Eight Women Who Have Been Appointed to New Administrative Posts in Higher Education

Valerie Downing has been promoted to vice president for institutional advancement at Cedar Crest College in Allentown, Pennsylvania. She most recently served as executive director of development in the Office for Institutional Advancement.

Downing holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania.

Racheal Brooks has been named co-chair of the University of North Carolina System’s Quality Matters Council. She currently serves as coordinator of the Office of e-Learning at North Carolina Central University.

Dr. Brooks holds a bachelor’s degree in Spanish from North Carolina Central University, a master’s degree in Spanish literature from Georgia State University, and a Ph.D. in educational evaluation and policy analysis from North Carolina State University.

Renee Carlineo will become the third director of athletics at Elmira College in New York in January. She was the associate director of athletics at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York.

Carlineo holds a bachelor’s degree in sport psychology with minors in exercise physiology and coaching and a master’s degree in sport and exercise science from Ithaca College in New York.

Doris Clark-Sarr was appointed senior director of development for Talladega College in Alabama. She is the former director of Upward Bound programs at Murray State University in Kentucky.

Dr. Clark-Sarr holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing, a master’s degree in organizational communication, and a master of public administration degree, all from Murray State University. She earned a Ph.D. in urban higher education from Jackson State University in Mississippi.

Kim Ziebarth, former interim president of Davis Technical College in Utah, was appointed associate commissioner of academic and student affairs for the Utah System of Technical Colleges. Ziebarth has been on the staff at Davis Technical College for 20 years.

Ziebarth is a graduate of Boise State University in Idaho, where she majored in political science. She holds a master’s degree in education from Utah State University.

Amy B. Magnuson was named director of University Health Services at Florida State University. She has served as interim director since May 2017. Earlier, she served for 13 years as director of the Center for Health Advocacy and Wellness at the university.

Dr. Magnuson holds three degrees from Florida State University, including a Ph.D. in nutrition.

Jerlena Griffin-Desta was appointed chief of staff and associate vice president for strategic initiatives and diversity at Sonoma State University in California. She has been serving as deputy to the vice president for student affairs in the Office of the President of the University of California System.

Dr. Griffin-Desta is a graduate of Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, where she majored in communications and English. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D.  in education from the University of California, Berkeley.

Alison A. Adams-Perlac is the new director of the Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity at Utah State University. She has been serving in the Utah criminal justice system as an advocate for children in juvenile court litigation.

Adams-Perlac holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and a juris doctorate from the University of Utah.