Public Institution

Dr. Kara Battle has been selected as the Chief Academic Officer for Durham Technical Community College. Dr. Battle has served as the interim CAO at Durham Tech since April 2021 and has a long history with the institution. She has 28 years of experience in higher education, including her time as Dean of Science and Math at Durham Tech. She served as Director of Education at the Julius L. Chambers Biomedical and Biotechnology Research Institute at North Carolina Central University, and worked at Guilford Technical Community College, North Carolina A&T University, and Wytheville Community College (VA). Read more here.

The California State University (CSU) Board of Trustees has appointed Richard Yao, Ph.D., to serve as the fourth president of California State University Channel Islands (CSUCI) after serving as interim president since January 2021. Dr. Yao is a licensed clinical psychologist who came to CSUCI from Nevada State College.

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has appointed Ms. Shari Mickey-Boggs as Senior Associate Chancellor for Human Resources.  She will begin her new role on March 1, 2022. Ms. Mickey-Boggs is currently serving as the Chief Human Resources Officer & Secretary to the Board of Trustees for Wright State University. With over 18 years’ experience, her previous positions include senior HR positions with Xavier University and Ohio State University. Ms. Mickey-Boggs holds an MBA from Franklin University and a BA in Political Science from Ohio State University. Read more here.

Durham Technical Community College has announced the appointment of Mr. Jerry Jones, former Director of Career Services and Workforce Development at Pitt Community College, to lead the College’s Center for Workforce Engagement.  Mr. Jones received his Master of Science in Managerial Leadership and Bachelor of Science in Management from National-Louis University in Virginia. He started his career in engineering and telecommunications and worked in the advanced manufacturing sector before joining Pitt Community College. Read more here.

Durham Technical Community College has appointed Dr. Susan Bowen as its new Vice President and Chief Campus Operations Officer. She was previously Associate Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer at the University of Scranton. Dr. Bowen received her Higher Education Management Doctoral degree from the University of Pennsylvania. She holds a Master of Arts in Business and a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from the College of New Jersey. Bowen has also completed the Institute of Educational Management at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education and the Executive Leadership Institute at the League of Innovation  Read more here.

Cleveland State University has appointed Richard Schoephoerster, Ph.D. as the new Dean of the Washkewicz College of Engineering. Dr. Schoephoerster is currently the dean of the Graduate College and Research at Arkansas Tech University is Russellville, Arkansas. Prior to this, Dr. Schoephoerster served as dean of the College of Engineering at the American University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates from 2016 to 2019. He previously served as dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Texas at El Paso from 2007 to 2015. He also served in various capacities at Florida International University, where he rose in the ranks from research associate to founding chair of the department of biomedical engineering. Read more here.

Dr. David Balkin has been appointed the 12th President of SUNY-Erie Community College. Since 2019, Dr. Balkin has served as the Chancellor of the South Bend-Elkhart campus of Ivy Tech Community College in Indiana. Previously he served as associate director of regional development and as Managing Director of the Center for Nano Science and Technology (NDnano) at the University of Notre Dame. Dr. Balkin has extensive senior management experience in business and industry including finance, microelectronics and engineering. Dr. Balkin earned his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering, M.S. and B.S. from the University of Notre Dame. Dr. Balkin will assume his role effective February 1, 2022. Read more here.

The University of Montana has announced the appointment of Dr. Pardis Mahdavi as its next Provost and Executive Vice President. Dr. Mahdavi currently serves as Dean of Social Sciences at Arizona State University. She earned her B.A. in Diplomacy and World Affairs from Occidental College; an M.A. in Anthropology and an M.I.A. in Human Rights from Columbia University; and a Ph.D. in Sociomedical Sciences and Anthropology from Columbia University. She will assume the Provost and EVP position at the University of Montana in early summer 2022. Read more here.

The University of Minnesota has announced the appointment of Mr. Quinn Gaalswyk as its new Chief Auditor.  Mr. Gaalswyk joined the Office of Internal Audit for the University of Minnesota 14 years ago and has supported a broad range of responsibilities, from managing teams and overseeing significant audit and investigative work to exploring ways to improve or grow the work of OIA. Prior to the Office of Internal Audit, Mr. Gaalswyk served as a senior auditor with global firm Ernst & Young. Read more here.

Eastern Kentucky University has selected Dr. Mercy Cannon as their next dean of the College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences. Dr. Cannon will begin her new role on July 1, 2022.  Dr. Cannon is currently a professor of English and chair of the Department of Languages and Literature at Austin Peay State University (APSU). She has served at APSU since 2007 after earning her doctorate at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and serving as writing director at Stephen F. Austin State University. Dr. Cannon served for six years as associate dean of the College of Arts and Letters at APSU, in addition to time served as the chair of the Department of Languages and Literature. Read more here.