Kelly Sparks has been appointed vice chancellor for finance and chief financial officer at the University of California, Berkeley. She comes to her new role from the University of Maine, where she is the executive vice president of finance and administration and chief business officer. Earlier, she was associate vice president of finance and strategic planning at Oregon State University-Cascades.
Sparks received bachelor’s degrees in marketing and French literature from the University of Oregon. She holds master’s degrees in business administration and East Asian studies, from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
Michelle McGuire has been named executive vice president of business affairs and chief operations officer for the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia. Her background includes over two decades of experience in strategy and operations management. Since 2011, she has held several leadership roles with Children’s National Hospital, including chief strategy officer and chief of staff.
McGuire earned her bachelor’s degree in economics from Smith College, a women’s liberal arts institution in Massachusetts. She received her MBA in finance from New York University.
Andrea Vassar has been appointed director of disability services at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. She has significant experience in higher education, including past service as executive director for campus accessibility and ADA/504 coordinator at Tulane University in New Orleans and director of disability resources and services at Temple University in Philadelphia.
Vassar receiver her bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in education from the University of St. Thomas in Texas.
Brandyn J. Hicks has been named general counsel for Bryn Mawr College, a women’s liberal arts institution in Pennsylvania. Since 2017, she has served as associate general counsel for Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Previously, she was director of institutional compliance and policy at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.
A graduate of Swarthmore College, Hicks earned her juris doctorate from Temple University.
Shawna Lynch-Watkins has been named senior associate director of graduate admissions and lifelong learning at Meredith College, a women’s liberal arts institution in Raleigh, North Carolina. With over a decade of experience in enrollment strategy and program development, she most recently served as director of strategic initiatives at the University of Oklahoma.
Lynch-Watkins holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Central Oklahoma and a master of public administration degree from Arkansas State University.
Amy Pennington has been promoted from associate vice president to vice president for student affairs at Arkansas Tech University. She has worked for the university since 1997, serving in various student support roles such as dean of students, director of international and multicultural student services, and director of housing programs.
Pennington is a graduate of Arkansas Tech University, where she majored in biology. She holds a master’s degree in higher education administration from the University of Arkansas.
April Tallant has been promoted to director of the Coulter Faculty Commons at Western Carolina University. A former associate professor of health sciences, she previously served as the senior educational developer at the Coulter Faculty Commons. Earlier in her tenure, she was associate dean of the university’s Brunson Honors College.
Dr. Tallant holds a Ph.D. in community health education from the University of Tennessee.
Lisa Keegan has been named the inaugural vice provost for enrollment strategy at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. She comes to her new role from Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, where she served vice president for student enrollment, engagement, and success. Previously, she was assistant vice president and dean of undergraduate admissions at Elon University in North Carolina.
Keegan received her bachelor’s degree in business administration from Elon University and her law degree from Stetson University in Florida.
Darnele Wright has been appointed chief campus counsel and vice chancellor of legal affairs at the University of California, San Francisco. She has extensive experience in legal services within the University of California System. Most recently, she was deputy general counsel for business, transactions, and innovation for the UC Office of the President.
Wright is a graduate of New York University and the Boston University School of Law.
Vicki DeGrand has been promoted to executive director of foundation and alumni relations at Bay College in Escanaba, Michigan. She has been a staff member with the community college since 2011. In her new role, she will lead the institution’s efforts in fundraising, donor relations, scholarship development, and alumni engagement.
An alumna of Bay College, DeGrand received her bachelor’s degree in business administration and management from Lake Superior State University in Michigan.