Credits & Heartfelt Thanks

Dr. Chadia Abras, Director of Institutional Assessment, Johns Hopkins University

Chadia Abras, Ph.D. joined the Provost’s Office in July 2019 as Johns Hopkins University’s inaugural Director of Institutional Assessment.  In this role, Dr. Abras collaborates with a variety of institutional stakeholders to support quality student learning by assisting academic programs in developing and refining assessment plans, meeting the goals of defined learning outcomes, and encouraging a culture of learner-centered education.  She plays a key role in ensuring ongoing compliance with standards of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education by promoting institutional effectiveness and fostering a culture of continuous improvement.  Dr. Abras will lead implementation of the University’s first shared Assessment Management System (AMS) as her first major project.  She will also serve as the lead for the SMS users group and a key contributor to the University Council for Learning Assessment. 

Dr. Jane Marie Souza, Associate Provost for Academic Administration, University of Rochester

Jane Marie Souza, PhD serves as the Associate Provost for Academic Administration and Accreditation Liaison Officer at the University of Rochester. Dr. Souza has served on accreditation teams for multiple agencies including New England Commission on Higher Education, Middle States Commission on Higher Education, Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education, and Council on Podiatric Medical Education, where she was a member of the Council 2016-2019.  Dr. Souza, the 2019-2020 president of the Association for the Assessment of Learning in Higher Education,  has served as an assessment consultant for institutions across the country, offering workshops on the use of technology in the classroom, mapping curricular outcomes, and meeting accreditation standards through effective assessment.  She has presented at conferences including the Association for Institutional Research, Middle States Commission on Higher Education, Association for the Assessment of Learning in Higher Education (keynote), Drexel Assessment Conference (keynote), Assessment Institute in Indianapolis (section keynote), Texas A&M, and Association for Medical Education in Europe. 

Dr. Myk Garn, Asst. Vice Chancellor for New Learning Models at Board of Regents, University System of Georgia

This is leadership position has three major areas of responsibility: (1) leading the USG New Learning Models Task force focused on developing a systemwide strategy for new learning models and associated policy changes; (2) serving as a primary system level resource for new instructional models; and (3) providing leadership for implementation and evaluation of new delivery models  

Dr. Natasha Jankowski, Higher Education & Assessment Consultant, N/A

Dr. Natasha Jankowski is the former Executive Director of the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA) and previously served as a research associate professor with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She is co-author of the book Using Evidence of Student Learning to Improve Higher Education, as well as co-author of Degrees that Matter: Moving Higher Education to a Learning Systems Paradigm, and co-editor of Student-Focused Learning and Assessment: Involving Students in the Learning Process in Higher Education. A forthcoming book focuses on equity and assessment. Her areas of focus include assignment design, transparency, evidence-based storytelling, equity, mapping and alignment of learning, and all things assessment. Dr. Jankowski is the recipient of Kent State University’s Alumni Award and the Young Alumni Award from the College of Education at UIUC. She holds a Ph.D. in Higher Education from the University of Illinois, an M.A. in Higher Education Administration from Kent State University, and a B.A. in philosophy from Illinois State University.

Dr. Mike Rudolph, Director of Institutional Effectiveness, University of Kentucky

I am an experienced higher education administrator with a passion for asking questions and using data and research to guide improvement. I work closely with faculty, staff, and administrators to develop and fine-tune institutional effectiveness systems, including assessment of student learning outcomes, general education, and program review. One of the most rewarding aspects of my current role is the opportunity to serve as a campus "consultant" by providing guidance and resources to program directors and unit leads, and empowering them to conduct meaningful assessment of their programs.

Jack Suess, Vice President of Information Technology and CIO, University of Maryland-Baltimore County

Mr. Jack Suess is VP of IT & CIO for the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) and has led IT at UMBC since 1997. Mr. Suess serves on the executive leadership team of the university and reports to the President, Freeman Hrabowski. During his tenure as CIO, UMBC has received awards and recognition for its work in advanced networking, cybersecurity, identity management, data analytics, cloud services, and learning analytics.  Through those efforts Mr. Suess is a frequent presenter at national conferences and has served on the Board of Internet2, EDUCAUSE, and InCommon and presently serves on the IMSglobal board.

Suzanne Carbonaro, Director of Academic Partnerships, AEFIS

Suzanne Carbonaro, M.Ed, MS, CE School Administrator, is the Director of Academic Partnerships at AEFIS. Suzanne has 27 years experience in higher education teaching, curriculum design, assessment and leadership. Most recently, Suzanne served as the Director of Assessment at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy at the University of the Sciences where she designed the real-time assessment process for the newly implemented competency-driven doctor of pharmacy curriculum. She came to USciences from Rider University where she served as Director of Assessment and Strategic Partnerships at the College of Education. Here she redesigned their assessment process and managed over a million dollars in grants. Suzanne has led successful self-studies and re-accreditation efforts for the doctor of pharmacy and teacher and leader education programs. She is a proud member of the team who successfully received the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) 2019 Award for Excellence in Assessment. Suzanne was invited to present her research and development of Comprehensive Learner Records (CLRs) to IMS Global at the 2018 Learning Analytics Summit, 2019 IMS Global Digital Credentials Summit and was a finalist for Learning Impact Awards at the Leadership Institute in May 2019. She received the USciences 2018 Founder’s Day Award for Innovation and has presented at AALHE (2018, 2019, 2020), Drexel Assessment Conference (2018, 2019, 2020), IUPUI (2018, 2019, 2020), AACP (2019) as well as regional assessment conferences, and the Competency-Based Education Network (2019, 2020).