A Large Group of Women Who Have Been Appointed to New Administrative Posts in Higher Education

Lynn Phillips was promoted to director of academic engagement and student success in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She was chief undergraduate advisor in the department of communication.

Dr. Phillips is a graduate of the now closed Trinity College in Burlington, Vermont. She holds a Ph.D. in human development and social psychology from the University of Pennsylvania.

Laura Valdez was appointed director of university advisement at the University of New Mexico. She was the director of the University College Advising Center. Earlier, she was director of new student orientation for 10 years.

Valdez holds a bachelor’s degree in speech communication and a master’s degree in communication and journalism from the University of New Mexico.

Jenny Faust will direct a yet unnamed office at the University of Wisconsin-Madison that will be formed by the merger of the Office of Quality Improvement and Administrative Process Redesign. She will also hold the title of associate vice provost for strategic initiatives. Dr. Faust has been serving as an internal consultant to the Office of Quality Improvement.

Dr. Faust is a graduate of Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama, where she majored in biology and philosophy. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Elavie Ndura is the new vice president for equity, diversity, and inclusion at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. She will also hold the title of chief diversity officer. She was a professor of teacher development and international education at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

Dr. Ndura earned a Ph.D. in education, curriculum and instruction, and bilingual and multicultural education from Northern Arizona University.

Jennifer Moore Ballentine was appointed executive director of the Institute for Palliative Care at California State University, San Marcos. She was executive director of the Life Quality Institute in Denver.

Moore holds a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College in Ohio and a master’s degree in end-of-life studies from Regis University.

Mercedes Pinckney Fabers is the new general counsel at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg. She is the former assistant general counsel at the College of Charleston.

Fabers is a graduate of College of Charleston, where she majored in political science. She earned her law degree at North Carolina Central University in Durham. She also holds a master’s degree in intercultural human rights from the St. Thomas University School of Law.

Abigail Domico was appointed assistant dean of administration and technology in the College of Art and Architecture at Pennsylvania State University. She was executive director and general manager for the university’s WPSU radio and television stations.

Domico is a graduate of the University of Georgia.

Paula Congelio was named vice president and chief financial officer at West Virginia University. She has been serving, and will continue to do so, as associate vice president and chief financial officer for West Virginia University Health Services.

Congelio is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University, where she majored in accounting. She holds a master of public administration degree from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

Christina Trombley was appointed executive director of online education programs at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. She has been serving as assistant vice chancellor for student recruitment, enrollment, and retention at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.

Trombley is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, where she majored in communication. She holds an MBA from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and is completing work on an educational doctorate at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Jana Moore was named assistant director for student services at the Language and Culture Institute on the campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg. She was an adjunct professor at John Cabot University in Rome.

Moore is a graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi, where she majored in international studies and foreign languages. She earned a master’s degree in education at the University of Oklahoma.

Marche Fleming-Randle was promoted to vice president for diversity and community engagement at Wichita State University in Kansas. She was assistant dean in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and assistant to the president for diversity.

Dr. Fleming-Randle joined the staff at Wichita State University in 2007. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degree from Kansas State University and a doctorate from Nova Southeastern University.

Rhiannon Paget is the new curator of Asian art at the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art on the campus of Florida State University. She was serving as the Andrew W. Mellon Fellow for Japanese Art at the St. Louis Art Museum.

Paget holds a bachelor’s degree in art history and theory, a master’s degree, and a Ph.D. in art history with an emphasis on Japanese painting and prints, all from the University of Sydney in Australia.

Joffery Gaymon was promoted to vice president of enrollment and student affairs at the University of West Florida in Pensacola. She joined the staff at the university in 2013 as associate vice president for enrollment affairs. Earlier, Dr. Gaymon was assistant vice chancellor for enrollment management and director of admissions at the University of South Carolina-Beaufort.

Dr. Gaymon holds a bachelor’s degree in mass communication and a master of public administration degree from Georgia College and State University. She earned an educational doctorate at Northeastern University in Boston.

Claire Allison is the new assistant director of the Center for Community Engagement at the University of Arkansas. She joined the staff at the center in 2014.

Allison is a graduate of Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas, where she majored in environmental studies. She holds a master of public administration degree from the University of Arkansas.

Althea Riddick was appointed interim associate vice chancellor for enrollment at Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina. Dr. Riddick joined the staff at the university in 2012 as assistant vice chancellor for academic affairs and subsequently was named university registrar.

Dr. Riddick is a graduate of Elizabeth City State University. She earned a master’s degree in vocational education from East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, and an educational doctorate from Northcentral University in Prescott Valley, Arizona.

Brittany Todd was promoted to director of the Office of Risk Intervention and Safety Education at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. She was serving as associate director of the Office of Student Conduct.

Todd holds a master’s degree in higher education administration and is working on an educational doctorate from Auburn University in Alabama.

Ana Rodriguez was appointed director of the Latino Leadership Initiative at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. She was director of development and alumni relations for the Naveen Jindal School of Management at the University of Texas at Dallas.

Rodriguez is a graduate of Southern Methodist University, where she majored in finance. She earned an MBA at the University of North Texas at Dallas.

Debra Mays-Jackson was named chief of staff for William B. Bynum Jr., the new president of Jackson State University in Mississippi. She was serving as vice president at the Utica campus of Hinds Community College in Mississippi.

Dr. Mays-Jackson holds a bachelor’s degree in piano performance and a master’s degree in music education from Jackson State University. She earned an educational doctorate at Mississippi State University.

Cynthia Giles was appointed director of strategic initiatives for the Energy and Environment Lab at the University of Chicago. She is the former enforcement chief at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Giles is a graduate of Cornell University and the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. She also holds a master of public administration degree from Harvard University.

Tamara King was promoted to associate vice chancellor for student support and wellness at Washington University in St. Louis. She has been serving as associate dean of students and director of student conduct.

Prior to her arrival at Washington University in 1999, King worked in private practice and as an assistant district attorney in Pennsylvania.

Maureen De Armond was named assistant vice president for human resources at the University of Florida. She was serving as associate general counsel at Iowa State University. Earlier, she worked for Unity Point Health Care System in Illinois.

De Armond is a graduate of the University of Iowa College of Law.

Nashia Whittenburg is the new director of multicultural student affairs at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. From 2012 to 2017, she was the director of multicultural affairs at Armstrong State University in Savannah, Georgia.

Whittenburg is a graduate of the University of South Carolina, where she majored in sociology. She earned a master’s degree in social welfare from Stony Brook University in New York.

Kathleen Worthington Wilson was named associate athletics director for student services at Cleveland State University in Ohio. She was special assistant to the dean and associate provost for the graduate School at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Worthington Wilson is a graduate of Notre Dame of Maryland University, where she majored in communications. She holds master’s degrees from Syracuse University in New York and the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.