OSAC Speaker Bios
Dr. Vincent Tinto
Dr. Vincent Tinto is Distinguished University Professor at Syracuse University and until recently Chair of the Higher Education Program. He has carried out research and has written extensively on higher education, particularly on student success and the impact of learning communities on student growth and attainment. His most recent book, Leaving College, published by the University of Chicago Press, lays out a theory and policy perspective on student success that is considered the benchmark by which work on these issues are judged.
He has consulted widely with Federal and State agencies, with independent research firms, foundations, and with two and four-year institutions of higher education on a broad range of higher educational issues, not the least of which concern the success students in higher education in particular those of low-income and underserved backgrounds. He serves on the editorial boards of several journals and with various organizations and professional associations concerned with higher education. He chaired the national panel responsible for awarding $5 million to establish the first national center for research on teaching and learning in higher education and served as Associate Director of the $6 million National Center on Postsecondary Teaching, Learning, and Assessment funded by the U.S. Office of Education.
He is works with the Council for Opportunity in Education, the Lumina Foundation for Education, the Community College Survey of Student Engagement, and the United Negro College Fund’s Institute for Capacity Building on issues pertaining to student success in higher education. He has consulted with the European Access Network and the Dutch Ministry of Education to develop programs to promote access to higher education for disadvantaged youth in Europe. His current research, funded by grants from the Lumina Foundation for Education and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, focuses on the impact of learning communities on the academic achievements of under-prepared college students in urban two and four-year colleges.
Dr. Tinto has received numerous recognitions and awards. Most recently he was awarded the Council of Independent Colleges 2008 Academic Leadership Award, the National Institute for Staff Development International 2008 Leadership Award and was named Distinguished Fellow in the Council of Learning Assistance and Developmental Education Associations.
Dr. Adrianna Kezar
Dr. Adrianna Kezar, Associate Professor for Higher Education, University of Southern California. Kezar holds a Ph.D. 1996 and M.A. 1992 in higher education administration from the University of Michigan and a B.A. 1989 from the University of California, Los Angeles. She joined the faculty at USC in 2003. She has several years administrative experience in higher education as well both in academic and student affairs.
Dr. Kezar is a national expert of change and leadership in higher education and her research agenda explores the change process in higher education institutions and the role of leadership in creating change. Dr. Kezar is also a well-known qualitative researcher and has written several texts and articles about ways to improve qualitative research in education. Kezar is well published with 14 books, over 75 journal articles, and over a hundred book chapters and reports. In 2011, she had two new books: Recognizing and Serving Low Income Students (Routledge, 2011) and Enhancing Campus Capacity for Leadership (Stanford Press, 2011). Other recent previous books include: Understanding the new majority of non-tenure track faculty (Jossey Bass, 2010), Organizing for collaboration (Jossey Bass, 2009), Rethinking leadership practices in a complex, multicultural and global world (Stylus Press, 2009), Rethinking the "L" Word in Higher Education: The Revolution of Research on Leadership (Jossey Bass, 2006), Higher Education for the Public Good (Jossey Bass , 2005).
Kezar has participated actively in national service, including being on the editorial boards for The Journal of Higher education, The Journal of College Student Development, Change, and The ERIC Review and serving as a reviewer for 17 journals in and outside higher education. She has played major leadership roles serving on the AERA-Division J Council and Association for the Study of Higher Education Board, Publication Committee and Dissertation of the Year Committee. Kezar also serves(d) on numerous national boards including for the American Association for Higher Education, Association of American Colleges and Universities' Peer Review and Knowledge Network; National TRIO Clearinghouse; and the American Council on Education's CIRP Research Cooperative. She volunteers for several national organizations including the National Science Foundation, HERS/Bryn Mawr Summer Institute, Project Kaleidoscope, Pathways to College Network, and the Kellogg Forum on Higher Education for the Public Good. She has received national awards for her editorial leadership of the ASHE-ERIC report series from ASHE, for developing a leadership development program for women in higher education from ACE, and for her commitment to service learning from the National Society for Experiential Learning.
Estela López
Estela López brings significant campus and organizational experience to her position of Senior Program Associate at Excelencia in Education. Senior administrative roles at the Inter American University of Puerto Rico, Northeastern Illinois State University and the Connecticut State University System and positions with leading national higher educational associations have shaped her leadership skills and made her an effective change agent for student success. Her portfolio at Excelencia includes the Growing What Works initiative supported by the Walmart Foundation and Kresge Foundation.
Dr. López currently serves on the Connecticut State Board of Education. She is the recipient of numerous honors including the Illinois Latino Council in Higher Education Distinguished Service Award and Connecticut General Assembly's Latino and Puerto Rican Affairs Commission 2006 Latina Citizen of the Year.
Saundra K. Schuster
Saundra K. Schuster, Esq. is a partner with the National Center for Higher Education Risk Management (NCHERM), a national risk management legal consulting firm, and Managing Partner of Schuster & Clifford, LLP, a law practice devoted exclusively to education law. Ms. Schuster is a recognized expert in preventive law for education, notably in the fields of sexual misconduct and harassment, first amendment and campus access, risk management and liability issues, behavior Intervention and threat assessment; student discipline and campus conduct, intellectual property and employment issues. Her higher education legal experience includes serving as the General Counsel for Sinclair Community College; as Senior Assistant Attorney General for the State of Ohio, representing public colleges and universities; and as the Associate General Counsel for the University of Toledo.
In addition to her legal work in higher education, Ms. Schuster has over twenty years of experience in college administration and teaching. Prior to practicing law, she was the Associate Dean of Students at The Ohio State University and served as a faculty member at The Ohio State University, Miami University and Columbus State Community College and created the Developmental Education Program for Miami University.
Ms. Schuster holds Master’s degrees in counseling and higher education administration from Miami University, completed her coursework for her Ph.D. in Organizational Development at Ohio State University, and was awarded her Juris Doctorate degree by The Ohio State University.
Dr. Marcia Venus
Dr. Marcia Venus is well known as an organizational consultant and an executive coach. Her expertise and broad organizational experience provide for the unique and challenging needs of top executives as well as individuals at all levels. Marcia has assisted numerous organizations to address the critical issues of leadership development as a component of succession planning and in response to changing societal, economic and leadership trends.
After 16 years serving clients located throughout the Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana region as Vice President of Consulting Services in the Dayton, OH office of Right Management, an international human resource consulting firm, Marcia left in 2007 to launch a solo practice. Prior to joining Right, Marcia's experience included roles as a liaison between economic development organizations and community education and training initiatives, designing training programs to meet the needs of international organizations in transition.
Marcia holds a BA from Loretto Heights College, Denver, Colorado; an M.F.A. from the University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii; and a Ph.D. from Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan. She is an experienced interpreter of numerous assessment instruments: the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, the Human Synergistics' Life Styles Inventory and Organizational Culture Inventory, the FIRO-B, the H.R. Chally Group's assessment tool for both individual and organizational analysis, and a variety of 360° appraisal processes including the Center for Creative Leadership's BENCHMARKS®.
WISCAPE: Elizabeth Vaade & Bo McCready
The Wisconsin Center for the Advancement of Postsecondary Education (WISCAPE) was established in 2001 on the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus and is housed with the School of Education. WISCAPE promotes the creation and sharing of ideas for addressing Wisconsin’s postsecondary education challenges. To this end, the center’s primary pursuits are, 1) connecting policymakers, practitioners, and researchers through events, presentations, and informal meetings and, 2) conducting, translating, disseminating, and collaborating on research projects and publications. Although WISCAPE’s work focuses on Wisconsin, the center also helps bring national and international research to bear on the state’s postsecondary education issues. (More information on WISCAPE)
Elizabeth Vaade
Elizabeth Vaade is the policy analyst for the Wisconsin Center for the Advancement of Postsecondary Education (WISCAPE), which promotes the creation and sharing of ideas for addressing Wisconsin’s postsecondary education challenges and is located at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. In this position, she leads team-based research projects resulting in reports, presentations, and publications in many areas of inquiry. Through this work, Vaade reviews educational research, policies, and best practices; conducts original research and analysis; drafts reports and briefs summarizing findings and implications; and presents and interprets results for key stakeholders, such as postsecondary education leaders, government officials, and regional and national associations, compacts, and economic development groups. Vaade also serves as a WISCAPE liaison to the Midwestern Higher Education Compact. Her research interests and experience include college access and success, quantitative and qualitative research methods, postsecondary education policy, and program evaluation.
Vaade holds master’s degrees from UW–Madison’s La Follette School of Public Affairs and Department of Educational Policy Studies with concentrations in postsecondary education and public policy. She received her bachelor’s degree in history, European studies, and education from Beloit College in Wisconsin. She holds a teaching license in broad-field social studies and has taught high school history.
Bo McCready
Bo McCready is a project assistant for the Wisconsin Center for the Advancement of Postsecondary Education (WISCAPE) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. McCready performs a variety of roles, including assisting on research projects, presenting key findings from this work, and event planning for the center’s public programming. His research covers a variety of areas, including evaluation, college access and success, and research methods.
McCready holds a master’s degree in public affairs and a bachelor’s degree in history and political science. He is currently a doctoral student in the Department of Educational Leadership & Policy Analysis at UW–Madison. Prior to working at WISCAPE, he wrote a book and produced a documentary chronicling the history of his hometown of Whitewater, Wisconsin.