Eight Women Named to New Administrative Posts in Higher Education

Melissa R. Lavitt was senior associate vice chancellor for academic affairs at Indiana University/Purdue University Indianapolis. She has been serving as dean of the College of Social Sciences & Public Affairs at Boise State University in Idaho. Lavitt will start her new job on February 1.

Dr. Lavitt is a graduate of the University of Chicago, She holds a master of social work degree and a Ph.D. in social work from Tulane University in New Orleans.

Rhonda Risser was named director of financial aid at Scripps College in Claremont, California. She has been serving as interim director since September and previously she was associate director.

Risser first joined the staff at Scripps College in 1998.

Shelly Berkley, former seven-term U.S. Representative from the First District of Nevada, was named CEO and senior provost of the Western Division of Touro College. She will oversee Touro College campuses in Nevada and California.

Berkley served in Congress from 1999 to 2013. She is a graduate of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and the University of San Diego School of Law.

Maria O’Mara was named director of communications and primary media spokesperson for the University of Utah. She was director of external communications for Rocky Mountain Power Company.

O’Mara is a graduate of the University of Utah, where she majored in broadcast journalism.

Cathi Cody-Hudson was appointed director of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Vermont. She has been on the staff of the University of Vermont’s Continuing and Distance Education programs for 31 years and has been assistant director of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute since 2010.

Joyce A. Ingram is the new assistant vice president for human resources at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee. For the past 10 years, she has been an assistant vice president and chief human resources and diversity officer at Florida State University.

Ingram earned a master’s degree and juris doctorate through a joint degree program at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.

Paula Dias was appointed manager of the Montserrat Coalition, a mentoring and support program for high financial need students at Boston College. She was a senior student engagement specialist at Middlesex Community College in Bedford, Massachusetts.

A native of Brazil, Dias holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Boston College.

Rosa Isela Cervantes was named the director of El Centro de la Raza at the University of New Mexico. She joined the staff at the university in 1997 and most recently served as program operations director for college enrichment and outreach programs.

Cervantes holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology and Spanish and a master’s degree from the College of Education at the University of New Mexico.