A Dozen Women Taking on New Administrative Roles at Colleges and Universities

Sarah Cortell Vandersypen was named director of museum advancement and associate director of development at the Louisiana State University Museum of Art. She was the program adviser for Texas A&M University’s Visual Arts Committee.

Vandersypen is a graduate of Boston University, where she majored in art history. She holds a master’s degree in arts policy and administration from Ohio State University.

Cathy Grimes was appointed communications manager for the Graduate School at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg. She was an education and government reporter for the Daily Press Media Group in Newport News, Virginia.

Grimes is a graduate of the University of Washington.

Ginny Painter was promoted to interim senior vice president for communications and marketing at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virgina. Since 2009, she has been communications director of the Marshall University Research Corporation.

Painter holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Marshall University and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Charleston.

Marjolie Leonard was appointed director for Title IX and risk management at Stony Brook University in New York. She has served as the interim director for the past three months. Previously, she director of the university’s Office of Affirmative Action.

Leonard holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and a master’s degree in educational administration and policy studies from the University at Albany of the State University of New York System. She is also a graduate of the Albany Law School.

Pamela Dumas Serfes was promoted to vice president for communications at Connecticut College in New London. She has been serving as acting vice president for college relations since January. Previously, she was the director of advancement communications. Serfes joined the staff at the college in 2012.

Dumas Serfes holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in speech communication from the University of Maine.

Jill Oswaks was named associate dean for academic programs and affairs at the School of Nursing of the University of Memphis. She was an associate professor and director of the nurse anesthesia program at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis.

Dr. Oswaks holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, and a doctor of nursing practice degree from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.

Jamina Scippio-McFadden was appointed director of student services, academic support, marketing, and community relations at the University of Massachusetts Center at Springfield. She has served on the faculty at American International College in Springfield and Fort Valley State University in Georgia.

Scippio-McFadden is a graduate of Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida. She earned a master’s degree in mass communication from the University of Florida.

Shokrina Radpour Beering was named associate vice president for capital planning and facilities at Indiana University in Bloomington. She has been serving as managing partner for the Indianapolis office of the law firm Plunkett Cooney.

Beering holds a bachelor’s degree in English education and a master’s degree in counseling and student personnel from Purdue University. She earned her law degree at Indiana University in Indianapolis.

Priscilla Salant is the new director of the McClure Center for Public Policy Research at the University of Idaho. She has served as interim director since January 1. Previously, she was director of the university’s Office of Community Partnerships.

Salant has been on the staff at the University of Idaho since 2000. She is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and holds a master’s degree in agricultural economics from the University of Arizona.

Lauren Ross was named the inaugural curator of the Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. The institute is scheduled to open in 2016. Ross has been serving as the Nancy E. Meinig Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Ross is a graduate of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. She earned a master’s degree in art history at Hunter College of the City University of New York.

Renee Wells is the new director of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) Center at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. She was the assistant director of the Center for Diversity and Inclusion at Michigan Technological University in Houghton. Previously, she served on the English department faculty at the University of Alabama.

Wells is a graduate of Auburn University in Alabama. She holds a master’s degree in English from Miami University and a master of fine arts degree in creative writing from Southern Illinois University.

Julie Hopwood was named chief of staff for the President Paul Ferguson of Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. Hopwood served as Dr. Ferguson’s chief of staff when he served as president of the University of Maine and as provost at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville.

Hopwood is a graduate of Boise State University in Idaho. She earned a law degree at the University of Idaho and holds a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from Syracuse University in New York and a master of public administration degree from Southern Illinois University.