Colleges and Universities Announce the Appointments of Ten Women to Administrative Posts

Elizabeth Parkinson was appointed to the new position of senior vice president for marketing and communications at Ohio State University. For the past five years, she has been assistant vice president for marketing communications at the University of Michigan.

Parkinson received a bachelor’s degree in marketing and accounting from Alma College in Michigan.

Kendra Tircuit was appointed executive director of advancement services at Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans. She was director of finance at St. Augustine High School in New Orleans. From 2016 to 2019, Tircuit was senior director for the Xavier University Office of Advancement.

Tircuit is a graduate of Xavier University, where she majored in accounting. She holds an MBA from the University of New Orleans.

Deborah Accurso was promoted to director of enrollment management at Cedar Crest College in Allentown, Pennsylvania. She had been serving as director of admissions for adult and graduate education at the college.

Accurso holds a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania. She earned a master’s degree in anthropology at The New School in New York City.

Tammi Jackson was appointed vice president for business and finance at Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina. Her previous experience includes serving as deputy general counsel for fiscal and risk management and compliance for the National Bar Association and as vice president for finance and administration for Dominican University in Illinois, Goucher College in Baltimore, and Mills College in Oakland, California.

Dr. Jackson holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Connecticut and an MBA from Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut. She earned a law degree from the University of Maryland and a doctorate in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania.

Amy Zieziula was appointed deputy Title IX coordinator at Binghamton University in New York. She has been serving as the director of housing and residence life at Broome Community College of the State University of New York.

Dr. Zieziula is a graduate of the College at Brockport of the State University of New York, where she majored in political science and sociology. She earned a master’s degree at the University at Buffalo and a doctorate in educational leadership from Georgia Southern University.

Jenelle Beavers was appointed vice president for strategy at Colorado State University. She has been serving as a member of the Office of the General Counsel at the University of Missouri System.

Beavers is a graduate of the University of Missouri, where she majored in English. She earned both a master’s degree in public health and a juris doctorate from the University of Michigan.

Patricia A. Whitely was named senior vice president for student affairs at the University of Miami. Dr. Whitely arrived at the University nearly 40 years ago, starting as a residence coordinator and rising through the ranks to hold such key positions as director of student life and associate director of residence halls before becoming vice president for student affairs in 1997.

Dr. Whitely earned a bachelor’s degree in business management and theology from St. John’s University in New York. She holds a master’s degree in student personnel services from the University of South Carolina and a doctorate in higher education leadership from the University of Miami.

Aisha Jackson is the inaugural assistant vice chancellor and assistant vice provost for academic and learning technologies at the University of Colorado Boulder. She joined the staff at the university in 2010 and had been serving as director of academic technology applications and design.

Dr. Jackson holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education/exceptional child education from Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida. She earned a master’s degree in education, curriculum, and instruction from the University of Florida and a doctoral degree in education, leadership for educational equity from the University of Colorado Denver.

Ray Celeste Tanner was promoted to assistant director of admissions and communication at Salem College in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She has served as an admissions counselor since September 2019.

A native of King George, Virginia, Tanner received a bachelor’s degree in communication from the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and a master’s degree in communication from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Mechell Clark McCrary was appointed executive director of marketing and communications at Fort Valley State University in Georgia. She has held marketing positions at several corporations including Coca-Cola and Aflac.

A native of Kosciusko, Mississippi, McCrary holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Mississippi State University. She earned a master’s degree in mass communication from Jackson State University in Mississippi.