Dr. Leonard Bass is a seasoned faculty and senior administrator with 20 years of experience in higher education. He has served in various sectors of post-secondary education and in a variety of positions. Since 2012, he has been serving as the Dean of the Learning Support division on the East and Winter Park Campuses of Valencia College in Orlando, Florida. In his role, he is responsible for the development of innovative academic support programming and strategic planning efforts aimed at ensuring student learning. His division is comprised of the Library, Tutoring and Testing, Learning Communities, Supplemental Learning, Service Learning, and all Student Life Skills courses.
Momentum Summit Experts
Dean, Learning Support
Valencia College
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President
BridgeEdu
Ms. Tisha S. Edwards has been the President at BridgeEdU, Inc. since June 2017 and serves as its Chief Executive Officer. Ms. Edwards served as Interim Chief Executive Officer at Baltimore City Public School Systems since July 1, 2013. Ms.
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Associate Dean for Assessment and Technology, Professor of Information Technology
Guttman Community College (CUNY)
Laura M. Gambino is the associate dean for assessment and technology and professor of information technology at Guttman Community College (CUNY). She joined Guttman as an inaugural faculty member in August 2012. In her current role as associate dean, Gambino oversees academic technology initiatives, including the College’s institution-wide ePortfolio program and the Integrated Planning and Advising for Student Success (iPASS) initiative. She serves as principal investigator for Guttman’s US DOE Title V grant, EDUCAUSE/Achieving the Dream iPASS grant, and GradNYC College Completion Innovation Fund grant. She also leads the assessment of Guttman’s institutional student learning outcomes, focusing on the intersection of assessment, pedagogy, and assignment design.
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Chair and Chief Executive Officer
John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education
John is an educator, university professor and administrator, non-profit organization chief executive officer, author, editor, public speaker, consultant, change agent, student retention specialist, first-year, sophomore, transfer, and senior year students’ advocate, and initiator and scholar of the American first-year and senior-year reform movements. He serves as President of the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education (JNGI).
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Manager, Systems Implementation for Higher Education
The Charles A. Dana Center, The University of Texas at Austin
Amy’s work focuses on modernizing entry-level college mathematics programs through working with state and regional systems to implement the Dana Center Mathematics Pathways (formerly the New Mathways Project). She leads a team that develops tools and services to support local leaders and works with external organizations to coordinate and mobilize efforts to support mathematics pathways. Amy also works with peer organizations to establish collaborations in support of mathematics pathways. She led the development of the Quantway™ curriculum in partnership with the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
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Associate Provost for Student Success, Professor of Mathematics and Statistics
Austin Peay State University
Dr. Loretta Ussery Griffy has worked on a college campus over 25 years. She currently serves as the Associate Provost for Student Success at Austin Peay State University (APSU) and Professor of Mathematics and Statistics.
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President
Mercy College
Timothy L. Hall became the 12th president of Mercy College in May 2014. One of his most important priorities has been to improve the success of Mercy students. In his first three and a half years, freshmen retention improved by nearly ten percent and graduation rates increased by more than twenty percent.
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Associate Professor
Curry School of Education
Chris Hulleman is principal investigator of the Motivate Lab and an associate professor at the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia. He is also a fellow at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and codirector of the Motivation Research Institute at James Madison University. His research explores how motivation and mindsets impact human development and growth, particularly in education.
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Strategy Director
Complete College America
Prior to joining Complete College America, Nikolas worked as the Associate Director for First-Year and Transition Programs with the Office of Student Success at Georgia State University.
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Senior Research Scholar
Community College Research Center
Davis Jenkins is a senior research scholar at the Community College Research Center at Columbia University’s Teachers College. He works with colleges and states across the country to find ways to improve educational and employment outcomes for students, particularly students of color and those from low-income families.
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Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science
Wright State University
Dr. Nathan Klingbeil is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science at Wright State University (Dayton, OH). He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 1998. Prior to joining the Wright State faculty, he worked as a Materials Research Engineer at the Air Force Research Laboratory, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate. Dr.
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Vice Chancellor for Student Success
Tennessee Board of Regents
Dr. Heidi Leming currently serves as the interim Vice Chancellor for Student Success at the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR). In her role at TBR, she works closely with the student affairs operations at technical colleges and community colleges and serves as the System level advocate to other state agencies and the legislature on student related issues.
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Vice Provost for Student Success, Dean of University College
Middle Tennesee State University
Richard Sluder serves as Vice Provost for Student Success and Dean of University College. He leads MTSU’s Quest for Student Success, which includes transforming advising by integrating predictive analytics, course redesign and learner support initiatives. As Dean, he oversees work with undecided students, adult degree completion, online learning, summer sessions, and academic outreach to high school students. Dr. Sluder has 22 years prior experience at the University of Central Missouri as Vice Provost, Dean and faculty.
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Assistant Professor
Curry School of Education, University of Virginia
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Senior Vice President for Implementation
Complete College America
Bruce Vandal, Senior Vice President for Implementation at Complete College America, directs the corequisite remedial education reform strategy and provides key policy leadership on CCA’s completion agenda. Bruce directs several projects related to corequisite remedial education reform and math pathways.
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President
Pellissippi State Community College
Wise has been president of Pellissippi State Community College since 2011, overseeing the College’s participation in KnoxAchieves, tnAchieves and now Tennessee Promise. He welcomed President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden to campus in January 2015 for the unveiling of America’s College Promise. Wise’s tenure has been marked by his devotion to students, and for good reason. From 2007 to 2011, he served as vice president of the College’s Learning Division, after three years as the department head of Liberal Arts and nine teaching history.
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Assistant Professor
Curry School of Education, University of Virginia
My research examines the nature and impact of students’ achievement motivation, or reasons for trying in school. Specifically, I aim to (1) document motivation trajectories across development, (2) explore personal and situational mechanisms through which motivation changes, and (3) design interventions tailored to the individual and learning context.
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