2nd Annual Conference
Spring 2012
Cary, North Carolina

Dr. Randy Swing
Randy L. Swing is the Executive Director of the Association for Institutional Research (AIR). AIR is a professional association of more than 4,200 institutional researchers, planners, and decision makers representing over 1,500 higher education institutions around the world.

Prior to joining AIR, Swing served as Co- Director & Senior Scholar at the Policy Center on the First Year of College and as a fellow in the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition at the University of South Carolina. He has worked with numerous research teams in Japan, and served as an advisor to the Quality Assurance Agency of Scotland.

He has authored articles, chapters, monographs, and books, including Achieving and Sustaining Excellence in the First College Year (2006) and Proving and Improving: Tools and Techniques for Assessing the First College Year (2004). He is a frequent speaker at national and international conferences on institutional change, assessment, retention, and undergraduate student success. He serves on the editorial/review boards for the Journal of General Education, The Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, and Innovative Higher Education.

For two decades prior to 1999, he held various leadership positions at Appalachian State University in assessment, advising, Upward Bound, and Freshman Seminar. He holds a Ph.D. in Higher Education from the University of Georgia, MA and ED.S from Appalachian State University, and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of North Carolina - Charlotte. Randy began postsecondary education as a first-generation college student at Davidson County Community College in Lexington, NC.

Dr. Mary J. Allen
Mary J. Allen is professor emeritus of psychology, California State University - Bakersfield, and former director of the California State University Institute for Teaching and Learning. She served as department chair and founded the faculty development center and assessment center at California State University - Bakersfield, and supported faculty development and assessment efforts for the California State University System.

She holds a master's degree in statistics and a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of California - Berkeley. In the last decade, she has offered assessment workshops and support to more than 60 colleges, universities, and college districts, and has led invited workshops at a variety of conferences, including presentations for the American Association for Higher Education, the Association of American Colleges and Universities, and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

Allen is the author of numerous articles and other scholarly works; her most recent books include Assessing General Education Programs (Anker, 2006) and Assessing Academic Programs in Higher Education (Anker, 2004). Her research interests include faculty development, outcomes assessment, pedagogy, and accreditation.

Dr. Terrel Rhodes
Terrel Rhodes is currently Vice President of the Office of Quality, Curriculum and Assessment at the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) where he focuses on the quality of undergraduate education, access, general education, and assessment of student learning. He is also director of the annual AAC&U General Education Institute.

Rhodes received his B.A. from Indiana University at Bloomington and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Before moving into national higher education work, he was a faculty member for twenty-five years. He brings to his new position many years of experience leading undergraduate curriculum development efforts, teaching public policy at the graduate and undergraduate levels, developing learning outcomes assessment plans, and forging inter-institutional collaborations with community colleges and high schools.

Rhodes has published extensively on both undergraduate education reform issues and in his academic field of public policy and administration. His many books and articles cover such issues as integrative learning, e-portfolios, high school-college connections, and public policies affecting urban American Indian communities. He is chair of the Ethics Section of the American Society for Public Administration. Rhodes has been an educational consultant and outside evaluator at numerous colleges and universities, with a special interest in curriculum development and assessment of student learning outcomes, and has served as a reviewer and outside evaluator for the U.S. Department of Education.