Staff Highlights

Julia Michaels, Deputy Director of APLU’s Center for Public University Transformation, was a panelist at two sessions at the Higher Learning Commission’s annual conference on April 8, alongside four institutions from the Big 10, Urban, and Metropolitan clusters of the association’s Powered by Publics initiative. The panels showcased each university’s student success work and how peer collaboration through Powered by Publics is helping them accelerate change on campus.

Wendy Fink, Director of Food, Agriculture, & Natural Resources, was honored with the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture’s E.B. Knight Journal Award for a journal article she co-authored on employability skills in agriculture.

Bernard Mair, APLU’s Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Chief Academic Officer, was a plenary speaker and panelist at the Reinvention Collaborative’s Lamborn-Hughes Institute, where he spoke on developing student-centered research universities.

As part of a two-day cross state meeting themed: Educate for Opportunity, the panel focused on a partnership on coordinating higher education institutions and credentialing bodies to bolster student success and career outcomes as we prepare for the future of work. Andrea shared examples of innovations APLU/USU member institutions are doing around the future of work and shared ways states can collaborate with higher education institutions to connect traditional academic pathways.

Julia Michaels, Deputy Executive Director of the APLU Center for Public University Transformation, presented on how universities participating in APLU’s Powered by Publics are advancing college access, equity, and completion at College Completion Summit on October 1.

Bernie Burrola, Vice President for International Programs at APLU speaks to members of the Canadian Bureau for International Education on January 26 on how the new administration’s policies and actions will impact international higher education and Canada. View the session Powered by Publics initiative.

Denise Nadasen, APLU’s Assistant Vice President, Data and Policy Analysis, was elected to serve as the Chair of the Northeast Association of Institutional Research’s Finance Committee. The committee oversees the group’s annual budget, maintains financial controls, and advises on the strategic use of funds.

Sheila Martin, APLU’s Vice President for Economic Development and Community Engagement, spoke on a panel at the Western Academic Leadership Forum about supporting rural colleges through collaboration.

Andréa Rodriguez, Director of the Coalition of Urban Serving Universities, co-authored a chapter on certification-credential pathways in Certification-Degree Pathways: Aligning Undergraduate Curriculum to Industry Credentials and Professions.

Andréa Rodriguez, Director of the Coalition of Urban Serving Universities, presented on certification-degree pathways at the 2021 Council for Adult and Experiential Learning Conference. Watch the presentation here.