Sara Gast

Deputy Executive Director for the Carnegie Classifications, American Council on Education

Sara Gast is the deputy executive director for the Carnegie Classifications, supporting the redesign and development of the Basic and Social and Economic classifications. She joined American Council on Education in May 2022, and prior to that served as the chief of staff and executive director of strategic communications at the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching, a K-12 nonprofit that works to ensure every student is taught by an effective educator. Prior to joining NIET, Gast worked at the Tennessee Department of Education and served as the director of communications for Commissioner Candice McQueen and served at the U.S. Department of Education for five years as a press aide and director of strategic communications. Gast graduated from Vanderbilt University with a degree in English and sociology.

Mushtaq Gunja

Executive Director of the Carnegie Classification Systems, Senior Vice President, American Council on Education

Mushtaq Gunja serves as executive director of the Carnegie Classification systems and senior vice president at American Council on Education (ACE), where he is in charge of running and reimagining the Carnegie framework. Prior to joining ACE, Gunja served as assistant dean in academic affairs at Georgetown University Law Center (DC). He also serves as an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown Law and teaches class related to litigation, including criminal procedure and evidence regularly. Gunja also served as the chief of staff to the under secretary at the U.S. Department of Education and Deputy Associate White House counsel in the Obama Administration. Gunja graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School (MA) and magna cum laude and with honors from Brown University (RI) with a B.A. in political science and diplomatic history.

Martin Kurzweil

Vice President, Educational Transformation, Ithaka S+R

Martin Kurzweil, JD, is vice president, educational transformation, at Ithaka S+R, a not-for-profit research and consulting service with a mission to improve access to knowledge and education worldwide. Since launching the educational transformation program in 2015, Kurzweil and his team have conducted research, coordinated cross-institutional initiatives, and advised education leaders and policymakers on topics such as student debt, institutional finance, transfer, and the use of technology in teaching and advising. Among numerous other publications, Kurzweil is the co-author of Equity and Excellence in American Higher Education, which received the 2006 American Educational Research Association Outstanding Book Award.

Chau-Fang Lin

Senior Analyst , Ithaka S+R

Chau-Fang Lin is a senior analyst at Ithaka S+R in the Educational Transformation program. Her work focuses on program evaluation and mixed methods research on teaching and learning and student success strategies. Prior to joining Ithaka S+R, Lin supported institutional planning and decision-making as an institutional researcher at Hamilton College. She holds an Ed.D. in leadership and learning in organizations from Peabody College, Vanderbilt University, a master’s degree in higher education administration and policy from Northwestern University, and a master’s of public administration and bachelor’s degree in economics from Cornell University.

Maren Haavig

Provost and Dean of Research, Sponsored Programs, and Graduate Studies, University of Alaska Southeast

Maren Haavig serves as provost and dean of research, sponsored programs, and graduate studies at the University of Alaska Southeast (UAS).  Previously, she was the associate dean of the UAS School of Arts and Sciences and an associate professor of accounting.  Haavig received her B.A. from Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies at Western Washington University and a B.B.A. and M.B.A from UAS.  She received a Doctorate in Business Administration from Walden University in 2019.

Wendy Kilgore

Director of Research, American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers

Dr. Kilgore has more than 20 years of experience as a higher-education administrator, researcher and consultant in the United States and Canada. Her experience and proficiency lie in professional disciplines related to enrollment management and enrollment services, including the use of technology, organizational restructuring, student-centric business-practice development, policy development and management of comprehensive collaboration to support enrollment efforts.

Prior to joining AACRAO, Dr. Kilgore served as state dean of enrollment services for the Colorado Community College system, which consisted of 13 colleges. Before moving to Colorado, she was the director of admissions and the registrar for the Pima County Community College district, a large urban community college headquartered in Tucson, Arizona. Her professional and consulting experience spans a wide array of institutions, including large public research universities, small, private faith-based institutions and private for-profit institutions.

Marlena Pangelinan

Vice Provost for Institutional Effectiveness, University of Guam

Marlena Pangelinan is vice provost for institutional effectiveness at the University of Guam providing support to all programs and the institution in the areas of assessment, planning, data analysis, and reporting. Pangelinan served in a similar capacity at the Guam Community College prior to joining the University, including the role of assistant accreditation liaison officer and serving on several Accreditation Peer Review teams for colleges in the region. Pangelinan received an M.S. in computer information systems from the University of Phoenix in 2006 and a B.S. in business administration, MIS specialty, from California State University Long Beach in 1993.

Olivia Tufo

Manager, Community Engagement and Development, Programs and Services

303.541.0261otufo@wiche.edu

Olivia Tufo is the manager of community engagement and development for the Programs & Services unit at the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE). The Programs and Services unit broadens student access to postsecondary education and fosters higher education collaborations that increase institutional effectiveness. Tufo manages membership of the Western Alliance of Community College Academic Leaders and the Western Academic Leadership Forum. Tufo also works on initiatives that bring together the West’s higher education leaders to address common goals and issues, such as the No Holding Back study and the Interstate Passport Network which aims to streamline the student transfer process through a nationwide network of institutions.

Roxanne Gonzales

Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, New Mexico Highlands University

Roxanne Gonzales is the provost and vice president of academic affairs at Highlands University (NMHU). She serves as the chief academic officer providing strategic leadership and support to the president and the overall NMHU community. She received her doctorate from the University of Massachusetts – Boston in higher education administration, a M.S. in counseling from Creighton University, a B.S. in psychology Cum Laude from the University of Maryland University College, and completed the Harvard Institute for Management and Leadership in Education.

Ian Williamson

Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, New Mexico Highlands University

Ian Williamson has served as the associate vice president for academic affairs at New Mexico Highlands University since 2018. He collaborates with the provost, the deans, and faculty to garner approval for new academic programs externally, join forces on grant applications and grant administration, and provide the needed support to the graduate program students and faculty. Before becoming an administrator, he taught social psychology, behavioral statistics, and other psychology courses for several years, and his primary research interest was forgiveness. He received his B.A. in psychology and Spanish from Macalester College, and his Ph.D. is from the University of Minnesota.

Veronica Dujon

Forum Executive Committee, State of Oregon: Higher Education Coordinating Commission

Veronica Dujon, Ph.D., is the director for Academic Policy and Authorization at Oregon Higher Education Coordination Commission. She leads the Commission’s efforts to coordinate academic programs, degree pathways, and student success initiatives among Oregon’s public universities. Dujon also oversees degree authorization for private schools, and licensing and compliance for private career schools. Prior to joining the HECC she was an associate dean in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Portland State University. Dujon did her graduate work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is an environmental sociologist by training. Dujon’s research and publications focus on conflicts over declining natural resources; the role of women in the global economy; and the tensions between national development strategies and forces of globalization.

Liliana Diaz Solodukhin

Senior Policy Analyst, Policy Analysis and Research

303.541.0263ldiaz@wiche.edu

Liliana Diaz Solodukhin, policy analyst with WICHE, works on a diverse range of activities including conducting and communicating policy research on a wide array of higher education-related topics, developing and sustaining relationships with external stakeholders, and conceptualizing and executing short- and long-term collaborative projects with states. Diaz received her B.S. in journalism and mass communication, B.A. in film studies, and a certificate in Technology, Arts, and Media from the University of Colorado at Boulder, earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in higher education administration from the University of Denver.

Judy Marquez Kiyama

Associate Vice Provost, Faculty Development, University of Arizona

Judy Marquez Kiyama serves as the associate vice provost, faculty development within the Office of Faculty Affairs at the University of Arizona. In this role she implements efforts that further the aims of UArizona to excel in its Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) designation through increasing institutional capacity among faculty, including developing equity-focused recruitment and hiring practices; and developing resources for research, teaching, and service. Kiyama is also a professor in educational policy studies and practice. Her research examines the structures that shape educational pathways for minoritized groups. Kiyama received her Ph.D. in higher education from the University of Arizona.