Seven Women Who Have Been Named to New Administrative Posts at Colleges and Universities

Mariel Pagán Smith has been named assistant vice president for student engagement at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, South Carolina, effective January 9. Since March 2022, Dr. Pagán Smith has served as the assistant dean for student engagement at Montclair State University in New Jersey. She previously served as the director of the Center for Student Involvement at Montclair State.

Dr. Pagán Smith holds a bachelor’s degree in diplomacy and international relations, and a Ph.D. in higher education leadership, management, and policy from Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey. She also earned a master’s degree in counseling services from Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.

Venus D. Boston is the new general counsel at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. She had been serving as deputy chief legal counsel and adjunct professor of business law at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina.

Boston holds a bachelor’s degree in English, a master of public administration degree, and a juris doctorate, all from North Carolina Central University in Durham.

Nora Silvia is the new director of nursing in the Nursing and Health Sciences Division at the College of DuPage in Illinois. She was assistant dean and nurse administrator for health professions and public service at Waubonsee Community College in Illinois.

Silvia is a graduate of Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire. She holds a master’s degree in nursing administration and education from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

Pamela Schipani was appointed interim assistant vice president for student affairs at the University of Connecticut. She has served as the executive director of residential life for the past nine years and has been on the university’s staff for 36 years.

Dr. Schipani holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology, psychology, and education from the State University of New York at Geneseo. She earned a master’s degree in counseling from St. Bonaventure University in New York and a doctorate in education from New England College in Henniker, New Hampshire.

Sherrie Johnson was named vice president for external affairs, communications, and advancement at Prince George’s Community College in Largo, Maryland. Most recently, Dr. Johnson was director of communications with the Prince William County government.

Dr. Johnson holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communications from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She earned a master’s degree in communications from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and an educational doctorate in organizational leadership from Grand Canyon University.

Kelley Melvin was promoted to director of alumni engagement at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. She joined the staff at the university in 2017 as director of employer development. This past July, Melvin was appointed director of constituent strategy for the Office of Alumni and Career Services.

Melvin is a 2008 graduate of Washington and Lee University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration.

Shawna Silesky was appointed division operations officer for the California Institute of Technology’s Division of Physics, Mathematics, and Astronomy. She will oversee operations, finances, human resources, and other administrative functions for the division. She most recently served as administrative director of the Division of Research on Children, Youth, and Families for the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles.

Silesky previously served as director of financial operations at the University of California, Riverside School of Medicine and as the chief financial officer in the department of medicine at the University of California, Irvine. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Phoenix.