Office Hours with John Gardner Ethan Campbell

Dr. Phyllis Curtis-Tweed earned her Ph.D. at Emory University in Educational Studies with a focus on educational leadership and issues in psychology, specifically agency development, and moral development.  She pursued postdoctoral training in psychology in the Clinical Research Training Program in Social Psychiatry at Harvard University where she was also an instructor for five years and taught at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Simmons College and at the Harvard affiliated Hospitals.  She previously served as College-wide Dean at Oakland Community College in Michigan and worked in various capacities at Medgar Evers College, CUNY including Director of the Freshman Year Programs, Assistant Provost for Student Success and Assessment, and interim Associate Provost.  

Dr. Phyllis Curtis-Tweed then served as the Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs at Bermuda College where she transformed  the Division of Nursing into the  Division of Nursing and Allied Health, and added multiple programmes including pre-health, medical imaging, and pre-medicine.  She developed strong relations with community and industry leaders in re/insurance leading to the development of numerous internships and scholarships opportunities for Bermuda College graduates.  She  also led the strategic planning and implementation initiative, collaborated with college task forces to improve campus culture and develop a shared governance model. She also served as co-editor of Bermuda College’s Voices in Education journal.   Dr. Curtis-Tweed also worked with community partners to support the pipeline for higher education by improving reading literacy outcomes for children in elementary education. Dr Curtis-Tweed is an Executive Board Member and Treasurer for the Association for Moral Education, and is the co-chair for the Association’s Special Interest Group on Race and Social Justice.  She is a co-researcher on a project designed to improve the experience of education for teachers and students by addressing issues of race and contexts of racial meaning in education and concomitant intersections with religion and culture via authentic dialogue in response to selected films.   She has published and presented at national and international conferences on issues in psychology and education, particularly regarding the first year experience.  Dr. Curtis-Tweed also worked with community partners to support the pipeline for higher education by improving reading literacy outcomes for children in elementary education. 

Dr. Curtis-Tweed is an Executive Board Member and Treasurer for the Association for Moral Education, and is the co-chair for the Association’s Special Interest Group on Race and Social Justice.  She is a co-researcher on a project designed to improve the experience of education for teachers and students by addressing issues of race and contexts of racial meaning in education and concomitant intersections with religion and culture via authentic dialogue in response to selected films.   She has published and presented at national and international conferences on issues in psychology and education, particularly regarding the first year experience.   Dr. Curtis-Tweed has also served as an invited external evaluator for accrediting agencies including the Southern Association of Colleges and School (SACS) and the Western Association of Schools and College (WASC) and was a Commissioner-Elect for the New England Commission for Higher Education (NECHE). 

Dr. Curtis-Tweed is currently the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Queensborough Community College of the City University of New York(CUNY).

Steve Smith is a Professor of Psychology at Saint Mary’s University. He has previously held the roles of Associate Vice-President Academic & Enrollment Management, Dean of Science, and Registrar, all at SMU. As an administrator, Steve’s focus was on initiatives to support student success. In partnership with his SMU colleagues, he launched (and assessed) several new initiatives. The research he has presented and published on those initiatives has demonstrated the short- and long-term benefits of several different student success programs.  Steve’s Tri-Council, provincial, and industry-funded research covers a broad range of topics, including forensic psychology, bias against people with criminal records, particularly Black and Indigenous applicants, student success, health promotion, DEI issues, and others.

Denise Bartell is Associate Provost for Academic Affairs at Kent State University, where she facilitates strategic initiatives related to access, retention, completion, and student success with a focus on improving equity of outcomes for historically underserved students and empowering faculty as key stakeholders in this work. Her scholarship takes a systemic and explicitly relational approach, most recently exploring a reconceptualization of faculty development to utilize principles of high impact learning experiences and authentic engagement to create communities of transformation where members are empowered to transform public higher education as a tool for building a more just and equitable society. Denise earned a B.S. in Human Development & Family Studies from Cornell University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Human Development & Family Sciences from the University of Texas at Austin.

 Dr. David L. Graham is the Assistant Vice-Provost for Student Academic Success at The Ohio State University. He has been at Ohio State since 2006 and has over twenty-five years of higher education experience in academic affairs, student life, and intercollegiate athletics. Dr. Graham was a 2013-2014 American Council on Education (ACE) Fellow and earned a bachelor’s degree in Electronic Engineering, Technology, and Mathematics from Savannah State University, a master’s degree in Sports Management from Georgia Southern University, and a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from the Ohio University Patton College of Education. 
Dr. Graham has been recognized for his ability to develop and implement strategic plans to achieve specific student success goals. His research is focused on various issues concerning the administration of intercollegiate athletics in higher education (e.g., academic integrity and achievement, gender, racial and ethnic diversity, Title IX, corporate sponsorship, learning disabilities, and fiscal responsibility), and the effects of college on student-athlete development and learning outcomes. He is a co-author of the book Black Males and Intercollegiate Athletics: An Exploration of Problems and Solutions and has delivered more than 100 professional conference presentations, workshops, symposia, and other scholarly addresses. 

Paul LePore is the associate dean for Student and Academic Programs in The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and a clinical professor in ASU’s T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics. His appointment began in December 2008. As associate dean, LePore focuses on issues involving student success, including new student recruitment; improving student retention and time to graduation; academic advising; curriculum development; learning assessment; student engagement in high impact practices; managing the college’s residential living/learning programs; and enrollment management. A sociologist by training (specializing in social psychology, sociology of education, and comparative sociology), LePore’s scholarship explores educational policies and practices that promote equity and achievement for all students.

Professor Sally Kift is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (PFHEA), a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law (FAAL), and President of the Australian Learning & Teaching Fellows (ALTF). She has held several Australian university leadership positions, including as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) at James Cook University (JCU) and inaugural Director, First Year Experience at Queensland University of Technology (QUT). Sally is a national Teaching Award winner (Business & Law: 2003), a national Program Award winner (Assessment & Feedback: 2006) and was appointed an Australian Discipline Scholar in Law in 2010. She was awarded a national Senior Teaching Fellowship over 2006-2009 to investigate the First Year Experience and develop Transition Pedagogy to support diverse student cohorts’ success via intentional and inclusive curriculum design. In 2017, Sally received an Australian Awards for University Teaching Career Achievement Award for her contribution to Australian higher education.
Since 2017, Sally has been working as an independent higher education consultant. Over 2018-2021, she was a Visiting Professorial Fellow at the National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education (NCSEHE), Curtin University and now chairs NCSEHE’s Grants and Fellowships Committee. In 2018-2019, she was a Ministerial appointment to the Australian Qualifications Framework Review that recommended a range of enhancements for diverse learners’ participation and attainment in pursuit of lifelong learning. Sally now holds a Vice Chancellor’s Strategic Fellowship at Victoria University and is an Adjunct Professor at JCU, QUT and La Trobe University. She is Advisory Board Chair for the Student Success Journal and has co-edited an international collection on Student Retention and Success in Higher Education (2021).