Our Team

EMPLOYMENT: Principal, SwailLandis; President & CEO, Educational Policy Institute; Executive Director, Pell Institute for the Study of Educational Opportunity; Vice President, the Council for Opportunity in Education; Senior Policy Scientist, SRI International; Associate Director for Public Policy, the College Board; Middle School Teacher.

EXPERTISE: College access; enrollment management; student retention; financial aid and affordability; strategic planning; research and evaluation.

Continue reading “Watson Scott Swail, Ed.D., Principal” →

EMPLOYMENT: Principal, SwailLandis; Vice President, Educational Policy Institute; Executive Director, ACCESS Ashtabula.

EXPERTISE: College access programs; K-16 and K-20 initiatives; strategic planning; community service.

Continue reading “Kimberly Ann Landis, Principal” →

EMPLOYMENT: Chancellor, State University of New York (SUNY) System; Co-Founder, StriveTogether; President, University of Cincinnati; Chancellor, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; Executive Dean, Professional Colleges, Ohio State University; Dean, College of Education, Ohio State University.

EXPERTISE: Higher education administration; non-profit management; fundraising; strategic planning; legislative engagement; teacher education.

Continue reading “Nancy Zimpher, Ph.D.” →

EMPLOYMENT: Co-Founder, National College Access Network; President & CEO, the Diabetes Partnership of Cleveland; Executive Director, Ohio College Access Network; CEO, Cleveland Scholarship Program (aka College Now).

EXPERTISE: Non-profit management; college access programming; strategic planning.

Continue reading “Christina Milano” →

EMPLOYMENT: Orkand Endowed Chair and Professor of Innovative Practices in Higher Education, University of Maryland; Senior Vice President, Kaplan Higher Education; Assistant Director General, UNESCO; Founding President, CSU Monterey Bay; Dean, Graduate School of Education and Human Development, George Washington University; Representative, United States House of Representatives; Vermont State Senator; Lt. Governor, Vermont; Vice President, Norwich University; Founding President, Community College of Vermont.

EXPERTISE: Higher education administration; change management; strategic planning; adult learning; innovation and the digital age; educational assessment; online and blended learning; program design and evaluation.

Continue reading “Peter Smith, Ph.D.” →

EMPLOYMENT: Former Provost and Associate Vice Chancellor, Antioch University – Santa Barbara, CA; Research Fellow, Institute for Educational Policy Research and Evaluation, University of Houston; President, University of Houston – Downtown; Deputy Secretary, New Mexico Higher Education Department; Executive Vice President and Provost, New Mexico State University; Dean, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, CSU – Northridge.

EXPERTISE: Higher education administration; student retention and success; policy analysis; partnership development.

Continue reading “William Flores, Ph.D.” →

EMPLOYMENT: Co-Founder and President, FourPoint Education Partners; Former Board Member, Montgomery County Public Schools; Founding Director, Race to the Top Technical Assistance Network; Policy Director, Alliance for Excellent Education; Director of Policy, The McKenzie Group; former elementary school teacher (NYC and Los Angeles).

EXPERTISE: School improvement; standards-based curriculum; strategic planning; leadership development; education policy; technical assistance; teaching and learning..

Continue reading “Scott Joftus, Ph.D.” →

EMPLOYMENT: CEO, Foothills Associates, LLC; President, Heard Museum; Managing Director, Navigant Consulting; Executive Director, New Mexico Commission on Higher Education; U.S. Representative to the United Nations General Assembly.

EXPERTISE: Higher education administration; student retention and success; policy analysis; partnership development; fundraising.

Continue reading “Letitia Chambers, Ph.D.” →

EMPLOYMENT: Director of teaching and learning, FourPoint Education Partners; School and District Improvement Specialist, Kansas State Department of Education.

EXPERTISE: School improvement; standards-based curriculum; college- and career-readiness; K12 professional development; ELA/literacy and math; root cause analysis; school turnaround.

Continue reading “Connie Wehmeyer, Ph.D.” →

EMPLOYMENT: President, Trinity University; Distinguished Professor of Economics, Trinity University; Dean, Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado at Boulder;

EXPERTISE: Higher education administration; economics; human resources.  Continue reading “Dennis Ahlburg, Ph.D.” →

EMPLOYMENT: Dean, Marshall College of Law, Cleveland State University (current); CEO of CEO for Cities; US Senate Candidate; Ohio Lt. Governor; Ohio Attorney General; Ohio State Senator; Ohio State Representative; CEO, Center for Families and Children.

EXPERTISE: Law/Justice, higher education, politics and legislatures, urban renewal, and higher education administration.

Continue reading “Lee Fisher, J.D.” →

EMPLOYMENT: CEO, The Zodiac Group; Partner, Cohl Group; Partner, Greatest Hotels Group, Inc.; Managing Director, Infinia Group DC; Chief Marketing Officer, The Johns Hopkins University; Executive Vice President/CMO, American Legacy Foundation.

EXPERTISE: Brand strategy; media relations; communications; advertising; strategic planning; marketing; institutional advancement; fundraising.

Continue reading “Christopher Cullen” →

EMPLOYMENT: Professor Emeritis, University of Texas, San Antonio; Professor of Higher Education and Co-Director, Center for Research and Policy in Education; Professor of Educational Psychology and Director, National Center for Student Success, University of Houston; Associate Professor of Higher Education, University of ILlinois at Chicago.

EXPERTISE: Diversity, equity, and Inclusion programming and evaluation; education policy; student success; statistical analysis.

Continue reading “Amaury Nora, Ph.D.” →

EMPLOYMENT: Principal & Executive Creative Director, The Cohl Group; Photographer and Director, Cohl Photo; Global Director, Higher Education and Nonprofit Practice, Siegel + Gale; Creative Director, Cornell University.

EXPERTISE: Brand strategy; strategic planning; marketing; communications; interactive/social media strategy and design; capital campaign; annual fund; alumni relations; institutional advancement; research.

Continue reading “Peter S. Cohl” →

EMPLOYMENT: Professor Emeritus of Higher Education, College of Education and Human Development, The University of Texas at San Antonio.

EXPERTISE: Diversity in education; college access programs; data analysis and research; student retention and success;  Continue reading “Laura Rendon, Ph.D.” →

EMPLOYMENT: Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Education, University of California Riverside; UC Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow.

EXPERTISE: Diversity, equity, and Inclusion programming and evaluation; higher education leadership and governance; education policy; student success;  statistical analysis.

Continue reading “Raquel Rall, Ph.D.” →

EMPLOYMENT: State Higher Education Executive Office, Illinois Board of Education; Vice President for the Lumina Foundation; Vice President for Academic Affairs, Kentucky State Higher Education System.

EXPERTISE: Higher education administration; non-profit management; fundraising; strategic planning; legislative engagement.

Continue reading “James Applegate, Ph.D.” →

EMPLOYMENT: President, PSE Information Systems; Professor of Higher Education and the William G. Davis Chair in Community College Leadership at the University of Toronto; Adjunct Professor, Community College Leadership program, Central Michigan University; Vice President, Research & Institutional Quality, Mohawk College.

EXPERTISE: Student success; research and evaluation; data analysis; student surveys; organizational effectivness; institutional evaluation and assessment.
Continue reading “Peter Dietsche, Ph.D.” →

EMPLOYMENT: Consultant, SwailLandis; Former Vice President, Enrollment and Retention Management, Saint Louis University; Vice Provost and Dean of Enrollment Management, Missouri University of Science and Technology.

EXPERTISE: Strategic enrollment management; higher education administration; student success.  Continue reading “Jay Goff, M.A.” →

EMPLOYMENT:  President, Eduvation Inc; Webcast Host, Ten with Ken; Convenor, Canadian Higher Ed CMO Roundtables.  Formerly: Co-Founder and Senior Vice-President, Academica Group Inc; Founding Editor, Academica Top Ten; President and Creative Director, steelecommunications inc.

EXPERTISE:  Institutional brand positioning strategy; market research; environmental scanning and emerging trends; recruitment marketing and stakeholder communications.
Continue reading “Ken Steele, M.A.” →

EMPLOYMENT: Partner, PSE Information Systems; Vice President, Academic and Student Engagement, Georgian College of Applied Arts and Technology; Vice President of Students, Mohawk College; Associate Vice President, Students and External Relations, University of Ontario Institute of Technology; Director of Student Life, University of Toronto.

EXPERTISE: Strategic planning; higher education administration; university partnerships; project management; policy analysis; strategic enrollment management; academic reviews.

Continue reading “Catherine Drea, Ed.D.” →

EMPLOYMENT:Associate Director for Enrollment Analytics, University of Iowa; Founder, KR_Sqrd Research; Senior Business Insights Specialist, Kreg Enterprises; Lead Customer Success Manager for Higher Education, ACT; Assistant Director for Research, Admissions, Iowa State University.

EXPERTISE:Strategic enrollment management, student success, statistical analysis, data visualization, survey research and design, program evaluation.

Continue reading “Kate Ralston, Ph.D.” →

EMPLOYMENT: Senior Lecturer, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland; Instructor, Sorbonne University, Paris, France; Research Affiliate, Penn State University; Working Group Member, UNICEF; Analyst, OECD; Secondary Teacher, New Jersey, Colorado, and Oregon.

EXPERTISE: Teaching and Learning; research methods and statistics; policy analysis; measurement and assessment.

Continue reading “Willliam C. Smith, Ph.D.” →

EMPLOYMENT: President, Sycamore Street Consulting; Vice Chancellor for Educational Linkages and Access, Ohio Board of Regents; Director of Authorization, Ohio Board of Regents.

EXPERTISE: P-20 collaboratives; pre-college programs; teacher improvement; technology initiatives; workforce education.

Continue reading “Jon Tafel, Ph.D.” →

EMPLOYMENT: Vice President for Programs and Research, Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB); Vice President for Research and Policy Analysis, Midwestern Higher Education Compact; Assistant Dean of Students for Residential Life, Valparaiso University.

EXPERTISE: Policy Analysis; organizational excellence; student success; administrative leadership and governance; strategy development; institutional and inter-agency collaboration; grant writing and fundraising; research and teaching.
Continue reading “Chris Rasmussen, Ph.D.” →

EMPLOYMENT: Executive Director, Institutional Research, Daytona State College; Associate Vice Chancellor for Institutional Effectiveness, Assessment, and Accreditation, Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne; Director of Office of Analysis, Planning and Assessment at Pittsburg State University in Kansas.

EXPERTISE: Strategic planning; institutional research; assessment of student learning; program evaluation; data collection and analysis.

Continue reading “Robert Wilkinson, Ph.D.” →