Dr. Koch is a child of immigrants who came to the United States in pursuit of a better life. His first language was not English, and postsecondary education was valued by his family as a means for realizing the American Dream. A recipient of need-based aid while in school, Koch is a staunch advocate for and leader of efforts that increase student access to and, ultimately, completion of postsecondary education. He has worked in and with higher education institutions for over 30 years. He has done so since 2010 at the Gardner Institute where he was named Chief Executive Officer in 2021.

Dr. Andrew Koch has substantive experience with undergraduate education administration, redesign of educational systems to address performance gaps, strategic planning, fundraising, reaffirmation of accreditation, postsecondary access and success, and enrollment management efforts. His work includes extensive grant writing and fundraising with support coming from sources such as Ascendium Education Philanthropies, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, ECMC Foundation, GEAR UP, Kresge Foundation, Lilly Endowment, Inc., Lumina Foundation, and the National Science Foundation.

Dr. Koch holds a baccalaureate degree in history and German from the University of Richmond, a master’s degree in history from the University of Richmond, a master’s degree in higher education administration from the University of South Carolina, and a Ph.D. from Purdue University in American Studies. He was an American Council on Education Fellow in 2013-14.

Dr. Koch’s scholarly and professional interests are focused on student success and the ways in which colleges and universities both reflect and shape democracy and culture in the United States. Through this work, he serves as a passionate advocate for historically underrepresented and underserved students – seeing higher education as a vehicle for advancing equity and social justice.

He is the author of an array of publications such as the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th editions of The First-Year Experience in American Higher Education: An Annotated Bibliography as well as Improving Teaching, Learning, Equity, and Success in Gateway Courses: New Directions for Higher Education, Number 180. He is the co-editor of The Transfer Experience (Stylus, 2021). His solo-authored book on "Transforming the gateway course experience: A call to action for higher education" was recently published.

Koch has served on several boards and commissions including the Gardner Institute’s Board of Directors; the Board of Directors for Asheville Empire Youth Lacrosse; the Indiana College Access and Success Network; the Directorate Board for the American College Personnel Association Commission on Admissions, Orientation, and the First-Year Experience; the Military Family Research Institute; the Higher Learning Commission’s Think Tank on Persistence and Completion; the Higher Learning Commission’s Defining Student Success Task Force; the advisory committee for the Association of American Colleges and Universities Strengthening Guided Pathways and Career Success by Ensuring Students are Learning project; the National Advisory Board for the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition; and the editorial review board of the Journal of the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition.

Dr. Koch lives with his wife, Dr. Sara Stein Koch, and their six children in Mills River, North Carolina. In their spare time, he and his wife enjoy hiking with their children; attending their children’s track, soccer, and lacrosse events; gardening; and reading.

To contact Drew, email him at koch@jngi.org.

James Black, Ph.D. is an administrative faculty member currently serving as the Director of Student and Academic Affairs in the Office of Graduate Education at Georgia Tech. He reports to the Vice Provost for Graduate and Postdoctoral Education and is a member of her leadership team. In his role as director, he supports a team of faculty and staff that manages student services and success programs for Tech's more than 8,000 on-campus master's and doctoral students. These services and programs address all phases of the graduate student life cycle and graduate student experience. He is the creator of GT6000, an Institute-level, 8-week graduate student first-year experience and extended orientation program. His team oversees graduate student hiring policy compliance for over 4,500 graduate assistants, the administration of over $10M in annual fellowship funding including 120 on-tenure students supported on the NSF GRFP, and thesis and dissertation processing. He is active in shared governance at Georgia Tech chairing and serving on multiple Institute committees and advisory boards. Before joining the Office of Graduate Education, he completed his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech doing research on a novel droplet levitation technique utilizing a fluid property called thermocapillarity. While a graduate student, he served as Graduate Student Body President in the Student Government Association. Outside of Georgia Tech, he recently served as the President of the Georgia Council of Graduate Schools, a state-level professional organization that advocates for graduate education in Georgia and currently serves on the national board of directors for Theta Chi Fraternity. He’s also a part-time CrossFit coach, amateur gardener, sci-fi nerd, and father of two young children.

Marc Ebelhar, Ed.D. is an academic professional that serves as graduate student success specialist in the Office of Graduate Education and the instructor of record for GT6000. In this role, he leads the implementation of the GT6000 program along with supporting the assistant instructor and 45 student leaders. Marc has over 20 years’ experience as a higher education professional with a primary focus in graduate education, students in transition, LGBTQIA allyship, and campus housing. Marc earned a bachelor of arts in economics and political science from Bellarmine University in Louisville, KY, a master of education in higher education and student affairs from the University of South Carolina, and a doctorate in student affairs leadership from the University of Georgia. Outside of work Marc enjoys playing tabletop board games, is a proud supporter of Memphis Grizzlies basketball and Leeds United football and loves to explore the cuisine, culture, and community of Buford Highway with his partner, Christina.

Dr. April Perry (she/her) is an Associate Professor in the M.Ed. Higher Education Student Affairs program and serves at Department Head/Chair for Human Services at Western Carolina University. Her research is primarily on college student identity development, career development, student transitions, and institutional initiatives for student success. She is the co-editor of the recent book - A Practitioner's Guide to Supporting Graduate and Professional Students (Routledge, 2022).
As a practitioner, April has worked in Student Leadership Programs, Parent & Family Programs, Fundraising & Marketing, Academic Tutoring Services, Graduate School Administration, and has served in various leadership roles in the academy such as Department Head, Assistant Department Head, Interim Associate Dean of the Grad School, and HESA Graduate Program Director.
In 2016, April received the WCU Graduate School’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Mentoring. In 2017, she was named Outstanding Professional in Graduate and Professional Student Services by NASPA's AGAPSS Knowledge Community. In 2020, she was selected for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's Blue Ridge Stand Out (14 under 40). In 2022, she was honored with NASPA AGAPSS’ Outstanding Contribution to Research and the Profession Award, and also in 2022 received NASPA Faculty Council’s Outstanding Support for Graduate Students Award. In 2024, her book was selected for the Outstanding Publication Award by NASPA’s Faculty Council.
April is passionate about student/human development and lives by the motto that 'the only thing better than watching someone grow is helping them grow.'

Cate Denial is the Bright Distinguished Professor of American History and Director of the Bright Institute at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. A winner of the American Historical Association’s Eugene Asher Distinguished Teaching award, Cate has served as a member of the Educational Advisory Committee of the Digital Public Library of America, as a Distinguished Lecturer for the Organization of American Historians, and as a Learned Scholar for the National Historic Landmarks division of the National Park Service. Cate currently sits on the board of Commonplace: A Journal of Early American Life. She has held an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation fellowship from the American Philosophical Society, and is an elected member of the American Antiquarian Society.

Cate is a pedagogical consultant who works with individuals, departments, and institutions in Australia, Canada, Ireland, the U.K. and the U.S. Cate’s new book, A Pedagogy of Kindness, argues that instructors and institutions of higher education must urgently focus on compassion in the classroom; the book is available from the University of Oklahoma Press. Issues of care animate Cate’s work. Between 2022 and 2023, Cate was PI on a $150,000 grant awarded to Knox College by the Mellon Foundation, bringing together thirty-six participants from across higher education in the United States to explore “Pedagogies, Communities, and Practices of Care in the Academy After COVID-19.” In 2024, Cate was also a participant in the NSF-funded “Convening of Care” project, directed by the American Association of Geographers and the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs.

Cate’s historical research has examined the early nineteenth-century experience of pregnancy, childbirth and child-rearing in Upper Midwestern Ojibwe and missionary cultures, research that grew out of Cate’s previous book, Making Marriage: Husbands, Wives, and the American State in Dakota and Ojibwe Country (2013). She is presently researching the life of Susan Richardson, an African-American woman who escaped from slavery to establish herself in Galesburg, Illinois in the 1840s.

As founder and director of the Bright Institute at Knox College, Cate oversees a program which supports thirteen faculty from liberal arts schools across the United States in their teaching and research for three years. Each fellow attends an annual two-week summer seminar on new scholarship in early American history, and receives $3,500 in research funding per year.

Isis Artze-Vega, Ed.D. serves as college provost and vice president for academic affairs at Valencia College in Central Florida, a Hispanic-Serving Institution that serves about 70,000 students annually and has long been regarded one of the nation’s best community colleges.

Isis Artze-Vega provides strategic leadership for the areas of curriculum, assessment, faculty development, distance learning, career and workforce education, and partnerships for educational equity. Prior to joining Valencia, Isis served as assistant vice president for teaching and learning at Florida International University (FIU), leading such efforts as a gateway course project, a hybrid course initiative, and the comprehensive redesign of teaching evaluation. Prior to joining FIU, she taught English composition and enrollment management at the University of Miami. Most importantly, she is the proud wife of visual artist Sinuhe Vega; the proud mami of Kamilah, 13, and Delilah, 11; and forever indebted to extraordinary parents, Mayra and Elias. Her work is fueled by a commitment to equity and justice, implemented through love and service.

Peter Felten Ph.D., is an assistant provost for teaching and learning, executive director of the Center for Engaged Learning, and professor of history at Elon University. Peter Felten has published seven books about undergraduate education, including Connections are Everything: A College Student’s Guide to Relationship-Rich Education(Johns Hopkins University Press, 2023) co-authored by Isis Artze-Vega, Leo Lambert, and Oscar Miranda Tapia – with an open access online version free to all readers. He has served as president of the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL) and also of the POD Network, the U.S. professional society for educational developers. He is on the advisory board of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE).

Leo M. Lambert is President Emeritus and Professor at Elon University. Lambert served as president from 1999-2018, leading Elon’s rise to national prominence by promoting a student-centered culture that values strong relationships between students and their faculty and staff mentors. Focused on developing students as global citizens, ethical leaders and creative problem-solvers, Lambert led two strategic plans, creating a model for the modern liberal arts university.

Oscar R. Miranda Tapia is a Research Associate at the Belk Center for Community College Leadership and Research and a Policy Intern at North Carolina Independent Colleges & Universities. He is also a PhD student and Provost Fellow at NC State University, pursuing a degree in Educational Leadership, Policy, and Human Development, with a focus on higher education opportunity, equity, and justice. Prior to his doctoral studies, Oscar led the first-generation initiative at Elon University. He is a co-author of Connections are Everything: A College Student’s Guide to Relationship-Rich Education and holds a bachelor’s degree from Elon University and a master’s degree from Harvard University.

Chaouki T. Abdallah became the tenth president of the Lebanese American University (LAU) on October 1, 2024. Most recently, he served as Executive Vice President for Research at The Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), from September 2018 until September 2024.

Under Dr. Abdallah’s leadership, research expenditures at Georgia Tech increased significantly from approximately $850 million at the start of his term in 2018 to $1.45 billion as of December 2023. Dr. Abdallah previously served as the 22nd president of the University of New Mexico. His efforts there contributed to an 8% increase in first-year student retention and a 125% increase in four-year graduation rates. A prominent expert in control theory and systems engineering, he has authored eight books, serving as co-editor for three of them and co-author for five. Additionally, he has contributed to more than 400 peer-reviewed articles. Dr. Abdallah is deeply committed to guiding students and has personally mentored 36 Master’s degree and 16 Ph.D. candidates.

Dr. Abdallah studied at the Faculté d’ingénierie of the Université Saint-Joseph in Lebanon before continuing his studies in the United States at Youngstown State University in Ohio, where he obtained a Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.) degree in 1981. He earned M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Georgia Tech in 1982 and 1988, respectively.

Dr. Abdallah is a native of Rachana, a village in northern Lebanon known for its beautiful sculptures, where his parents still reside. He and his seven siblings are all first-generation college graduates, thanks in part to the hard work of their parents. Dr. Abdallah met his wife, Catherine, also an engineering graduate, at Georgia Tech. She is the president of a global supply chain company. Their twin sons are Carter, a software engineer in Silicon Valley, and Calvin, who just began medical school.

For nearly a decade, Amanda worked in TRiO programs, spending a year with Talent Search and the next nine leading an Upward Bound project. In 2008, she joined the staff at Marietta College directing the Academic Resource Center (ARC). As the Director of the ARC, Amanda has led the center in tremendous growth including such activities as developing the PioPREP Academy bridge program, the Campus Food Pantry, and co-advising the Tri-Alpha first-generation national honor society to name a few. Under her direction, the ARC has achieved and renewed national certification from the College Learning Center Association’s (CRLA) International Tutor Training Program Certification team. In 2021, The ARC was named the National College Learning Center Association (NCLCA) Frank Christ Outstanding Learning Center Award winner for four-year institutions. Amanda has been recognized for her outstanding service at Marietta College, receiving honors for numerous areas of service. She was recently named the Distinguished Alumna of the year by Washington State Community College for outstanding professional achievement. In addition to her role in the ARC, Ms. Haney-Cech teaches First Year Experience (FYE) courses, a gender studies course, and the PIO 101 and 102 Pio Pathway courses.

Amanda is highly active both on campus and off, working with myriad committees and organizations that promote student success and positive staff engagement. Amanda has been active in promoting academic success and the value of the learning center profession on the state and national level as well. She has served on the board of directors for the Association for the Coaching and Tutoring Profession (formerly ATP), Ohio TRiO (formerly OAEOPP), and most recently, the Ohio College Learning Center Association (OCLCA) where she was engaged with the founding board for the NCLCA affiliate. Amanda has presented numerous conference workshops over the past 20 years and was the featured keynote speaker at the New York College Learning Skills Association annual conference in November of 2021.

Gregory (Greg) L. Heileman, Ph.D., currently serves as the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Arizona, where he is responsible for facilitating collaboration across campus to strategically enhance quality and institutional capacity related to undergraduate programs academic administration. He has served in various administrative capacities in higher education since 2004.

Greg Heileman’s experience includes work in the areas of faculty development, institutional research, accreditation and academic program review, curriculum management, student success, academic advisement, tutoring, student health & wellbeing, student conduct, budget and finance, economic development, policy development, information technology and data governance, and strategic planning.

From 2017-2019, he served as the Associate Provost for Student & Academic Life and Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering at the University of Kentucky, where he was responsible for providing vision, leadership and strategic direction for campus-wide student success efforts, while also serving as the university’s Chief Student Affairs Officer. From 2011-2017, he served as the Associate Provost for Curriculum and then as the Vice Provost for Teaching, Learning and Innovation at the University of New Mexico (UNM). During that time, he led campus-wide student academic success initiatives, and worked with key stakeholders on campus, to produce all-time record retention and graduation rates.

His work as a professor began in 1990 when he joined the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at UNM. He subsequently advanced through the academic ranks to Professor. He has more than 170 peer-reviewed publications in the areas of machine learning and data analytics, information security, and student success in higher education. His research activities have generated more than $9,000,000 in external funding, and he has served as the advisor for 48 M.S. and Ph.D. students. From 2005-2011 he served as Associate Chair (Director of Undergraduate Programs), and led the department through two ABET accreditation visits. In 2011 he became an ABET program evaluator. In 2009 he was also awarded the IEEE Albuquerque Section Outstanding Educator Award. He was the recipient of ECE’s Lawton-Ellis Award for combined excellence in teaching, research, and student/community involvement in 2001 and again 2009. He held ECE’s Gardner Zemke Professorship from 2005-08. He received the School of Engineering’s Teaching Excellence award in 1995, and the ECE Department Distinguished Teacher Award in 2000. During 1998, he held a research fellowship at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, and in 2005, he held a similar position at the Universidad Politénica de Madrid. He earned the BA degree in Biology from Wake Forest University in 1982, the MS degree in Biomedical Engineering and Mathematics from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in 1986, and the PhD degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Central Florida in 1989.