Our Expert Consultants Can Become Your Expert Consultants
Our experts can help address your questions on organizational strategy, professional and continuing education, marketing and recruitment, online strategy and operations, and many other areas. In addition to those listed on this page, the UPCEA Research and Consulting team also has a list of the best deans, marketers and chief online learning officers in the field today, ready on standby to meet the changing needs of your institution.
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Meet UPCEA's Strategic Advisors
Jay Halfond
VICE PRESIDENT, INSTITUTIONAL PLANNING, UPCEA
Jay Halfond served as Dean, Metropolitan College and Extended Education, Boston University (now Professor of the Practice Emeritus). After creating Boston University’s first fully online degree in 2001, Halfond oversaw distance learning for the University, which eventually accounted for about ten percent of BU’s overall student population and achieved $42 million in annual revenue within a decade.
Aaron Brower
STRATEGIC ADVISOR, UPCEA
Aaron Brower is Professor Emeritus from University of Wisconsin-Madison, Special Advisor to UPCEA, and a Fellow with the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education. As Special Advisor to UPCEA, Aaron serves as a Co-Principal Investigator for the one-year “Building Capacity, Expanding Pathways: Accelerating the Growth of Credential Innovation in Higher Education” grant project funded by Walmart.
Derek Bruff
STRATEGIC ADVISOR, UPCEA
Derek Bruff directed the Center for Teaching at Vanderbilt University for over a decade, where he led efforts to help faculty and other instructors develop foundational teaching skills and explore new ideas in teaching. Signature programs included a junior faculty teaching fellows program, a “students as producers” initiative that helped faculty at a research university engage their students in deep learning, and a robust set of offerings on the theme “teaching, difference, and power.”
Karen Z. Bull
DIRECTOR OF LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT, HARTMAN EXECUTIVE ADVISORS
Karen Z. Bull, Ph.D. is an accomplished and dynamic higher education executive with experience in designing and leading strategic, high-impact learning by leveraging digital technologies. She specializes in employee development, needs analysis and performance management.
Andy Casiello
ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR DISTANCE LEARNING, OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY
Andy Casiello, PhD, has been in the role of Associate Vice President for Distance Learning at Old Dominion University (ODU), in Norfolk, Virginia since 2002. In this capacity Casiello has been responsible for all aspects of the University’s online learning operation, known as ODUOnline, including financial management, technical operations, instructional design, faculty development, student support, and marketing and enrollment.
Susan Catron
DEAN EMERITA FROM UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA DAVIS
Susan Catron is Dean Emerita from University of California Davis, Division of Continuing and Professional Education. As Dean, Susan oversaw a $40M self-supporting organization with one of the most diverse academic portfolios in the UC system. Susan shepherded the division through a complete financial turnaround and the digital transformation of its operational core.
Marie Cini
PROVOST AND CHIEF ACADEMIC OFFICER AT UNIVERSITY OF THE PEOPLE
Marie Cini served as Provost and Senior Vice President, as well as Dean of Undergrad Studies, at the University of Maryland University College (now University of Maryland Global Campus). Cini’s career has been spent working with adult and nontraditional students to access and succeed in postsecondary learning models. She was an early adopter of online education, accelerated models, and experiential learning and she was inducted into the International Adult Continuing Education Hall of Fame in 2016.
Vickie S. Cook
VICE CHANCELLOR AT UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD
Vickie Cook is the Vice Chancellor for Enrollment and Retention Management and a Research Professor of Education at the University of Illinois Springfield. She previously led the Online, Professional, and Engaged Learning Unit at University of Illinois Springfield and taught in the School of Education. Cook served as Associate V.P. of Innovation and Strategy at Greenville University which included launching the GU online program and new enrollment strategies.
Gary Matkin
DEAN EMERITUS, DIVISION OF CONTINUING EDUCATION AT UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE
Gary Matkin retired in 2022 after serving exactly 49 years in the UC system in continuing education first at UC Berkeley (27 years) and then as dean of the Division of Continuing Education (DCE) at UC Irvine (22 years). DCE (pre-covid) had a self-supporting budget of over $41 million and served about 35,000 students annually. In 2019 Matkin was also appointed Associate Provost, Career Services at UCI, responsible for career preparation for UCI’s 36,000 students.
Richard J. Novak
VICE PRESIDENT, CONTINUING STUDIES & DISTANCE EDUCATION AT RUTGERS
Richard Novak is the Vice President for Continuing Studies and Distance Education at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, a position held since 2013. He leads the Division of Continuing Studies, the only University-wide office dedicated to Lifelong Learning with 20 business units and 150 fulltime staff serving learners across the lifespan in credit and non-credit programs.
Stephanie Platteter
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF MARKETING AND ENROLLMENT, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
Stephanie Platteter is the Executive Director of Marketing and Enrollment Management for the College of Continuing and Professional Studies (CCAPS) at the University of Minnesota. As CCAPS marketing and enrollment leader since 2001, Stephanie is responsible for driving awareness, interest, and new enrollments in CCAPS programs.
Meet UPCEA'S Experts
Bob Hansen
CEO
Bob Hansen is the CEO of UPCEA. Since 2010, Hansen has reinvented the century-old organization – creating UPCEA Research and Consulting in 2011, establishing a number of initiatives focused on the association’s unique role in online leadership and management, and positioning the association as an important advocate for policy issues related to non-traditional and online learners.
Stacy Chiaramonte
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, STRATEGY AND OPERATIONS FOR UPCEA RESEARCH AND CONSULTING
Stacy Chiaramonte is Senior Vice President of Strategy and Operations in the UPCEA Research & Consulting group. Stacy has more than 20 years of experience in strategic planning, coaching and leadership, and operations in both mission-driven companies and higher education.
Bruce Etter
SENIOR DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH & CONSULTING
Bruce Etter currently serves as UPCEA's Senior Director of Research and Consulting. He has spent the last decade in the research and consulting space to help advance professional, continuing, and online education. Bruce is responsible for developing and managing research initiatives ranging from portfolio reviews and feasibility analyses to member-wide benchmarking initiatives.
Jim Fong
CHIEF RESEARCH OFFICER
Jim Fong is the founding director of UPCEA Research and Consulting. In his role, Jim has analyzed demographic, occupational, technological and societal trends and data to help the higher education community better serve the adult and corporate learner. Prior to joining UPCEA, Jim worked as a higher education strategic marketing and CRM consultant and researcher for two firms and prior to that was the Director of Marketing, Research and Planning for Penn State Outreach.
Amy Heitzman
DEPUTY CEO & CHIEF LEARNING OFFICER
Amy Heitzman serves as Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Chief Learning Officer for UPCEA. In these capacities, Amy supports the day-to-day operations of staff and the delivery of organizational and departmental strategic planning, as well as oversee budget development, content delivery, and member engagement for the association’s broad events and programming portfolio and professional development.
Kathleen Ives
CHIEF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT OFFICER & SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF MEMBER ENGAGEMENT
Kathleen S. Ives has worked the non-profit, higher education, and corporate arenas. She serves as Senior Staff member for the National Laboratory for Education Transformation (NLET) as well as Director of Higher Education Transformation; and, Strategic Advisor for Packback, an AI-powered education technology company.
Ray Schroeder
SENIOR FELLOW
Ray Schroeder is Senior Fellow of UPCEA the online and professional education association and Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois Springfield (UIS), and is a nationally respected and connected leader in higher education online learning. During his tenure at UIS, he launched the online learning program at UIS in 1997.
Julie Uranis
VICE PRESIDENT, ONLINE & STRATEGIC INITIATIVES
Julie Uranis serves as Vice President for Online and Strategic Initiatives at UPCEA. In this capacity she is the Managing Director of the National Council for Online Education and leads the planning efforts for the Distance Teaching & Learning conference and Summit for Online Leadership and Administration + Roundtable (SOLA+R).
Need timely, actionable recommendations on issues facing your online and professional education unit? Contact us today: [email protected] or call us at 202-659-3130.