Colleges and Universities Appoint 14 Women to New Administrative Positions

Julianne Wallace has been promoted to vice president for mission and ministry at Alvernia University in Reading, Pennsylvania. She previously served as the university’s assistant to the president for mission and director of campus ministry.

Wallace holds a bachelor’s degree in music performance from the University of Mary Washington in Virginia and a master of theological studies degree in word and worship from the Washington Theological Union in Washington, D.C. She is currently completing a doctor of ministry degree in educational leadership from the Virginia Theological Seminary.

Janetta McDowell has been named director of first-year and transition experiences at California State Polytechnic University in Pomona. She has been serving the university as director of Rose Float operations since 2015.

McDowell is a graduate of Cal Poly Pomona. She holds a master’s degree in counseling with an emphasis in student development from California State University, Long Beach.

Diane Z. Chase will be the inaugural vice president for academic innovation, student success and strategic initiatives at Claremont Graduate University in California. She has been serving as executive vice president and provost at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Before coming to UNLV in 2016, Dr. Chase served for 30 years on the anthropology faculty at the University of Central Florida.

Dr. Chase holds a bachelor’s degree and a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania.

Mary Ellen Fulton has been named director of special projects in the Office of the Provost at Boston College. She has served as associate dean for finance and administration in the college’s Lynch School of Education and Human Development for the past 23 years.

Fulton holds a bachelor’s degree and MBA both from Boston College.

Laurie Panella has been named chief information officer at Marquette University in Milwaukee. She has served as chief information officer for Milwaukee County since 2009.

Panella is a graduate of Marquette University, where she majored in business administration with specializations in marketing and human resources.

Shandra L. Gore has been named the first-ever vice president of institutional innovation and economic development at Union Institute & University in Cincinnati. She most recently served as associate vice president of the University of Toledo in Ohio.

Dr. Gore holds three degrees from Bowling Green State University in Ohio: a bachelor’s degree in communications, a master’s degree in communication, and a doctorate in leadership studies.

Khalilah Doss has been named vice president of student affairs at the University of Southern Indiana. She currently serves as vice president of student life, dean of students, deputy Title IX coordinator, and chief diversity officer at McPherson College in Kansas.

Dr. Doss is a graduate of McKendree University in Lebanon, Illinois, where she majored in economics/finance and marketing. She holds a master’s degree in public administration and policy from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and a Ph.D. in educational administration and higher education from Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Joy Hatch has been named chief information officer and vice president for information technology at Fairmont State University in West Virginia. Previously, she served as vice president for technology at Fort Hays State University in Kansas.

Dr. Hatch is a graduate of Barton College in Wilson, North Carolina, where she majored in commercial design. She holds a master’s degree in information systems and an MBA both from Friends University in Wichita, Kansas, and a Ph.D. in information systems from Nova Southeastern University.

Wendy Kobler has been named vice president for institutional advancement at Ithaca College in New York. She currently serves as vice president for institutional advancement at Kentucky State University.

Dr. Kobler is a graduate of the University of West Florida where she majored in marketing. She holds a master’s degree in marketing education from Alabama A&M University and a Ph.D. in global leadership from the Indiana Institute of Technology.

Alison May has been named assistant dean and director of student accessibility services at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. She most recently served as assistant dean of students and director of AccessibleNU at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

Dr. May is a cum laude graduate of Dartmouth College where she majored in psychology. She holds a Ph.D. in learning disabilities from Northwestern University.

Jennifer Lum has been promoted to general counsel at the California Institute of Technology. She has served as Caltech’s deputy general counsel since 2010.

Lum is a graduate of the University of Southern California where she double-majored in political science and French. She holds a juris doctorate from Cornell University.

Karen Battye has been promoted to university registrar at Auburn University in Alabama. She most recently served as a senior analyst in Auburn’s Office of Institutional Research.

Battye holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and a master’s degree in industrial engineering from Auburn University. She is currently pursuing a doctoral degree.

Heather Reed has been named director of student retention initiatives at the University of Arkansas Little Rock. She has been serving as assistant dean in the university’s College of Education and Health Professions for the past three years.

Reed is a graduate of Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri, where she majored in English and linguistics. She holds a master’s degree in college student personnel from Western Illinois University and an education specialist degree in higher education and student affairs from the University of Iowa.

Stacey Sowell is the new director of admissions and recruitment at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg. She was the director of admissions at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Sowell is a graduate of Shaw University, where she majored in English language and literature. She holds a master’s degree in English and African American literature and is studying for a Ph.D. in leadership studies at North Carolina A&T State University.