A Dozen Women Appointed to Administrative Roles in American Higher Education

Fabiola Huerta has been appointed director of administrative and business services for Long Beach City College in California. Her background includes over 16 years of administrative experience in the public sector, including positions in strategic management, finance, and operational excellence. Most recently, she served as the city manager and city clerk for La Habra Heights.

Huerta is a graduate of California State University, Fullerton, where she majored in communications with a minor in speech communications. She holds a master’s degree in humanities from Mount Saint Mary’s College.

Kasey Evans has been named vice president for enrollment at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas. With over a decade of higher education experience, she has been serving as associate vice president for enrollment management and dean of admissions at Illinois Wesleyan University. Earlier in her career, she held admissions leadership roles with Eastern Illinois University.

Evans holds a bachelor’s degree in English writing from Illinois Wesleyan University and a master’s degree in college student affairs from Eastern Illinois University.

Tara Cunningham has been named director of communications and marketing at Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her background includes over a decade of experience in communications, marketing, and strategic planning. She previously served as the public information director for the Louisiana Department of Revenue.

Cunningham received her bachelor’s degree in English from Dillard University.

Rachel James-Terry has been named senior director of strategic communications at Florida A&M University. She comes to her new role from Jackson State University in Mississippi, where she was director of public relations for nine years. She also served as editor-in-chief of The Jacksonian, the university’s alumni publication.

James-Terry received her bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in English from Jackson State University.

Robin Elkins has been named senior executive director and chief development officer for the College of Social and Behaviors Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She most recently served as associate dean for advancement at Emerson College in Boston, where she oversaw fundraising initiatives for the School of Arts, the School of Communication, and the Marlboro Institute for Liberal Arts and Interdisciplinary Studies.

Elkins received her bachelor’s degree in management from Oklahoma State University and her master’s degree in intercultural relations from Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Nicole Albo-Lopez has been promoted to deputy chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College District. She has held several leadership roles with the community college system, including vice chancellor for educational programs and institutional effectiveness for the Los Angles Community College District.

Dr. Albo-Lopez received her master’s degree in health professions education from Midwestern University and her doctorate in educational leadership from Northern Arizona University.

Mariana Sanabria has been appointed vice president of enrollment services for Alverno College, a private women’s college in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her appointment marks a return to Alverno, where she previously served as a graduate admissions counselor and experience coordinator. She has been serving as director of undergraduate admission at Mount Mary University, another Milwaukee-based women’s institution.

Sanabria is a graduate of the University of Michigan, where she double-majored in psychology and women’s studies. She holds a master’s degree in counseling and college student development from DePaul University in Chicago.

Celeste Carmichael has been promoted to assistant director of program development and accountability for Cornell Cooperative Extension. For over a decade, she has served as a program development and accountability specialist at Cornell.

Carmichael received her bachelor’s degree in biology from the State University of New York at Cortland, her master’s degree in environmental resource engineering from SUNY’s College of Environmental Sciences and Forestry in Syracuse, and her master’s degree in instructional design from Quinnipiac University in Connecticut. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. from Cornell University’s department of natural resources and the environment.

Deborah Goldstein has been named associate vice president and associate vice provost for community-engaged scholarship at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. She first joined the Duke administration in 2020 as executive director of the North Carolina Leadership Forum. In 2024, she was named senior director for community engagement.

Goldstein received her bachelor’s degree in urban studies from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and her juris doctorate from Harvard Law School.

Carissa Ciampaglia has been named ombudsperson for the Graduate School at Indiana University Bloomington. She most recently served as ombudsperson for HOPICS, a Los Angeles-based housing and homeless service agency. Earlier in her tenure with the organization, she was a problem-solving specialist.

Ciampaglia holds a master’s degree in negotiation, conflict resolution, and peace building from California State University, Dominguez Hills.

Patricia Wooten has been named division director of human resources for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech. Her career with the university began in 2019 as the human resources manager for the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine in Roanoke. For the past four years, she has served as human resources division director for advancement.

Wooten holds a bachelor’s degree in business management from Southern Connecticut State University.

Connie Dyer has been appointed vice president for finance and treasurer of Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. She comes to her new position from the Community College of Allegheny County, which operates four campuses in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. There, she was vice president of finance and chief financial officer. Earlier, she was a senior accountant at Carlow University in Pittsburgh.

Dyer holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh and an MBA from Carlow University. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in leadership and administration in higher education at Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania.