. A. in English.
Dr. Sullivan been involved in the community college movement at the national, regional and local levels for many years. Among other activities, she served on the board of directors of the American Association for Community Colleges twice and was the national president of the American Association for Women in Community Colleges (AAWCC) for two years. From 2003 to 2009, she directed the National Community College Hispanic Council’s Leadership Fellows Program, which prepares Latinos/as for community college executive positions including the presidency, and she continues to work with the program.
As a consultant specializing in leadership development and evaluation of training programs, Dr. Sullivan conducts professional development workshops on topics such as campus climate, diversity and gender issues, emotional intelligence, and the change process. Her research focuses on evaluation of training programs, together with knowledge construction and reflective learning in these programs. She has extensive publications related to higher education.
Finally, Dr. Sullivan is a member of the Board of Trustees of the American University in Rome, which gives her the opportunity to travel and observe a different culture while also learning Italian.
|
|
|
 Dr. Joseph Hankin has been President of Westchester Community College in Valhalla, New York since 1971.
He received a Bachelor of Arts in Social Science from the City College of New York in 1961, a Master of Arts in History from Columbia University in 1962, and a Doctor of Education in Administration of Higher Education from Teachers College, Columbia University in 1967.
He served as President of Harford Community College in Maryland, from 1967 to 1971, and at that time was the youngest president of a college in the nation. Since 1976 he has been adjunct professor at Columbia University Teachers College in the Department of Organization and Leadership, and has served on and chaired numerous doctoral committees and taught courses and advanced seminars.
In 1986, in research funded by the Exxon Foundation, Dr. Hankin was chosen by his peers as one of the nation’s most effective college presidents of two and four-year colleges and universities. Among the others were the presidents of Harvard, Yale, the University of Chicago and Miami-Dade colleges. In 1988, the University of Texas included Dr. Hankin among the 50 best community college presidents in the nation, for which he received the Thomas J. Peters award for leadership excellence. Dr. Hankin served as President of the Middle States association of Colleges and Schools for the 1999 year.
|
|
 Cindy Hough was appointed WELA Director July 2008. She has an extensive background working within Washington State’s community and technical college system, beginning with her appointment as a trustee to Community College District 12 (at the time it was Centralia College and South Puget Sound Community College). Following her term as a trustee, Cindy worked on contract with the SBCTC to help launch the SMART Investment Campaign (now referred to as Creating Opportunities) and to advise the Public Information Commission on legislative issues. She has worked at the SBCTC as the agency’s legislative liaison and the administrator to the TACTC since 1995. In those roles Cindy has worked with the SBCTC and WACTC, in addition to the trustees, on legislative issues impacting the two-year college system; conducted trustee board retreats; conducted presidential search workshops; organized trustee orientations and trainings; and advised trustees on policy and governance issues. Prior to joining the SBCTC, Cindy worked for both the Washington Senate and House of Representatives and served as the administrator for community relations and interim elections director for the Thurston County Auditor’s Office.
|
|
|
 Best known for his popular “Two-Year Track” columns in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Rob Jenkins has earned a national reputation as an advocate for community colleges and as an authority on two-year college issues. During his 23-year career—all spent at two-year schools—he has served as a part-time faculty member, a full-time faculty member, a department chair, an academic dean, and a program director.nkins
He is currently associate professor of English and director of The Writers Institute at Georgia Perimeter College, a large, multi-campus, urban/suburban community college in Atlanta. Rob holds a master’s degree in writing from the University of Tennessee, and his stories, essays, and poems have appeared in a number of outlets, including The Clearing House, Southern Poetry Review, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and The Gwinnett Daily Post. In recent years he has also come to be in some demand as a speaker–both online and in person–addressing faculty, staff, and student groups on a variety of two-year and four-year college campuses around the country. Rob lives with his wife and two of their four children outside Atlanta, where he is active in his church, in the arts community, and in local youth sports programs.
|
|
|
 Christine Johnson McPhail is the recipient of the 2010 AACC National Leadership Award and the 2008 League of Innovation‘s Terry O’banion Leadership Award. She currently serves as the Managing Principal for the McPhail Group LLC, a higher education consulting firm; Emerita Professor of higher education and founder of the Community College Leadership Doctoral Program at Morgan State University. She formerly served as the President and Chief Instructional Officer at Cypress College in southern California. She serves on the Advisory Council for the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) and the National Center for Postsecondary Research (NCPR) at the Community College Research Center (CCRC) ; and Coach, Achieving the Dream. She recently served on the Board of Directors for the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) and the Council for the Study of Community Colleges (CSCC). McPhail formerly served as the Affirmative Action Officer, Division J, American Education Research Association (AERA) and on the Editorial Board for the Community College Journal of Research and Practice. In addition to many articles and book chapters, McPhail is the Editor for one of AACC’s best-selling publications, Establishing and Sustaining Learning Centered Community Colleges. She was the featured international keynote speaker at the Guardian Further Education and Skills Summit 2007 in the United Kingdom. Her research interests lie in the intersection of three fields of higher education: leadership, governance, and teaching and learning.
|
|
|
 Dr. Martha Kanter is the under secretary of education. In this position, she reports to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and oversees policies, programs, and activities related to postsecondary education, vocational and adult education, and federal student aid. From 2003 to 2009, Dr. Kanter served as chancellor of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District. She is the first community college leader to serve in the under secretary position. In 1977, after serving as an alternative high school teacher at Lexington High School in Massachusetts, the Public Schools of the Tarrytowns (N.Y.) and later at the Searing School in New York City, she established the first program for students with learning disabilities at San Jose City College (Calif.). She then served as a director, dean and subsequently as vice chancellor for policy and research for the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office in Sacramento, returning to San Jose City College as vice president of instruction and student services in 1990. In 1993, she was named president of De Anza College and served in this position until becoming chancellor.
Dr. Kanter has been recognized for her work numerous times in California, including being named Woman of the Year by the 24th Assembly District, Woman of Achievement by San Jose Mercury News and the Women’s Fund, and Woman of the Year for Santa Clara County by the American Association of University Women. In 2003, she received the Excellence in Education award from the National Organization for Women’s California Chapter. In 2006, she was honored for diversity and community leadership by the Santa Clara County Commission on the Status of Women, and in 2007, the American Leadership Forum-Silicon Valley honored her with the John W. Gardner Leadership Award. Last year, Kanter received the Citizen of the Year award from the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce.
Kanter holds a doctorate in organization and leadership from the University of San Francisco. Her dissertation addressed demographic, institutional, and assessment factors affecting access to higher education for underrepresented students in California’s community colleges. In 1994, she opened the firstAdvanced Technology Center in California’s community college system and promoted local and state policies to advance Foothill-De Anza’s legacy of excellence and opportunity for California’s expanding and increasingly diverse student population. She received her master’s degree in education with a concentration in clinical psychology and public practice from Harvard University, and a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Brandeis University.
|
|
 James Knight holds a B.A. (Hon) in History and Philosophy from the University of Western Ontario, an M.A. in Canadian History from the University of Toronto, a Certificate in Management from Queen’s University and a Sommelier Diploma from Algonquin College. With over 25 years of leadership with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) prior experience with the federal government in Indian and Northern Affairs Canada and Environment Canada, and as Associate Director of the Heritage Canada Foundation, Mr. Knight brings a depth of national, international and community-oriented expertise to ACCC. During Mr. Knight’s tenure at FCM, many new initiatives were launched including a modification of the laws governing federal government payments of local land taxes, financing of a tripartite program for municipal infrastructure, a program for reimbursement of GST paid by municipalities, the transfer of 5 cents per litre in gas taxes to the municipalities, and the creation of the Green Municipal Fund as well as an award-winning international program. Jim’s enthusiasm, vision and leadership ensure that ACCC will continue to deliver quality and excellence in serving its membership in its roles of advocacy, partnership, marketing and networking.
|
|
|
 Josh Mackey, Ed.D. has worked in HR for the Maricopa Community Colleges for 12 years, including roles at the District Office, Phoenix College, and Estrella Mountain Community College. He currently serves as Special Assistant for Talent Management to the Vice Chancellor of Human Resources. He has been involved with the district’s talent management initiative since 2006 and his dissertation examined succession planning and talent management for community colleges. He has presented on talent management at The Chair Academy and AZ CUPA-HR. His Ed.D. and M.Ed. are in Educational Leadership with emphasis in higher education and community colleges from Northern Arizona University. He also earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Human Resources from Northern Arizona University.
|
|
 Dr. Richard Meyers is the president of Fielding Graduate University. He is known as an innovative and collaborative leader and administrator, with experiences that include the presidency of universities and community colleges as well as faculty positions in instructional technology and in music. During his 14 years as president of Webster University, he was responsible for significant increases in the university’s endowment, its enrollment, and its expansion to 108 campuses worldwide. The Fielding appointment will be Dr. Meyers’ fifth presidency in higher education. Prior to Webster University, he served as president at Cerro Coso Community College (75-78), Pasadena City College (78-83), and at Western Oregon University (83-94). Dr. Meyers received his undergraduate degree in music and psychology from DePaul University, and an MS in Music and a PhD in Instructional Technology and Psychology from the University of Southern California. He and his wife Yakko have two grown daughters.
|
|
 Since 1978, Dr. Barbara Mink has been a professor in the School of Human and Organization Development (HOD) at the Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, CA. She teaches and supervises doctoral students in the areas of organizational theories, management and leadership systems, and learning and motivation. Barbara has also been the Dean (1997-2001) of the HOD Program. Barbara served a three-year term on the Board of Trustees of the Fielding Graduate University where she was a member of the Board Executive Committee and was Chair, Board Committee on Diversity and Social Justice. Barbara is also a lecturer in the Department of Educational Administration at The University of Texas at Austin. Barbara has over thirty-five years of international consulting experience in the areas of leadership development and the design and implementation of organizational change. She has worked with clients in the fields of manufacturing, health care, education, government, communications technology, and banking. Dr. Mink’s honors include being elected to Pi Mu Epsilon (mathematics honorary) and the Board of Directors of the Human Resource Planning Society. She has been listed in Outstanding Educators of America, Who’s Who in American Women, and Who’s Who in the South and Southwest. She served on the Board of Trustees of the Texas Association of Community College Trustees and Administrators (TACCTA). She has also been President of TACCTA. She is currently on the Board of Directors of Envision Central Texas.
|
|
|
 Dr. Geraldine Perri is superintendent and president of Citrus College, Glendora, CA. Dr. Perri worked as an administrator for 17 years and as an instructor for nearly a decade. Her past administrative positions include vice president of instruction at San Diego Mesa College from 1998 to 2001 and dean of instruction/career education at Mt. San Jacinto College in Riverside County from 1996 to 1998. Most recently, she served as president of Cuyamaca College in El Cajon, Calif. During her tenure, Dr. Perri oversaw the implementation of the college’s educational and facilities master plans. She is also credited with advancing the growth and development of the college. In fact, under her leadership, the college witnessed its highest-ever student enrollment and was twice recognized by Community College Week as one of the fastest-growing mid-sized colleges in the nation.
A community college graduate herself, Dr. Perri holds an associate degree in dental hygiene from the City University of New York, Hostos Community College. She received her doctor of human and organizational development degree from Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, where she also earned a master’s degree in organizational development. In addition, Dr. Perri holds a master of health education degree and bachelor of science degree from New York University. Throughout her long career in education, Dr. Perri has received awards and accolades from numerous organizations. Most recently, she was nominated for the San Diego Business Journal’s Women Who Mean Business award, and has been nominated twice for the East County Chamber of Commerce’s Outstanding Women in Education award. Among her many honors, she also has been acknowledged by CuyamacaCollege’s Academic and Classified Senates for her leadership and was commended for “building a culture of respect and willingness to listen and honor faculty and classified leadership” by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).
|
|
|
 Dr. Andreea Serban is the Superintendent/President of Santa Barbara City College in Santa Barbara, CA. Dr. Serban came to SBCC from South Orange County Community College District in Mission Viejo, CA, where she was Vice Chancellor of Technology and Learning Services. She knows SBCC well having joined the college in 1999 as its first Director of Institutional Assessment, Research and Planning followed by Associate Vice President for Information Technology, Research and Planning, a position she held until 2006. She received a Ph.D. and a Master of Science in Higher Education Administration from University at Albany, State University of New York and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from University of Bucharest.
Dr. Serban is a published author, former editor of the Professional File, a publication of the international Association for Institutional Research (AIR), former associate editor of Planning for Higher Education, the journal of the Society for College and University Planning, and current executive editor of the Journal for Applied Research in the Community College. Dr. Serban is the past president of the Research and Planning Group of California Community Colleges, past Chair of the prestigious AIR Publications Committee, and served as a member of the Action Planning Groups for the implementation of the basic skills and intersegmental transfer components of the Statewide Strategic Plan for California Community Colleges.
Dr. Serban has participated in major statewide projects, including the development of the accountability reporting framework and the environmental scan for the statewide strategic planning for California Community Colleges. She is one of the authors of "Basic Skills as a Foundation for Student Success in California Community Colleges," which has become the basis for the statewide initiative on student success and basic skills currently under way.
|
|
|
![]() Dr. Randy Smith is an enrolled member of the Choctaw Tribe of Oklahoma. He currently serves as President of the Rural Community College Alliance, a national organization of rural colleges with over 150 members in the U.S. Dr. Smith has been involved in higher education for over fifteen years as a faculty member, campus dean, and vice president for academic and student affairs. His research interests include leadership in higher education and recruitment and retention of students at tribal and rural community colleges. Dr. Smith is a frequent presenter at state and national conferences on the topics of leadership in higher education and student recruitment and retention at two-year colleges. He has testified in front of committees of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate as an expert on issues regarding community colleges.
Randy was a nationally registered paramedic for 15 years. He has published and spoken on many topics in the areas of patient care, emergency medical services administration and rural trauma care systems. He served as a faculty member in the Emergency Health Services Department at the University of Maryland.
Randy enjoys serving in the community and has held several positions including board chairman for a rural county hospital district, volunteer fire fighter and paramedic, member of a municipal police commission, boy scout troop committee chairman, board member for the Southwest Oklahoma Chapter of the American Red Cross, and he is currently an active reserve deputy sheriff in Jackson County, Oklahoma.
Randy holds a B.A. in Political Science, an M.S. in Emergency Health Services Administration, and a Ph.D. in Higher Education Leadership. He also completed the Educators’ Leadership Academy at the University of Central Oklahoma.
Originally from Belgrade, Montana he is married to Tricia who is a music teacher for the Altus, OK public schools and they have two daughters Shayne and Emily. The family operates a small cow/calf operation near Altus, Oklahoma. Randy is an avid sports fan and he enjoys ranching, playing basketball, working with horses, fly fishing, rodeo, and all outdoor activities.
|
|
|
 Dr. Mary Spilde joined Lane in 1995 as Vice President for Instructional Services. In 1997, she became Vice President for Instruction and Student Services. Prior to that, she served 15 years at Linn-Benton Community College in Albany, Oregon, in a variety of positions including dean of business, health, and training. Mary served on the Oregon Workforce Quality Council for six years and the Oregon Workforce Investment Board for three years as well as serving on numerous local boards.
Mary earned a bachelor’s degree in business and social systems and a law degree from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. She completed a master’s in adult education and a doctorate in post-secondary education at Oregon State University. Lane Community College is a League for Innovation in the Community College board college, and Mary currently serves as board chair.
Presently, Mary is chair of the American Association of Community Colleges and serves on their Sustainability Task Force. She is a board member of the American Association of Colleges and Universities, the National Institute for Leadership Development, and the National Committee for Cooperative Education. Mary also serves on the steering committee for the American Presidents’ Commitment to Climate Control, and she co-chairs Oregon’s Post-Secondary Quality Education Commission. Mary is a former board member of the American Association of Women in Community Colleges and was president of that organization from 2002-2004.
Mary has a passion for learning about leadership and organizational change. She focuses much of her time and energy at Lane on leading and supporting initiatives that will develop a culture of innovation, achievement, and improvements in the learning environment.
|
