Paul Turman began as chancellor of the Nebraska State College System (NSCS) in January of 2019. NSCS is comprised of three geographically diverse institutions that combined serve nearly 9,000 students and offer more than 200 degrees, certificate and pre-professional programs. Previously Turman served as the system vice president for academic affairs at the South Dakota Board of Regents, which governs the state’s six public universities. Before joining the Regents staff, he served as an associate professor at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI), and was recognized for outstanding teaching and service at the institutional and national levels. Throughout his academic career he has published 34 peer-reviewed research articles and co-authored four books. He earned a Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2000 and received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from South Dakota State University. He previously served as the co-chair of the Interstate Passport Review Board representing the four-year university sector from January 2017 until December 2018.
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Paul Smith, Ph.D., serves as the Senior Associate for student mobility policy and research for the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV). In this role, he works with public institutions of higher education and other state agencies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of transfer in the Commonwealth. Prior to his position with SCHEV, he held several positions at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) where he worked as a researcher, instructor, and safety inspector. Smith received his bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Maryland, College Park, and both a master’s degree in biology and a Ph.D. in education from VCU.
Paul Disney is an adjunct professor of business management and leadership at Western Oregon University. He achieved the rank of Colonel in the U.S. Army and served as an aviation officer in various command and staff positions at the strategic, operational, and tactical levels. Disney is currently serving as the chair for the WICHE Passport critical thinking learning outcome faculty team. He received his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Elizabethtown College and his master’s degree in business administration from Boston University. Disney also has a master’s degree in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College.
Paula Compton, Ph.D., is the associate vice chancellor for articulation and transfer at the Ohio Department of Higher Education and the executive director of the Ohio Articulation and Transfer Network. She provides leadership and direction for all aspects of Ohio’s comprehensive articulation and transfer system. Prior professional positions include enrollment management roles at the Ohio State University and the University of Toledo. Compton earned her bachelor’s degree in mathematics and speech secondary education from Miami University, her master’s degree in guidance counseling and student personnel work, and a Ph.D. in higher education administration from Ohio State University.
Patricia (Pat) Shea retired as the director of academic leadership initiatives for the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) in June 2019. In that role, she oversaw two membership organizations of chief academic leaders in the 16-state region–the Western Academic Leadership Forum and the Western Alliance of Community College Academic Leaders—and their related projects. Shea also managed the Interstate Passport®, a program designed to facilitate nationwide block transfer of lower-division general education based on learning outcomes for institutions participating in the Interstate Passport Network. Prior to holding this position, Shea was assistant director of WCET (also based at WICHE), project manager for the National School Boards Association, and executive director of the Alexandria Bar Association in VA. She holds a master’s degree in educational administration and supervision from George Mason University and a bachelor’s degree from West Virginia University in art and English education.
Ologa Iopu has worked at Salt Lake Community College’s Office of the Registrar and Academic Records Office since March of 2013 as the assistant registrar managing the day-to-day operations of the office. She recently assumed the associate registrar position in 2016 where she manages technical projects for the office. Iopu comes to Salt Lake Community College from Otis College of Art and Design, where she served as a registration specialist. Prior to that, she worked as a student success coach/registrar assistant at DeVry University and as the records coordinator at ITT Technical Institute. She received her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from DeVry University.
Michel Hillman, Ph.D., is an advisory board member for Interstate Passport and a founding co-chair of the Passport Review Board. He previously served as the chief academic and student affairs officer at North Dakota University System for 15 years. He received his bachelor’s degree from Slippery Rock State College in Pennsylvania, his master’s degree from Indiana University at Pennsylvania, and his Ph.D. at the University of South Dakota in experimental psychology.
Michael Torrens is director of Analysis, Assessment and Accreditation (AAA) at Utah State University, a premier student-centered, land-grant and space-grant university. He leads institutional research, assessment, and accreditation efforts. The AAA office is a resource for data-driven decisions, serving USU’s students, faculty, staff, administration, and the wider community. Previously, Torrens served as director of applied research and innovation at the Corporation for Enterprise Development in Washington, D.C., where he managed the Local Capital Market Investment Fund and led asset-building research, program development and policy work for six years. Prior to his work in Washington, he served as executive director of New Jersey Community Capital. His international work encompasses Zimbabwe, Colombia, Argentina, Bolivia and Peru. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Brown University and a master’s degree in public policy from Princeton University.
Michael Barr, Ph.D., is associate vice president, academic program development review online synergy at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. Barr is an industrial/organizational psychologist specializing in leadership and motivation. He joined The Chicago School in 2001 as program faculty in the IO Program and as director of the school’s consulting center. Additionally, he has extensive experience in organizational assessment and selection test development. Currently, he is on a research team at Shriner’s Hospitals for Children. Prior to joining The Chicago School, he completed postdoctoral work as an organizational psychologist at the Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation at the University of Chicago. He earned both his Ph.D. and master’s degree in industrial/organizational psychology from the Illinois Institute of Technology.
Lynn Lundquist is the registrar at Concordia University-St. Paul in Stillwater, Minnesota. Lundquist has over seventeen years of higher education experience with fifteen years of management and ten years of training experience. Lundquist earned her bachelor’s degree in child development and family sciences with a specialization in youth, adult at risk from Purdue University and her master’s degree in management from Globe University-Woodbury.