Texas Woman’s University has announced the appointment of Ms. Kristina Kaskel-Ruiz as Vice President for Marketing and Communication. She will begin her new role on July 1, 2022. Ms. Kaskel-Ruiz currently serves as the Associate Vice President of Marketing and Communications at Sam Houston State University. She is an executive-level marketing and communications strategist with over thirty years of broad, in-depth experience and is a leader in directing teams charged with generating big and bold ideas that produce impactful results. Ms. Kaskel-Ruiz was also Senior Vice President and Marketing Director for Texas Community Bank. Ms. Kaskel-Ruiz holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Houston Downtown and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Houston. Read more here.
Mr. Evan Boyd has been appointed as dean of the Library at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. He will begin August 1, 2022. Mr. Boyd is Library Director and Archivist for United Lutheran Seminary in Philadelphia, PA. He manages library collections and services, the institutional archives, a significant rare book collection of 16th century imprints, and a regional archive. Mr. Boyd holds an MLIS from Dominican University and an MA in Religion, with additional graduate studies in Gender & Women's Studies. Read more here.
Minnesota State Colleges and Universities has named Amy Jorgenson to serve as Chief Audit Officer. The appointment becomes effective June 22, 2022. Since 2020, Ms. Jorgenson has served Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) as the director of the COVID-19 Response Accountability Office. Previous appointments include serving as the director of internal audit and analytics for the Minnesota Department of Health, serving the Office of the Legislative Auditor as auditor, team lead, and audit manager, and various positions with the Minnesota Department of Revenue. She is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and holds a bachelor’s degree from Minnesota State University, Mankato. Read more here.
Dr. Colleen Marshall, Ph.D., FNP-C, has been appointed as the first-ever chair of the College's new nursing program and will begin her new role July 1, 2022. Dr. Marshall is the director of graduate programs, The Stabler Department of Nursing, at York College of Pennsylvania. Dr. Marshall brings extensive academic, clinical, and research experience to her new role after three decades in nursing education and clinical practice. After earning her RN, BSN, and MSN degrees, she received her Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University, and served a two-year post-doctoral research fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania’s New Courtland Center for Transitions and Health T32. Read more here.
Mr. Brent Gustafson has been appointed as Hamline University's new Vice President for Finance and Administration. Mr. Gustafson, a graduate of Hamline University, has spent the last 10 years as the Chief Financial Officer for the University of Minnesota’s College of Liberal Arts (CLA). He worked for the Minnesota Department of Health, the Minnesota Department of Finance and served three years as budget director for Dakota County before serving as a lead fiscal analyst for the Minnesota Senate for two legislative sessions. Mr. Gustafson obtained a Master in Public Policy degree from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. Read more here.
Fairleigh Dickinson University has announced that Dr. Benjamin Rifkin will become the university’s new Dean of the Maxwell Becton College of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Rifkin is currently Professor of Russian and formerly Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Science, Including the School of Education, at Hofstra University. He was previously the Provost at Ithaca College and before that the Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at The College of New Jersey. He has an impressive record of scholarship in Russian studies and language pedagogy. His service to his discipline have been widely recognized by his peers, as has his advocacy on behalf of students, women, and interfaith dialogue. He is currently much in demand as a speaker on the events in Eastern Europe and Russia. Dr. Rifkin received his BA and MA in Russian and East European Studies from Yale and his PhD in Slavic Language and Literature from the University of Michigan. This past year, he was awarded the degree Doctor of Letters honoris causa by Middlebury College. Read more here.
Dr. André Stephens has been selected as the next president of Fresno Pacific University. He will assume the presidency on July 1, 2022. Dr. Stephens has 30 years of experience in Christian higher education in California, most recently as vice president for student development at Biola University. Previous to the vice presidency, Stephens was associate vice president of university admissions. Under his leadership, Biola saw 12 consecutive years of enrollment growth. Dr. Stephens completed his B.A. in Communication with a public relations emphasis from Biola, his M.A. in Speech Communication with an emphasis in intercultural/interpersonal communication from California State University at Fullerton and his Ph.D. in Education with an emphasis in higher education administration/student affairs from Claremont Graduate University. Read more here.