Meet Our Higher Education Consulting Team
Nationally Acclaimed Leaders to Assist You with Best Practices for Sustainable Optimization. Our Statement of Conduct and Ethics
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.
Herb Riley
President and CEO
Herb Riley
Herb Riley is the President and CEO of focusEDU. Herb and his team of acclaimed consultants have assisted the leadership of the higher education community since 2014.
focusEDU's services include national executive searches, interim placements, operational assessments and evaluations, coaching and mentoring in the mission-critical areas of enrollment management, admissions, financial aid, registrar and student information systems and student financial services.
Prior to forming focusEDU in 2014 with a group of like-minded professionals, Herb had a career of over 32 years as an acclaimed practitioner in the areas of enrollment management, admissions and registrar services.
Dennis DeSantis
Vice President – Student Financial Services
Dennis DeSantis
Bruce Cunningham
Vice President – Registrar Services
Bruce Cunningham
Bruce Cunningham, Vice President, focusEDU
Bruce has over 30 years of administrative experience in higher education administration, most recently serving 19 years as Assistant Vice Provost and University Registrar at Duke University. Prior to coming to Duke in 1996 he served as University Registrar at Saint Louis University, and served as Associate Registrar at Old Dominion University and West Chester University. That combination of both public and private institutions provides Bruce with a unique perspective on the world of higher education. Prior to his work in higher education, Bruce served as an Economist for the federal Departments of Labor and Energy.
Bruce joined focusEDU as a Consulting Director in 2015 after an acclaimed professional career as a leader in the registrar profession. Bruce was promoted to Senior Consulting Director after a number of highly successful engagements to assist the leaders of the higher education community. In November of 2023, the Advisory Board of focusEDU accepted the recommendation of Herb Riley to promote Dr. Cunningham to Vice President of the corporation.
Bruce holds a Ph.D. in Urban Services/Higher Education Administration from Old Dominion University. He also has a M.Ed. from George Mason University and Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Cortland State University.
Glenn Munson
Sr. Consulting Director
Glenn Munson
Glenn Munson, Sr. Consulting Director for Registrar Services
After an acclaimed career as a national leader in the registrar profession, Glenn Munson became one of the initial Consulting Directors of focusEDU in 2014. In 2019, Glenn was promoted to Senior Consulting Director of focusEDU.
Glenn is a nationally respected leader in registrar services. Glenn spent 28 years as Registrar at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, and spent the last three years of his career at the University of Memphis.
Glenn served as a Vice President of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admission Officers (AACRAO) and is now an honorary lifetime member of that Association. He is a frequent presenter and workshop leader on registrar best practices, registrar staff development, and office organization strategies.
As a Sr. Consulting Director for focusEDU, Glenn has assisted numerous institutions with registrar optimization services in assessments/evaluations, national searches, interim appointments and coaching and mentoring.
Delsie Phillips
Consulting Director
Delsie Phillips
Delsie Phillips , Consulting Director, focusEDU. Delsie joined focusEDU in 2017 after an exemplary career of 30+ years as an enrollment management leader with expertise and acclaim in the admissions area.
Delsie has significant experience working in enrollment management, including dean of admission and financial aid at Haverford College in Haverford, Pennsylvania, and Vice President for Enrollment Management at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida. Her experience also includes two years with the College Board’s higher education services unit in the Middle States Regional Office in Philadelphia.
Delsie earned her Bachelor of Arts in sociology from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. She later earned a Master of Arts in student personal services in higher education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in Indiana, Pennsylvania. Her first admission position was at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.
Delsie lives in Fishkill, New York. She has a daughter and son-in-law who reside in the same area.
Forrest Stuart
Consulting Director
Forrest Stuart
Dr. Forrest Stuart is the Vice President for Enrollment Management at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. Prior to joining Lafayette in January 2019, Forrest served as Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management and Director of Financial Aid at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, as director of financial aid at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, and as assistant director of admission, assistant director of financial aid, and ultimately director of financial aid at Birmingham-Southern College in Birmingham, Alabama. In all, Forrest has 31 years of higher education administration experience.
Forrest holds a PhD in Educational Leadership from Clemson University, concentrating in higher education administration. His dissertation, entitled Sustainable Enrollment Management: A Dynamic Network Analysis, focused on enrollment management as a complex adaptive system and examined the dynamic network structures of a current enrollment management department, how those structures can be optimized for efficient information diffusion, and how enrollment management leaders can enable a sustainable enrollment management system. Forrest is also interested in the law of contracts and agency as they pertain to admission and financial aid.
Dr. Stuart has conducted several assessment consulting assignments for focusEDU in the financial aid area and provide expert assistance and advice for optimized best practices.
Previously earned degrees of Forrest include a Master of Arts degree in Higher Education Administration from the University of Alabama and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Human Resources Management from Birmingham-Southern College.
Forrest and his wife, Pam, have two daughters: Emily, who is a graduate of TCU and now a certified, licensed athletic trainer in Waco, Texas, and Katelyn, who is a senior sociology major at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. Forrest is an organist and has outside interests which include college football, boating, and Broadway musicals. On his “bucket list” are opportunities to conduct the orchestras for Les Miserables, The Phantom of the Opera, and Wicked.
Cassie Dembosky
Consulting Director
Cassie Dembosky
Cassie Dembosky, Consulting Director, focusEDU.
Cassie joined the team of focusEDU as a registrar consultant after having served 10+ years as the University Registrar for Cornell University. She has over 30+ years of progressively responsible leadership positions in the higher education community. Cassie was a leader in assisting with Cornell's conversion to Oracle PeopleSoft student information system.
Now semi-retired, Cassie and her husband spend their winters away from the snow in upstate NY at their winter home in Florida.
Tim Ebner
Consulting Director
Tim Ebner
Tim Ebner, Consulting Director for Registrar Services
Timothy Ebner was the University Registrar at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City a position he held for nearly seventeen years retiring in July of 2022. He has worked in the profession for 42 years beginning in the fall of 1980 serving as Assistant Registrar at the Elkhorn Valley Campus of Metropolitan Community College in Omaha, Nebraska. He has also served as Registrar at three other institutions including Quincy University in Illinois, for one year, Midland University in Nebraska for fifteen years and Boise State University in Idaho for six years.
He brings a unique and comprehensive background of working in community college, private liberal arts, public 4 year and flag ship college/university experience. This experience has allowed him to be at the center of much change in the offices he has administered as well as the profession generally. These include multiple SIS and third party software implementations, data warehouse and technology enhancements, process reviews, staff re-organizations, data analysis and visualization development as well as curricular and policy reviews. Professional Development has been at the center of his personal commitment to his role, as well as providing a rich program for the staff he directs.
Tim received his Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from the University of Nebraska at Kearney and his Master’s degree in College Student Personnel from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
Tim Taylor
Consulting Director
Tim Taylor
Tim joined focusEDU as Consulting Director for registrar services in 2023, culminating a wide-ranging career path (travel industry, business owner, and higher education). He has been in the "registrar world" since 1999 - beginning at Concordia University-Ann Arbor (as an academic counselor turned registrar), then the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (as an Associate University Registrar), and the University of Michigan-Dearborn (as the University Registrar).
Tim has worked at small, mid-size, and large institutions, and has experience with the Ellucian Banner and Oracle PeopleSoft student information systems.
Tim recently completed an extensive and meaningful interim registrar engagement in Virginia. He looks forward to assisting the leaders of higher education with his registrar experience and expertise.
William DeWolf
Consulting Director
William DeWolf
Bill DeWolf, Consulting Director for Registrar Services
William (Bill) DeWolf is a highly respected national leader and practitioner in all aspects of registrar work and student information systems. He has demonstrated expertise at both four-year public and four-year private institutions. Bill was, also, the University Registrar at the former Medical College of Pennsylvania – Hahnemann University with experience of merging two distinct medical schools into the largest medical school in the US.
Bill’s experience in implementing Ellucian Banner student information systems at two different four-year private colleges has been viewed by their leaders as being key to mission-critical success at those institutions. In addition, Bill is an expert with Ellucian’s Degree Works software module to track student progress toward degree objectives and to facilitate regulatory reporting requirements. He is passionate about registrar business processes, student administrative services (one-stop-environments), international programs (ACE Internationalization & Globalization at Emerson College, legal issues in higher education (particularly compliance issues including FERPA and NSLDS), competency-based programs, strategic vision as it relates to and in the registrar’s office, and public policy.
Bill was an active member of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admission Officers (AACRAO), New England ACRAO, and New England Banner User Group (NEBUG) during his tenure, and was associated with Middle States ACROA and Massachusetts ACRAO. He has served in numerous leadership roles and chaired committees for Professional Development (AACRAO, NEACRAO and MACRAO), Nominations & Elections Committee (NEACRAO), and made numerous presentations at AACRAO’s Annual Meetings, NEACRAO and MSACROA conferences on topics ranging from advice for new or transitioning registrars, one-stop-environments and online submission of grades, and public policy agenda. In 2010, AACRAO inaugurated the Public Policy Advisory Committee and asked Bill to become the chair. He served in that capacity until 2015 but remained on the committee. In 2015, the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admission Officers awarded their highest recognition, the Thomas A. Bilger Citation for Service Award, to Bill at AACRAO’s Annual Meeting in Denver, Colorado. Bill is one of a handful of highly regarded professionals to have received such recognition from AACRAO.
Billretired as the Registrar at Emerson College, Boston, MA he was the Emerson College representative to College Board. At Emerson, he was a member of the Banner Implementation Team, Degree Works, Data Security Coordination Team, Academic Planning & Policy Committee, Student Success sub-committee on Admission and Scholarship Selection Process and the Education Abroad & Overseas Exchange Sub-Committee – ACE Internationalization Laboratory.
Bill holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the State University College at Buffalo and the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Higher Education Administration/Art Education Administration from The Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida. He has also held tenure track positions at Radford University and Thiel College and administrative positions at Thiel College, Penn State University (Shenango Campus), The Medical College of Pennsylvania and Hahnemann University, and Albion College.
Bill has two adult children – William, II, a medical doctor in Bradenton, FL and Angie, a principal ballet teacher and dancer with a ballet company in Boston.
As a Consulting Director for focusEDU, Dr. DeWolf looks forward to providing his expertise, vision and wisdom in partnering with the leaders of the higher education community to improve and sustain optimized solutions in the areas of best practices for registrar and student information systems.
Kathy Posey
Consulting Director
Kathy Posey
Ms. Kathy A. Posey has joined the team of focusEDU as a Consulting Director. Kathy is an accomplished higher education professional with more than 15 years of experience in assessing Registrar offices to determine strengths and challenges, recommend and implement change, and develop solutions with and without technology.
Kathy’s higher education career began as the Assistant Registrar at Berklee College of Music, the world’s preeminent college for the study of music. At Berklee, Kathy was selected as part of the team that brought online registration to the campus. In addition, Kathy was the co-chair of Berklee Women’s Network and was selected for the BRASS award, an annual recognition given to exceptional employees. Since that time, Kathy has worked as the Registrar in small private undergraduate and graduate liberal arts colleges and a mid-size private undergraduate and graduate business university. At these colleges and university, Ms. Posey has had significant roles in implementing student information systems, resolving issues with the A133 audits, improving relationships with faculty, optimizing office operations, and being a key contributing member on many committees. In addition, Ms. Posey has conducted consulting assignments at colleges and universities that include a university with a military focus, a nationally acclaimed optometry college, and a HBCU.
Kathy is an effective leader who collaborates with cross functional groups to accomplish goals. Her extensive experience includes developing solutions to transform challenging environments into being organized, efficient, productive, and collaborative. She has been commended by supervisors and colleagues and recognized for leadership, ability to produce results in high stress environments, strong work ethic, and compassion. She has a career-long dedication to managing the ever-changing challenges in the higher education field.
Ms. Posey has been active in leadership roles in American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) and New England Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (NEACRAO). These roles have included State and Regional Relations Chair, State and Regional Relations Co-Chair, Nominations and Elections Committee member (AACRAO). President Elect, President, Past President, Vice President of Records and Registration, Scholarship Committee Chair, and Mentor (NEACRAO). Ms. Posey has made numerous presentations at AACRAO’s annual meetings and NEACRAO’s conferences.
Michele Neary
Consulting Director
Michele Neary
Michele Nearry has joined the team of focusEDU as a Consulting Director.
Most recently, Michele served as the University Registrar at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana for ten years before leaving in August 2022 to pursue her interests in consulting. She has worked in the profession for 31 years, serving in a variety of student records positions at Indiana University-Bloomington for 18 years, then as Associate Registrar at Northwestern University for three years.
She is adept at engaging stakeholders in conversations to build consensus around best practices, academic policies, and business process improvements to ensure academic integrity while engaging students and enhancing their university experience. Her work with a range of institutions from large publics to small privates has given her a variety of experiences in student records, academic affairs, and curriculum management along with the understanding that optimal solutions are largely dependent on institution type.
Michele received her Bachelor’s degree in History, her Master of Information Science, and her Doctor of Jurisprudence from Indiana University-Bloomington.
Michele looks forward to serving the needs of the higher education community for registrar services and best practices as a Consulting Director for focusEDU.
Meaghan Arena
Consulting Director
Meaghan Arena
Meaghan Arena has more than 20 years of experience in higher education including serving in senior leadership roles at both public and private institutions. Most recently she served as Vice President of Enrollment and the Student Experience, a role that uniquely combined enrollment and student affairs including health & counseling, athletics, student engagement and leadership, student conduct, Title IX, and residential life. She has also served as a traditional Vice President for Enrollment as well as Associate Dean in Graduate and Continuing Education. Her background also includes work with financial aid, transfer admissions, adult students, non-credit programs, summer programs and veteran's services. In addition, Meaghan teaches graduate students as an adjunct instructor at several universities.
Meaghan holds an Ed.D. in Higher Education Leadership from Northeastern University, a Master of Education from Cambridge College, and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Delaware. She lives in Western New York with her husband and son and is an avid animal lover.
Skill-based expertise: admissions, graduate admissions, transfer admissions, financial aid, data-driven enrollment management, enrollment strategy and operations, team management and mentoring, strategic planning, enrollment communications, discount rate management.
James Martak
VA Benefits Consultant
James Martak
James has over 15 years of experience managing and developing the veteran education benefits office at the University of Utah. With a focus on the needs of veteran students, he has helped shape the University to make the campus more veteran-friendly with policies for admissions, priority registration, tuition, academic and career advising, peer mentorship, and military leave of absence processes.
James creates innovative and effective strategies that assist VA school certifying officials with compliance issues, program development/implementation/management, process evaluation and efficiency, policy reviews, data analysis, SIS software development, and SCO training.
James received his Bachelor’s degree in Jazz Performance and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Utah.
Susan Kassab
Consulting Director
Susan Kassab
Susan Kassab, Consulting Director, focusEDU.
Susan joined focusEDU in 2021 after having served in higher education for more than 30 years. She brings a wealth of experience in all sectors of enrollment management and marketing. Her last position prior to assisting the leaders of higher education as a focusEDU consultant was as Vice President for Enrollment Management and Marketing at the College of St. Rose.
As a seasoned practitioner, Susan has succeeded in a number of key areas of enrollment management and has built skills that include; Comprehensive Enrollment Management and Marketing; Institutional Strategic Visioning; Enterprise Systems Analysis and Integration; Specialized recruitment in the international, transfer, military, graduate, and adult markets; Internal and External Partnership Development and Change Management.
Susan earned her Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Elizabethtown College in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, and her master’s in education at Widener University in Chester, Pennsylvania. She is a long-time resident of Wallingford, Pennsylvania and serves in a few capacities at Media Presbyterian Church.
Sallie Marchello
Consulting Director
Sallie Marchello
Sallie Marchello retired in 2023 following thirty-six years of service in public higher education in Virginia. Her positions at Old Dominion University, Thomas Nelson Community College (now Virginia Peninsula CC), and William & Mary spanned academic services, undergraduate and graduate admission operations, student services, and higher education center direction. She held her final role as associate provost and university registrar at William & Mary for 18 years. Career highlights included multiple system implementations and additional oversight of a variety of related areas including institutional accreditation and assessment, institutional research, financial aid, and counseling.
Sallie’s strengths include strong collaboration and project management skills, and she is especially adept at implementing process efficiencies. She held leadership positions in several professional organizations, including president of the Southern Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admission Officers. Sallie has a bachelor's degree from Knox College and a master's degree from the University of Chicago. Her community service has included board appointments and leadership posts at the Hampton/Newport News Community Services Board, Hampton Citizen's Engagement Advisory Commission, Peninsula Stadium Authority, Friends of the Hampton Public Library, Downtown Hampton Child Development Center Foundation, and other non-profits and schools.
Sallie looks forward to working with colleagues across the higher education community on building strong teams and processes.
John Pyle
Consulting Director
John Pyle
John Pyle joined the team of focusEDU in September of 2024 as Consulting Director for Enrollment Management Services after a distinguished and acclaimed career as a national leader in the higher education community. Dr. Pyle looks forward to providing his skills and professional expertise to assist the leadership of the higher education community.
In 2021, Pyle joined St. Catherine University as the Senior Vice President of Strategy, Enrollment, and Growth. Tasked with revitalizing the university's marketing, recruitment, financial aid, planning, and program development functions, he implemented a strategic enrollment plan to boost annual revenue and expand their reach in current and emerging markets. Significant results were achieved as the university grew new student enrollment by 21% in the Colleges for Women, Adults, and Graduate for the Fall 2023 recruitment cycle. Tuition revenues surpassed the budget goal by a substantial $1 million in the recent fiscal year.
Dr. Pyle joined Webster University in 2018 as its Chief Innovation Officer and Vice President of New Business. In this role he led the extension of Webster’s business model along with expansion efforts into new markets, and partnerships He was responsible for Webster’s expansion into the region of Central Asia along with other partnerships to support Webster’s strategic plan. In 2019 his portfolio expanded by increasing his role to serve as the Chief Innovation Officer and Vice President of Enrollment. His responsibilities also include the areas of admission, enrollment technology, and financial aid across Webster global network along with operations for Webster’s on-line learning center. His leadership resulted in notable achievements, such as a 13% increase in new undergraduate student enrollment globally within one year and a 20% increase in total student enrollment across international campuses.
Before joining Webster, Pyle was the Executive Vice President with Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. In this role he led the areas of admissions, financial, marketing, athletics, on-line delivery and campus services. Pyle was responsible for the annual operational plan and the advancement of the university’s strategic objectives. He was instrumental in guiding Saint Mary’s expansion in Rochester, to support collaboration with the Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences that resulted in a 3+2 physician assistant program between the two institutions.
Pyle served as a Peer Reviewer with the Higher Learning Commission and regularly presents at national conferences on topics related to enrollment, marketing and strategic planning. Pyle holds a Doctor of Education in Leadership from Saint Mary’s University, a Master of Arts in Education from Immaculata University and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a Spanish minor from Kutztown University.
In addition, Dr. Pyle completed the Institute for Educational Management at the Harvard Institute for Higher Education. John is conversant in Spanish and guides Spanish-speaking families with matters regarding admission, financial aid and college financing.
Susan Teerink
Consulting Director
Susan Teerink
With 30 years of experience as a financial aid administrator, Susan Teerink, joined focusEDU in 2024. Susan brings experience as a financial aid professional in both the public and private sectors of higher education, the community college, graduate, and private, comprehensive university settings Her last position prior to joining focusEDU was as Associate Vice Provost for Financial Aid & Enrollment Services at Marquette University where she led both the financial aid and one-stop teams.
Susan earned the Certified Financial Aid Administrator® designation (FAAC) and has served the financial aid community on the state, regional and national levels. Susan most recently served on the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) FAFSA Simplification Implementation Task Force. She is a respected instructor and mentor serving as faculty for both the Midwest Association of Financial Aid Administrators (MASFAA) Summer Institute as well as on the College Board’s Financial Aid Institute. As a seasoned practitioner, Susan is a sought-after speaker, trainer, and advocate. Professional development of staff is a high priority as Susan believes in superior customer service and has led her teams with “service to students” as their first and final thought. She utilizes the phrase “compliance with compassion” to describe the careful balance aid administrators walk as they strive to serve all constituencies - the Department of Education, the institution, as well as students and families.
Susan earned her Bachelor of Arts from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN and her master’s from Claremont School of Theology in Los Angeles, CA. She and her husband reside in Milwaukee, WI. They have two daughters who reside in Washington – one in the District of Columbia and the other in Spokane.