Archives: People

Ray Burgman Gallegos began serving as the Vice President, Programs and Services in October 2021. In this role, she increases student access to high-quality postsecondary education and fosters collaborations between institutions. The Programs and Services unit has four regional student access programs, which include the Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE), the Western Regional Graduate Program (WRGP), the Professional Student Exchange Program (PSEP), and the Online Course Exchange (OCE). It also manages the Western Alliance of Community College Academic Leaders, the Western Academic Leadership Forum, and Interstate Passport ®. The unit also partners with Midwestern Higher Education Compact (MHEC) to provide institutions cost savings through four programs—the Master Property Program, MHECare Student Insurance Solutions, MHECtech, and Cyber Insurance. Previously, Burgman served as director of programs and research at HERS (Higher Education Resource Services), a non-profit leadership development organization focused on women who work in postsecondary settings, for eight years. She also served as an administrator at DePauw University, located in Greencastle, IN, in Academic Affairs and the Office of the President and at New College of Florida, located in Sarasota, FL. Burgman was also a tenured professor in economics and management at DePauw University. She also taught at two other institutions in Florida, Santa Fe College and the University of South Florida-St. Peterburg. She received a B.A. in Economics from New College of Florida and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Florida, located in Gainesville, FL.

Jere J. Mock is vice president of programs and services, overseeing WICHE’s regional student access programs: the Professional Student Exchange Program (PSEP), Western Regional Graduate Program (WRGP), Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE), and Online Course Exchange (OCE). Together, these expand affordable access to higher education at some 200 institutions for more than 42,000 students and help develop the West’s workforce. She also directs externally funded regional initiatives that foster college and university collaborations to enhance students’ educational opportunities, increase institutional effectiveness, and enable institutions to reduce their administrative costs and offer expanded services to students. Prior to joining WICHE in 1988, she was executive director of a regional telecommunications company’s corporate philanthropy through the seven-state Mountain Bell Foundation in Denver, and worked in public relations and government affairs at Mountain Bell. She received her bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Colorado Boulder, a master’s of public administration from the University of Colorado Denver, and a master’s of business administration from Regis University. She has served on the boards of several nonprofit organizations.