Gary Hauser
Consulting Director
Skill-Based Expertise:
Development and administration of optimization solutions for student finances and net revenues associated with tuition and funding programs; workshop development for sustainable revenue generations; integration of financial best practices administration with overall fiscal operations pertinent to student financial services; Perkins Loan administration best practices.
Gary Hauser
After serving as an Assistant Vice-President for Enrollment Planning and Management at the University of Connecticut (UConn) for the past two decades, focusing primarily on retention and graduation issues, Gary retired in June 2017.
He began his career advising undecided majors at UConn, where he earned his Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration. He then moved on to conduct research and interact with the state legislature and governor’s office on behalf of the Connecticut Department of Higher Education for a decade before returning to UConn in 1996.
Since joining focusEDU as a Consulting Director in 2017, Gary has been actively assisting the leaders of the higher education community by ensuring understanding and optimization of all elements associated with U.S. News rankings data submissions.
Gary has presented at numerous conferences sponsored by AACRAO, the College Board, and the Consortium for Student Retention Data Exchange. The Educational Policy Institute awarded UConn the Outstanding Retention Program Award at its RETENTION 2006 national conference. In 2010-11, Gary was awarded Freshman Year Experience Instructor of the Year honors.
Gary resides in Avon, CT and is very proud of his son, who will soon receive his Ph.D. in Mathematics from Cambridge University.
Dan Nussbaum
Consulting Director
Skill-Based Expertise:
Leadership development and coaching; succession planning; academic program planning for accreditation/re-accreditation; leadership transitions; mentoring; talent management; professional development; strategic planning, opportunity, and allocation; faith-based institutions; community engagement; organizational “time management”
Dan Nussbaum
Dan Nussbaum has served in leadership positions in higher education and the not-for-profit sector for more than thirty years. Most recently, Dan has been serving as the Dean of the School of Graduate and Professional Studies at the University of Saint Joseph (CT) where he has been leading an aggressive program development strategy including an MSW program in its final stages of accreditation, accreditation of its graduate counseling and marriage family therapy programs, undergraduate programs in youth services and applied behavior analysis, and centers for Latino Community Practice and Autism and Applied Behavior Analysis. Dan is also a Professor of Management in the Business Administration Department.
Dan previously served for six years as National Director of Leadership Development/Director of YMCA University, providing strategic and operational leadership to training and education programs supporting America’s 2,400 YMCAs. He supervised 50 professional staff and 2500 volunteer trainers with responsibility for recruitment, retention, training, and professional development of staff and volunteers through a continuum of YMCA lifelong learning programs. At the “Y” Dan was able to experience a more intentional and focused leadership development strategy, with robust coaching, mentoring, and succession planning practice which he brought to the University of Saint Joseph and now brings to focusEDU.
Dan’s work at the YMCA was a natural extension of his work for more than a decade as Dean of Springfield College’s School of Human Services where he led the College’s efforts to restore its historic partnership with the YMCA. He developed a comprehensive national expansion business plan process which involved a cross-functional team of faculty and administrators. This strategy resulted in the turnaround of a troubled institution that later received the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) endorsement as a “best practices” academic leader. Dan’s leadership as the Dean of the School of Human Services resulted in the expansion of SHS with three campuses and 550 students to a program with nine campuses and 1,650 students. Additional executive programs in Sweden, Brazil, and Africa were developed under Dr. Nussbaum’s tenure.
As Dean of the School of Graduate and Professional Studies at the University of Saint Joseph, Dan experiences the daily financial, technological, and regulatory challenges leaders of institutions of higher education face. This role helps to hone Dan’s focus and work for the continuous process of the development of talent and leadership for institutions of higher education. Dan brings his extensive background and skill-sets needed to successfully meet these challenges while also identifying and meeting the unanticipated challenges that still lie beyond our horizons.
Dan earned his B.A. at Swarthmore College, an M.A. in Biblical Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, an M.S. in Management at the Hartford Graduate Center, and a Ph.D. in Social Policy at Brandeis University.
Larry Whitworth
Consulting Director
Skill-Based Expertise:
Community college executive leadership; enrollment growth strategies; governance development issues and best practices; curricular strategies and optimizations for growth at the community college level; budget management and cost containment strategies for two year institutions; retention and graduation planning strategies; Career Focus magazine as communication vehicle.
Larry Whitworth
Larry Whitworth is a nationally acclaimed leader in the community college sector. He has been recognized for innovative leadership that resulted in enrollment growth, improved student retention and program completion rates through creative visioning and collaborations with all key constituencies. Larry was the President of Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor, Michigan for 13 years and prior to that served for seven years as the President of Tidewater Community College in the Norfolk area of Virginia. Dr. Whitworth served in various capacities during his 24 years with the Community College of Allegheny County in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Beginning with his initial assignment as a developmental mathematics faculty member, Dr. Whitworth moved into administration where he served as the Director of the Academic Evening Division at the Allegheny Campus, Dean of instruction for the North Campus, Executive Dean and College Vice President for the North Campus and ultimately as the Executive Vice President for the four campus system.
Dr. Whitworth’s areas of expertise include curricula, enrollment growth and enhancement, student retention initiatives, personnel administration, and organizational structure. In the area of curricula, while serving as the Dean for vocational/technical programs with the Community College of Allegheny County, he developed the concept of modularized curricula that greatly enhance student outcomes for a wide variety of vocational and occupational programs. While working with faculty and academic administration, Larry implemented the modularized curricular concept at both Tidewater Community College and Washtenaw Community College. At both institutions, enrollment, retention rates and student program completion rates were significantly increased. Larry’s creation of the CareerFocus Magazine proved to be a phenomenal success in promoting vocational/technical and occupational programs to individuals unaware of the career opportunities available through educational programs at their local community colleges. Based on the nationally acclaimed success of CareerFocus Magazine, Larry spearheaded and created the CareerFocus Consortium of Community Colleges. This consortium now has more than 100 community colleges that publish a CareerFocus Magazine as a part of their community outreach marketing program.
Dr. Whitworth holds a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from Duquesne University and a doctorate in Curriculum and Supervision from the University of Pittsburgh. In addition to his full time administrative duties he continued to use is extensive academic background to continue his commitment to teaching. For more than 25 years, Dr. Whitworth served as an adjunct faculty member for several colleges and universities. For Pennsylvania State University, he taught Learning Games in the Curriculum, a graduate course for teacher certification. For Indiana University of Pennsylvania he taught a course entitled Academic Administration, as a graduate course in the school of Community Education and for more than 11 years, he thought Organizational Behavior and Business Management in the Graduate School of Business for Robert Morris University.
Larry and his wife, Barbara have two children and five grandchildren and live in Ponte Vedra, Florida. Larry enjoys golf, pickleball and sharing engaging conversation and a glass of wine with neighbors and friends.
In his capacity as Consulting Director for focusEDU, Dr. Whitworth looks forward to assisting community college leadership in enhancing revenue generation through an integrated process of curricular restructuring and marketing strategy, as well as, implementing strategies and procedures to increase student retention and graduation rates. He has vast experience with a wide variety of topics related to Human Resource Management, including but not limited to: employee hiring, employee separation, labor negotiations and contracts, employee compensation strategies and organization structure.
Bob Herr
Consulting Director
Skill-Based Expertise:
Enrollment management; admissions CRM implementation and management: staff development; establishing/enhancing recruitment markets: counselor outreach programming; financial aid and scholarship leveraging strategy; marketing and communication plans; retention initiatives.
Bob Herr
With over thirty years of admissions and enrollment experience, Bob helped lead successful enrollment efforts at several private colleges and universities. His experience includes serving as dean of enrollment at Wagner College, assistant vice-president of enrollment management at Stevenson University, and most recently as vice-president for enrollment management at Drew University. While at Stevenson he worked to increase out of state markets and enrolled students as the university’s first year enrollment grew by 45% during his tenure. At both Wagner and Drew, he led CRM implementations in order to improve efficiency in processing, file review, and communications. Moreover, his experiences include financial aid leveraging and modeling for enrollment and net tuition revenue. During a three-year period at Wagner he lowered the discount rate each year for first year students while maintaining enrollment and net revenue goals.
Bob strengths include improving admissions operations and technology, developing and enhancing recruitment markets, implementing communication and marketing plans, and growing campus visit options and programs. He understands the importance of professional connections and networking to benefit an institution, and enjoys working as a staff mentor and on furthering staff professional development. He developed a variety of counselor outreach programs, counselor visit programs, and communication plans for several colleges.
He has served on Hobsons Intersect Advisory Board and was a member of the College Board Middle States Regional Council. Over his career he has participated on the executive boards for NYSACAC and PCACAC, worked as a faculty mentor for new and mid-level professionals at both NYSACAC and PCACAC summer institutes, and served as a NACAC delegate. He remains a member of numerous professional organizations. Bob regularly presents at conferences on topics such as professional ethics, counselor connections, visit programs, financial aid 101, and the admissions landscape.
He has also worked in admissions as director at Seton Hall University, associate director at The George Washington University, and at New Jersey Institute of Technology. He received his B.A. from Susquehanna University. Bob lives in New Jersey with the wife and three children. His son will be enrolling at Texas Christian University in fall 2021.
Siham Doughman
Consulting Director
Skill-Based Expertise:
Strategy development, Organizational structure evaluation, Operations assessment. Registrar reporting, Registrar best practices, Federal Compliance, Academic policy review and development, Staff development, Global campus registrar functions and compliance, Clearinghouse, Non-credit bearing programs, Student web-services and workflow assessment. Registration and records systems, Curriculum systems, Class and course scheduling, Graduation Certification, Degree Audit and Transfer Articulation, Academic Calendars, FERPA, CIP Compliance.
Siham Doughman
After a stellar and acclaimed career in the registrar profession,Siham Doughman, joined focusEDU to share her skills and insights with the leadership of higher education. Siham has over 25 years of professional experience in U.S. and international universities; over 15 years as a Registrar and over 10 years as a college Professor teaching business and MIS courses. Siham has the unique ability to lead teams and collaborate with university leadership and colleagues. She also has extensive experience in academic operations and processes improvements. Siham is dedicated to maintaining high quality student services standards while creating a positive educational experience for students from diverse academic backgrounds. Her diverse work experiences has provided her with background with multiple student information systems and applications experiences.
Siham Doughman worked as a University Registrar at Syracuse University, Southern Connecticut State University, Laureate Higher Education Group, and most recently served as Associate Vice President and University Registrar at Northeastern University, bringing to higher education institutions a wealth of experience and in-depth knowledge at the operational as well a strategic level.
Siham looks forward to working with the leaders of higher education to optimize and serve all constitents.
Instructional Design Team Members
Nick Laudato
Vice President
Nick Laudato
Dr. Nicholas C. Laudato is a leading information technology professional specializing in strategic and tactical IT planning and in designing and supporting instructional technology systems. Nick has regularly presented at the annual EDUCAUSE conference, New Media Consortium (NMC), the Consortium of College and University Media Centers (CCUMC), and Blackboard World national conferences, among others, and has given invited talks at the University of Florida, Tufts University, and Lock Haven University.
Karen Acree
Consulting Director
Karen Acree
Dr. Karen L. Acree is an information technology professional specializing in instructional technology and design. She is experienced in learning management system implementation, administration, and support. In addition, Karen has led initiatives to develop and revitalize faculty development and support centers at multiple institutions.
Having been in higher education for 20 years, and as Quality Matters certified peer reviewer and facilitator, Karen brings a deep understanding of quality course design and professional development including best practices for content delivery; alignment of course content, activities, and assessments with objectives; as well as making content accessible.
Karen’s expertise in digital accessibility has benefitted numerous institutions, faculty, staff, and students. She has assisted in the creation of accessibility plans; performed accessibility evaluations; provided training in accessibility techniques; and edited documents and videos to ensure accessibility for all.
Dr. Acree has led many cross functional teams in selecting enterprise solutions including learning management systems; Customer Relation Management (CRM) systems; enterprise content management systems; website content management systems, identity management systems; and information technology services. As the Director of Online Services at San Juan College, she is responsible for academic technology; enterprise content management systems; and technical aspects of multiple web sites. She serves as the interim information technology project manager for software integrations across the institution, including a migration from Ellucian Colleague Unidata to SQL.
Karen earned her BS in Business Information Systems and MBA from the University of Phoenix, and her MA and Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction, Learning Technologies from New Mexico State University. She teaches undergraduate courses in computer science at San Juan College and facilitates workshops for Quality Matters.
As a Consulting Director for focusEDU, Dr. Acree looks forward to partnering with the higher education community to provide her skills in academic technology and course design initiatives.
Meghan Solomon
Consulting Director
Meghan Solomon
Dr. Meghan E. Solomon is an accomplished instructor and instructional designer known for her ability to leverage her rich knowledge of instructional design and her experience in the classroom to design quality courses. Dr. Solomon has over 15 years’ experience in higher education teaching a diverse student body in multiple settings.
Dr. Solomon is an experienced Senior Instructional Designer, working with faculty at colleges and universities located throughout the United States, bridging the gap between faculty instruction and student online learning.
Meghan facilitated the course design model, developed content, and assisted with instructional design for online, blended, and accelerated courses. As assistant professor and adjunct faculty member at Robert Morris University, Community College of Philadelphia, and the Community College of Allegheny County, Meghan teaches a variety of advanced biology, chemistry, and science courses. She has also taught at Argosy University, and Delaware County Community College.
As a researcher at the University of Pittsburgh, Meghan assisted in course design, conducted studies of course offerings, assessed faculty usage of online course components, and presented her findings to faculty and staff.
Meghan has published papers on topics related to the adoption and impact of course templates within learning management systems as well as gender approaches within LMSs. She has presented her work at numerous conferences, including the Center for Instructional Development, Learning Technology Consortium, the Blackboard Users Group, and the Society for College and University Planners.
Dr. Solomon attended Bucknell University where she completed both a Bachelor and Master of Science degree in Biology. She completed her doctoral work at the University of Pittsburgh where she studied faculty use of a course management system.
Lauren Dempsey
Consulting Director
Lauren Dempsey
Lauren is a skilled instructional designer focused on the design and delivery of creative and engaging e-learning materials. She has a unique combination of experiences working with a variety of Higher Education institutions as well as corporate companies. She has significant experience creating and delivering interactive training to adult learners in face-to-face, blended, and both synchronous and asynchronous online modalities.
Lauren currently works as a Sales Enablement Manager for a data technology company, TIBCO. She is responsible for the design and delivery of an intensive one to two-week sales onboarding bootcamp delivered in both online and face to face formats. She also administers TIBCO’s learning management system for the sales organization and creates interactive courses using Articulate Rise for sales employees to complete.
Outside of her corporate experience, Lauren has a wealth of experience working with faculty who teach online and face to face courses. She enjoys helping faculty learn the best ways to utilize technology to increase student engagement, assist in teaching, and effectively design course content. She worked as an instructional designer for many higher education institutions where she:
- Developed online courses with faculty in accordance with guidelines aligned to Quality Matters.
- Designed and delivered training sessions on topics such as: ADA Compliance, Rubrics, Introduction to Blackboard, Canvas and Desire2Learn, Using Assessments, Increasing Student Engagement and Using Multimedia.
- Administered and developed training for multiple learning management systems.
- Assisted faculty in using Educational Technology programs for teaching
Lauren is one of a rare breed of individuals who are expert and experienced in two academic disciplines, instructional design and instructional technology. She has a passion for both education and technology and is eager to work with focusEDU clients to help them shape and realize their teaching and learning visions.
Barbara Frey
Consulting Director
Barbara Frey
Barbara A. Frey, DEd, is an Adjunct Assistant Professor with the School of Education at Point Park University and an Instructional Design Consultant with the University of Pittsburgh. She is also an active Quality Matters Facilitator, Master Reviewer, and Researcher/Author where her workshops on instructional design and digital accessibility are taken by educators from around the world. Her most recent Quality Matters publication is a Digital Accessibility White Paper Series. Barbara’s background includes over 25 years of experience as a Senior Instructional Designer with Pitt Online at the University of Pittsburgh and as an Assistant Professor with the World Campus at Pennsylvania State University and the Global Campus of Colorado State University.
Throughout her career, Barbara has collaborated with dozens of faculty members on the design and development of traditional, online, hybrid, and massive open online courses (MOOCs) which have impacted thousands of students. As a project manager, she has led teams with subject matter experts, instructional technologists, graphic designers, librarians, and videographers. Her work has resulted in award-winning programs and courses, particularly in the online arena. She has also served as a peer evaluator for the Middle States Commission for Higher Education in the areas of Ethics and Integrity, Design and Delivery of the Student Learning Experience, and Educational Effectiveness Assessment.
Barbara is co-author of the book Distinctive distance education design: Models for differentiated instruction (IGI Global Publications, 2011). In addition, she has published numerous book chapters and scholarly articles including the Journal of Applied Instructional Design, Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, Tech Trends, and the International Journal of Information and Communication Technology Education. She has presented at a wide variety of conferences such as Online Learning Consortium, The Assessment Institute, Professional and Organizational Development Conference, Educause, Accessible Learning Conference, and Quality Matters.
As a IBSTPI Scholar with the International Board of Standards for Training, Performance and Instruction, Barbara focuses on the development and validation of competencies and standards for professionals in the field of instructional design. Her research interests include online learning, program evaluation, instructional design and technology, and human resource development.
Joanne Nicoll
Consulting Director
Joanne Nicoll
Joanne Metzger Nicoll, Ph.D., is a nationally recognized leader and consultant in instructional design and development. Dr. Nicoll served as Associate Director for Instructional Design and Faculty Development in the Center for Teaching and Learning and a faculty member in the School of Dental Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt). Her responsibilities included the coordination of the Instructional Design and Faculty Development services at the University, focusing on teaching enhancement and course development.
Joanne has worked collaboratively with over 300 Pitt faculty in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and professional schools to develop/revise both face-to-face and online courses. She conducts workshops for faculty in instructional development, distance education, teaching methods/strategies, teaching skill enhancement, and outcomes assessment.
Joanne’s areas of expertise include needs assessment, design, implementation, and evaluation of educational programs in varied disciplines and delivery modes; curriculum design consultation with discipline experts to develop instructional programs; development and implementation of degree program outcomes assessment; design of instructional methods and strategies to meet learners’ needs; development of instructional manuals and program planning documents; and development of distance education courses and programs, including self-instructional materials.
Dr. Nicoll received Blackboard’s Green House Award in 2007 for the development of a methods-of-teaching course and presented at national and international conferences in the areas of online course development and outcomes assessment. She has also worked as a Senior Instructional Designer for eight years with CampusWorks Inc., assisting dozens of faculty across multiple institutions to develop effective online courses.
Joanne’s favorite part of her work as an instructional designer? I enjoy working with faculty to develop a collegial relationship in course building. With a team approach, developing an online course is rewarding both to the instructor and to me. When working a few years ago with two “challenging instructors” to develop an online course, they dubbed my colleague and I “the dream team.” Even the most proficient faculty in teaching and learning has gained insight as we work together to develop a course.
Patti Hanson
Consulting Director
Patti Hanson
Patti Hanson has worked in a variety of leadership positions throughout her career, most recently at North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) as the dean of continuing education and economic development. Previous leadership positions at NIACC include regional workforce development director, director of online learning, and Title III Director.
At Buena Vista University, Patti served as an academic and program development manager for three remote sites. In addition to leading and managing staff, as well as operations of academic divisions, her involvement with Quality Matters and instructional design activities, provides diverse academic experience. She has worked for CampusWorks for the last four years providing instructional design services as a senior optimization specialist.
Patti has worked as an adjunct instructor with Buena Vista University has been highly involved in the development of course and continued assessment for accreditation work in the field of human services both for online and face-to-face instruction. Currently, she has developed course work to support work-based learning and apprenticeships, as well as the development of short-term certificates to provide learning opportunities resulting in credentials for both job seekers and incumbent worker training.
Patti has a master’s degree from Drake University in Rehabilitation Counseling and is currently pursuing her PhD in Organizational Leadership with Concordia University.