Ms. Linda Suskie

Assessment and Accreditation Consultant, (Lead Scholar)

Linda Suskie is an internationally recognized consultant, writer, speaker, and educator on assessment and accreditation and a former vice president at the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. Her book Assessing Student Learning: A Common Sense Guide is one of the best-selling books on assessment in higher education. Her latest book is Five Dimensions of Quality: A Common Sense Guide to Accreditation and Accountability. She holds a B.A. in Quantitative Studies from Johns Hopkins and an M.A. in Educational Measurement and Statistics from the University of Iowa.

Ms. Kalyn Cavazos

Program Coordinator, Dean of Students, Sam Houston State University, Doctoral Candidate, Higher Education Administration, Texas A&M University (Graduate student representative)

Kalyn Cavazos is originally from New Braunfels, TX. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice and her Master’s Degree in Higher Education Administration from Sam Houston State University. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from Texas A&M University and serves as the Program Coordinator in the Dean of Students’ Office. She specifically works with special programs and parent relations. Some of her responsibilities include SHSU Parents’ Association, The Freshman Leadership Program, and other programs for student success. She serves on several university-wide committees and coordinates the year-round staff development program for the SHSU Division of Student Services. Kalyn is also an active member of two student affairs professional associations including NASPA and TACUSPA. She is dedicated to enhancing students’ collegiate experiences and enjoys developing student leaders on campus.

Dr. Diane Dean

Associate Professor, Educational Administration and Foundations, Illinois State University

Diane R. Dean is Associate Professor for Higher Education Administration & Policy at Illinois State University. Her research applies organizational theory, social psychology, and policy analysis to address critical issues in college and university planning, policy and governance. Excellence and equity are themes cutting across her work.

Dr. Dean’s work has been supported by government agencies, nonprofit foundations and education institutions & organizations, and has been published in numerous chapters, articles, and research papers. She is co-editor of Women in Academe, a book series that examines gendered issues facing students, faculty and administrators in colleges and universities; and Public Policy & Higher Education (2nd ed.), a work examining policy analysis and policy making for postsecondary education. Her most recent book, Generation on a Tightrope: A Portrait of Today’s College Students (with Arthur Levine) examines the sociological changes in today’s generation of undergraduate college students, the forces shaping their experiences, and their implications for postsecondary education policy, institutional planning, classroom practices and the co-curriculum.

Dr. Dean has received numerous honors, including a joint fellowship with the National Center for Education Statistics, National Science Foundation and the Association for Institutional Research; and associate’s appointment with the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in English Literature from the University of Maryland; and her master’s and doctoral degrees in in higher education administration from Columbia University. She also holds a certificate in higher education management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Dr. Jean Downs

Director of Assessment, Del Mar College

Dr. Jana Hanson

Director of Institutional Assessment, South Dakota State University

Dr. Jana M. Hanson joined South Dakota State University in August 2015 as the Director of Institutional Assessment. Prior to this appointment, she was a research analyst in the Department of Institutional Effectiveness at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, IA. She received her PhD in Higher Education and Student Affairs from The University of Iowa in 2013.

As the director, Dr. Hanson is responsible for leading, maintaining and improving an institution-wide assessment program that focuses on student learning outcomes and institutional improvement; interpreting assessment results and training others in assessment, including providing training and mentoring for the formation of measurable learning outcomes.

Dr. Barbara Johnson

Vice President for Accreditation Relations, Higher Learning Commission

Barbara J. Johnson, Ph.D., is a Vice President for Accreditation Relations at the Higher Learning Commission, the regional accreditor for the North Central region. Dr. Johnson has extensive experience in higher education as both an administrator and faculty member. Prior to joining the Commission in 2013, she served as a Senior Vice President at Meharry Medical College and Professor and Chair of the Department of Counseling, Adult and Higher Education at Northern Illinois University. Her previous professional experience includes student affairs administration, community college and adult education, marketing research and consultation in both higher education and corporate environments at Wake Forest University Medical School, Vanderbilt University, and CB&A Market Research Group. In addition, Dr. Johnson has held tenured faculty positions at the University of New Orleans and Jackson State University and faculty appointments at Volunteer State Community College and Peabody College Vanderbilt University. In her various roles as an administrator and faculty member, she has gained a wealth of experience with program evaluation and assessment, specialized accreditation, and institutional effectiveness. Dr. Johnson’s research focuses on the recruitment, development, retention and experiences of students and faculty in a variety of post-secondary institutions, in particular, Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

She earned a B.S. in accounting from Winston-Salem State University, an M.B.A. with a marketing focus from The Ohio State University, and a Ph.D. in Education and Human Development (emphasis in Higher Education) from Vanderbilt University.

Dr. David Keller

Curriculum and Assessment Specialist, Kirkwood Community College

Dr. David Keller is the Curriculum and Assessment Specialist at Kirkwood Community College. David provides leadership to the college in program assessment and general education assessment. David serves on the college’s accreditation team and is a peer reviewer for the Higher Learning Commission. Previously David spent 16 years as faculty in the Mathematics department at Kirkwood. David earned a BA in Mathematics and Secondary Education from Simpson College, MS in Mathematics from Colorado State University and PhD in Educational Policy and Leadership Studies from the University of Iowa.

Dr. Kevin Kruger

President, National Association of Student Personnel Administrators

Kevin Kruger draws on more than 30 years of experience in higher education. He joined NASPA as Associate Executive Director in 1994, and became its first executive-level President March 15, 2012. Dr. Kruger represents NASPA in national forums such as the Washington Higher Education Secretariat, which includes the leaders of approximately 50 higher education associations. Dr. Kruger has published and presented nationally on leadership development, using technology in student affairs administration, international education, change management and trends in higher education.

Dr. Jillian Kinzie

Associate Director, NSSE, NILOA Senior Scholar

Jillian Kinzie is associate director of the Center for Postsecondary Research and the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) Institute at the Indiana University School of Education. She conducts research and leads project activities on effective use of student engagement data to improve educational quality, and directs a range of learning outcomes projects in her role as senior scholar with the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA) project. She is co-author of Using Evidence of Student Learning to Improve Higher Education (2015), Student Success in College (2005/2010), One Size Does Not Fit All: Traditional and Innovative Models of Student Affairs Practice (2008/2014), and the 2nd edition of Assessment in Student Affairs (2016). She is co-editor of New Directions in Higher Education, on the editorial board of the Journal of Learning Community Research, and serves on the boards of the Washington Internship Institute and the Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education. Jillian was honored with a Student Choice Award for Outstanding Faculty at IU (2001), received the Robert J. Menges Honored Presentation by the Professional Organizational Development (POD) Network in 2005 and 2011, and in 2014 was named senior scholar by the American College Personnel Association (ACPA). She is interested in efforts to promote high-impact practices, increase under-represented students in STEM fields, and to enrich teaching and learning, and has consulted with hundreds of institutions and higher education member organizations on these issues and others to increase the use of assessment results in undergraduate education and to enhance conditions for student success.

Dr. Jeremy Penn

Director of Assessment, Division of Student Affairs, North Dakota State University

Jeremy Penn has worked in assessment for more than ten years and is currently the Director of Student Affairs Assessment at North Dakota State University. Prior to his current position he was the Director of Assessment and Testing at Oklahoma State University and also served as a Program Assessment Coordinator at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He earned a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction and a doctoral degree in Qualitative, Quantitative, and Psychometric Methods at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Dr. Darby Roberts

Director, Student Life Studies, Division of Student Affairs, Texas A&M University

Darby currently serves as the Director of Student Life Studies at Texas A&M University, having been promoted from Associate Director, Assistant Director, Assessment Coordinator, and graduate assistant in the same department. Before joining Student Life Studies, Darby worked as an Area Coordinator in the Texas A&M Department of Residence Life and as a Hall Director at the University of Tennessee.

Darby also teaches in the Student Affairs Administration and Higher Education master’s program. Her course, Assessment and Interventions in Student Affairs, prepares students to assess departments, programs, and student learning in the co-curricular.

Her professional involvement includes being past co-chair for NASPA’s Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Knowledge Community and co-editing Learning is Not a Sprint, a NASPA book published in June 2012. In 2016, she co-authored Student Affairs Assessment: Theory to Practice and contributed chapters to several other books. Darby frequently presents at national conferences and consults around the country.

Darby earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in business analysis and research (management information systems), a Master of Science in human resources management, and a Doctor of Philosophy in educational administration, all from Texas &AM University. The title of her dissertation was Skill Development among Student Affairs Professionals in the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators Region III.

Outside of her formal job duties Darby serves the Division of Student Affairs by chairing the Assessment Team, co-chairing the Committee on Student Learning in the Co-curricular, serving as an ATMentor and Aggie Ally, and being on the Division’s Risk Management Coordination Committee. She was one of the founding members of the Student Leader Learning Outcomes (SLLO) Project to promote the assessment and documentation of student learning in the co-curricular.

Darby has received several awards for her contributions to Texas A&M. The honors include: 2104 NASPA Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Knowledge Community’s Innovation Award, 2005 Division of Student Affairs Professional Staff Award, 2002 Alpha Phi Omega Distinguished Service Key, 2000 Enhancing Diversity Professional Staff Award, 2000 Fish Camp Namesake, and 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 Division of Student Affairs Outstanding Team, Group or Committee Award.

In her spare time, Darby also volunteers at the local animal and is now on the Board of Directors for the Aggieland Humane Society. Darby grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada and loves to travel.

Dr. Catherine Wehlburg

Assistant Provost, Institutional Effectiveness, Texas Christian University

Dr. Catherine Wehlburg is the Associate Provost for Institutional Effectiveness at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. She has taught psychology and educational psychology courses for more than 25 years, serving as department chair for some of that time and then branching into faculty development and assessment. Dr. Wehlburg has worked with both the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association and the Commission on Colleges with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools as an outside evaluator. During a sabbatical year in the late 1990s, Dr. Wehlburg worked as a Senior Associate with the American Association for Higher Education (AAHE).

Dr. Wehlburg received her Ph.D. from the University of Florida in 1992 with a major in Educational Psychology and a minor in Psychology. She is the author of many chapters and articles and books. She is currently the editor-in-chief of New Directions for Teaching and Learning and has been the editor for To Improve the Academy.

As an educational psychologist, faculty member, and administrator, Dr. Wehlburg has always been interested in how people learn, what they learn, and how we know that they have learned. This interest has led her into areas of faculty development, pedagogy, and assessment. She strongly believes that assessment of student learning should be done primarily to inform teaching in order to improve learning and, then, as a secondary purpose, to document that learning for others. Teaching, learning, and assessment are all a part of the educational process. Thus, the assessment of learning should lead to transformation of the course, the department, and even the institution.

Dr. Wehlburg has a 16 year old daughter, Brooke, who plays competitive volleyball and regularly informs her that learning should be an imaginative and joyful process and should never be done just because of an upcoming test.

Dr. Matthew Fuller

Assistant Provost, Institutional Effectiveness, Texas Christian University

Dr. Matthew Fuller is Assistant Professor of Higher Education Leadership at Sam Houston State University and Principal Investigator of the Surveys of Assessment Culture. This nation-wide, annual study examines faculty, administrators, and student affairs staff members’ perspectives on institutional cultures of assessment. Research from the Survey of Assessment Culture has been published in journals such as the Review of Higher Education, the International Journal of Educational Research, Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education. In addition to his focus on organizational culture and leadership, Dr. Fuller’s research interests include legal issues in education, financial aid and access, and history of higher education. Dr. Fuller has held faculty positions at SHSU, Illinois State University, and Texas A&M University. Dr. Fuller’s higher education career began in student affairs—specifically Residence Life—and he has served as a program coordinator of Institutional Assessment and Diversity and instructor at Texas A&M University, Housing Coordinator/ Intern at the University of Alaska-Southeast, Assistant Director of Assessment and Instructional Assistant Professor at Illinois State University. Dr. Fuller has held a Fellowship with the Association for Institutional Research (AIR) and National Center for Education Statistics’ National Data Institute, AIR’s Julia Duckwall Fellowship, and a Fellowship with the Institute of Higher Education Law and Governance Roundtable. In 2014, Dr. Fuller was selected at Texas A&M University Student Affairs Administration in Higher Education Administrator of the Year. Dr. Fuller holds a Bachelors of Arts in Biology, Master of Science in Educational Administration and Human Resource Development– Student Affairs Administration in Higher Education, and a post-graduate certificate in college teaching from Texas A&M University. He hold my Doctorate and Educational Administration and Foundations from Illinois State University.