Accountable to the Chief Administrative Officer for partnering with enrollment management and student affairs, academic affairs, career development offices, bursar, and financial aid at participating MSIs to streamline SFI adoption and success. Responsible for creating and maintaining enduring relationships with staff at participating MSIs, with an emphasis on ensuring the adoption of programs for the following outcomes associated with the respective organizational pillars: (1) Reduce student loan debt (Pillar: Alternative To Parent PLUS Loans), (2) Increase student job readiness (Pillar: Internships and Certifications), and (3) Increase student persistence (Pillar: Comprehensive Supports). The breadth of support includes utilizing and supporting academic research associated with integrating SFI program(s) into existing MSI programs; increasing the number of majors eligible for the alternative to Parent PLUS loans pillar; and regulatory and policy research on federal and higher education initiatives that enable attainment of organizational outcomes.
Previously responsible for student and faculty development; institutional transformation initiatives; aligning learning and career development via micro-credentialing and stackable pathways; international, comparative, urban and higher education; building and supporting teams, institutions and local, national and global partnerships; diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and social justice initiatives; and philanthropic, private/donor, and public fundraising at positions in higher education.
Awarded a Fulbright Specialist in Higher Education Grant (Greece, 2015). Published 6 books and over 100 research, journal and literary articles in the past several decades. Research drew on multiple disciplines (including educational, social, and developmental psychology, neuroscience, anthropology, and sociology) to understand the phenomenon of student academic development/socialization; curriculum, assessment and instruction; educational/organizational systems and conditions that impact successful learning (including parental involvement); and learning and cognition.
Graduate of Columbia University (Ed.D.); Fairleigh Dickinson University (MFA); New York University (MPA); and CUNY, Hunter College (BA).