Director, Enrollment Management,
Community College of the Air Force
Teresa Amatuzzi is the Director of Enrollment Management at the Community College of the Air Force (CCAF), Maxwell AFB, Alabama. She provides direction to the Admissions and Services/Records Division and directly supports and administers the updates of more than 2.6 million records encompassing resident, non-resident and distance learning programs worldwide. Ms. Amatuzzi ensures her division maintains accurate documentation for 67 Associate of Applied Science Degree programs and that a student body in excess of 350,000 individuals located around the world receive first-class customer service. She is also responsible for overseeing the ordering and printing of more than 143,000 transcripts and 17,500 diplomas in addition to processing over 90,000 student action requests annually.
Ms. Amatuzzi joined the staff at CCAF in July 2002. Prior to her arrival, she held positions at several education centers around the world, including Treebeck, The Netherlands; Geilenkirchen Air Base, Germany; Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany; and Maxwell AFB, AL. She has been employed with The University of Oklahoma and Boston University.
Ms. Amatuzzi earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from the University of Maryland and her master’s degree in Adult Education from Boston University. She is currently a doctoral candidate in Educational Leadership, Policy and Law from Alabama State University.
Her decorations include the Air Force Commendation Medal and the Exemplary Civilian Service Award. She is also the recipient of numerous civilian quarterly awards and annual performance awards.
Managing Director from Eduventures
“I was delighted to be asked to join the UExcel Board. Credit-by-examination is an innovative but below-the-radar alternative to traditional courses, and has potential to make a positive impact on some big challenges facing U.S. higher education—namely time-to-degree, cost to the student and completion rates. Combining Excelsior College’s unique experience with credit-by-examination models, and Pearson’s support materials and global network of assessment centers, UExcel has a great platform on which to build.”
Richard Garrett is the Managing Director of Eduventures Continuing & Professional Education Learning Collaborative (CPE-LC) and Online Higher Education Learning Collaborative (OHE-LC). The CPE and OHE are membership programs for institutions seeking to grow their adult and online enrollment and enhance their operations. They provide unique sources of intelligence on adult and online higher education enrollment and programming trends, evolving consumer demand, school positioning and operational strategies.
Mr. Garrett has over 12 years’ experience researching higher education trends worldwide, particularly online learning, non-traditional students, internationalization, and commercial activity. Prior to joining Eduventures in 2005, he was Deputy Director of the Observatory on Borderless Higher Education in the United Kingdom, a position he held from 2001–2005. He has also worked as a researcher in the School of Education at the University of Surrey and at the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, both in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Garrett earned both a B.A. and an M.A. from King’s College, University of London, as well as a post-graduate certificate in Education from the University of Cambridge.
His publications through Eduventures include Putting All the Pieces Together — Analysis of Adult Student, Continuing Education, Online & For-Profit Trends (2010), Online Higher Education Market Update 2009, Benchmarking Online Operations: Snapshots of an Emerging Industry, Competing in Online Higher Education 2008 and Online Higher Education: Retention Benchmarks and Strategies. He has also published Blending In: The Extent & Promise of Blended Learning in the United States, E-Learning in Tertiary Education: Where Do We Stand?, and The Global Education Index 2005.
Executive Director,
Association of Test Publishers
Dr. William Harris is the CEO of the Association of Test Publishers (ATP), which is the leading association of test publishers. As an advocate for the testing industry, he frequently provides expert testimony on legislative initiatives on testing and assessment at the federal, state and provincial levels. His areas of expertise include industry-wide issues, including e-testing, test security, digital copyright, educational assessment and the impact of the Internet on the economics and future of testing.
Dr. Harris is both a member of the Code of Fair Testing Practices in Education Task Force for the Joint Committee on Testing Practices and the Steering Committee of the Fair Access Coalition on Testing. He also presently serves as the co-Executive Director of the IT Certification Security Council, and is a member of the editorial board of several leading scholarly journals.
Dr. Harris earned a doctorate in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a master’s degree in Business Administration from The Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.
Founder and Publisher,
The Link Homeschool Newspaper
“Credit-by-exam is an excellent service to homeschooling students. The UExcel program fits perfectly with homeschooling. Most homeschooled students have real-life experience and credit-by-exam allows them to receive college credit for this experience. Also, homeschooling students don’t like to waste their time and UExcel allows them the flexibility and to-the-point approach they seek. UExcel is also reasonably priced, which I consider to be very important. College costs are currently so high that it places many families in an unpleasant — or impossible — financial situation when considering college for their children. Because homeschooling is so family oriented, high-quality programs that serve these families well are very valuable.”
Mary Leppert is the Founder and Publisher of The Link Homeschool Newspaper and The Link Homeschool Newspaper Online, which were founded in 1995 and 1999, respectively. The Link editions are the highest-circulation, all-inclusive homeschool publications in North America.
From 1997–2008, Ms. Leppert produced The Links’s annual “Kid Comfortable” Homeschool Conferences in Los Angeles. In addition, she produced The Link Conference in Greensboro, North Carolina, in March of 2000. These conferences have featured several well-respected homeschool speakers over the years.
Ms. Leppert has written two editions of the best-selling book on homeschooling, The Homeschooling Almanac, published for the 2000–2001 and 2002–2003 school years by Prima Publishing. In early 2008, she also completed The Homeschooling Book of Lists, published by Jossey-Bass.
Ms. Leppert is often sought as an expert in the field of homeschooling by virtue of her all-inclusive approach and knowledge gleaned from 10 years of conference production and publishing The Link. Her personal experience in the homeschooling of her son from kindergarten through high school gives her additional insights into the homeschooling field.
Associate Vice President and Dean, International Programs
University of Minnesota
Meredith McQuaid is the Associate Vice President and Dean for International Programs in the University of Minnesota system. In this role, she promotes the global dimensions of teaching, research, and engagement across all colleges and campuses of the university.
She works with the administrative staff to create global opportunities by expanding international and interdisciplinary components of teaching, research, and public engagement activities; recruiting and supporting international students, faculty and staff; and facilitating development of critical interdisciplinary and international partnerships important to the university’s strategic plan. She has administrative oversight for the Office of International Programs, which includes International Student and Scholar Services, the Learning Abroad Center, the Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition and the China Center. She holds an adjunct faculty position and teaches Introduction to American Law and Legal Research and Writing for Foreign Lawyers. She also serves on the board of directors for NAFSA: Association of International Educators and the university’s Campus Club, and is a member of the Ambassadors Circle for Books for Africa 2009–2010.
From 1995–2005, Ms. McQuaid served as Associate Dean of Administration and International Programs and from 1994-2006 as Director of International and Graduate Programs at the University of Minnesota Law School. In 2004, she also served as chair of the Graduate Programs for Foreign Lawyers section of the American Association of Law Schools. In her 14 years at the law school, she was responsible for the management and oversight of the law school’s programs in China and she greatly expanded its international exchange programs. She has served on the University of Minnesota China Center Advisory Council and on several selection committees for prestigious international fellowships, including the USIA Edmund Muskie Scholars Program. She also created and supervised the Judicial Observation Program for Foreign Lawyers, which is unique in U.S. law schools. Before working at the University of Minnesota, Ms. McQuaid joined Popham, Haik, Schnobrick & Kaufman in Minneapolis as an Associate Attorney, working in immigration and civil litigation.
Ms. McQuaid earned her B.A. degree in Linguistics from the University of Minnesota and her J.D. degree, cum laude, from the University of Minnesota Law School. During college, she was one of the first U.S. students to study Mandarin in China upon the country’s opening to the West. After graduation, she spent two years teaching English in Japan before returning to school to earn her law degree.
In 2006, Ms. McQuaid was awarded the University of Minnesota’s Award for Global Engagement, given to faculty and staff members in recognition of outstanding contributions to global education and international programs in their field, discipline, or the university.
UExcel Brand Director,
Pearson VUE
Susan Henken has more than 25 years of management, marketing and strategic planning experience with companies in a range of industries and maturities—from startups to Fortune 500 enterprises. Her experience spans a variety of products and services, including education, consumer goods, medical devices and health care, and includes work in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors.
Ms. Henken has held leadership roles in several nationally known companies including Cigna and Novartis, as well as smaller companies including BioMedical Research, LTD and Compex Technologies; at each she was responsible for leading the company into new markets and creating and launching a wide variety of new products and services. As the first director of the Marketing Resource Office at Minnesota Project Innovation Inc., a unique federal and state government partnership, Ms. Henken led the establishment of a statewide program providing marketing assistance to small and midsize businesses.
In 2000, Ms. Henken was nominated for membership in Northwestern University’s Council of 100, which recognizes high-achieving women graduates. Grinnell College’s Alumni Council nominated Ms. Henken to its select Grinnell Alumni Council, an alumni leadership organization, in 2009. She earned her Masters of Management degree at J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Evanston, IL, with concentrations in Marketing, Strategy and Industrial Relations. She graduated from Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA, with a B.A. in Psychology, and earned membership in Phi Beta Kappa.
Dean of Assessment,
Excelsior College
J. Patrick Jones is the Dean of Assessment at Excelsior College. Dr. Jones received his Ph.D. in Measurement, Evaluation and Applied Statistics from Columbia University in 1987. He has presented and published primarily in the areas of computer-based testing, equating, scaling and standard-setting procedures. Dr. Jones has served as a reviewer for and contributor to the American Educational Research Association, the National Council on Measurement in Education, the American Psychological Association, and the Association of Test Publishers annual meetings. Dr. Jones has over 40 publications and presentations in the areas of educational measurement and cognitive psychology.
Dr. Jones currently volunteers as a consulting psychometrician for the American Board of Nursing Specialties Accreditation Council, and he has served as a public representative on the Board of Directors of the American Board of Perianesthesia Nursing Certification Inc. and as a commissioner on the ANSI Personnel Certification Accreditation Committee. Dr. Jones joined Excelsior College in April 2002 after 20 years of service with Professional Examination Service (PES), where he served as Executive Vice President from 1997 to 2002.
