Please note that this is a tentative list and more conference presenters will be added before the conference. Check this Web page for updates.
Presenter Bios
Jonathan Alger is Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, where he is as a member of the senior leadership team, oversees all legal affairs for the University, serves as chief compliance officer, and advises the governing boards and administration. He also teaches an undergraduate course on higher education law and a first-year seminar on diversity issues. Before coming to Rutgers, he was Assistant General Counsel at the University of Michigan, where he helped coordinate two landmark admissions lawsuits in the U.S. Supreme Court. Mr. Alger previously served as counsel for the national office of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) in Washington, DC, and as an attorney-advisor in the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights. He began his professional career in the Labor and Employment Section at the international law firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius.
Mr. Alger has given hundreds of presentations on higher education law and policy for institutions and organizations throughout the United States and in the UK, Germany, Canada, and the West Indies. He is First Vice President of the National Association of College and University Attorneys and a member of its Board of Directors. He also serves on advisory boards for the Association of American Universities, College Board Access and Diversity Collaborative, Sloan Foundation-funded American Association for the Advancement of Science Diversity Project, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded Valuing Diversity initiative, and the University of Vermont's annual national conference on "Legal Issues in Higher Education." Mr. Alger graduated with Honors from Harvard Law School and High Honors from Swarthmore College.
Charles Carletta, JD, is Secretary of the Institute and General Counsel at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Previously, he was with Pattison, Sampson, Ginsberg & Griffin, P.C. in the Capital District of New York State. His practice was dedicated specifically to college issues including public safety, student affairs, administration, risk management, and government contracts. Mr. Carletta lectures nationally for ASJA and for the Stetson University College of Law at its Conference on Law and Higher Education. He is the author of a chapter in the book The Administration of Campus Discipline: Student, Organizational, and Community Issues. He received a BA from Manhattan College and JD from the Albany Law School of Union University.
Ann Franke consults nationally with colleges and universities on issues ranging from academic freedom to student affairs. She founded her firm, Wise Results, LLC, in 2005, after holding senior management positions with United Educators Insurance and the American Association of University Professors. Her consulting engagements have included reviewing policies, conducting investigations, presenting campus workshops, and improving campus governance. She has also served as an expert witness.
Ms. Franke speaks often to national groups, and the American Council on Education invited her to write a book on campus risk management, to appear in 2009. She has published in, among other periodicals, Trusteeship, the Chronicle of Higher Education, Change magazine, Minerva, and The Review of Litigation. She has also served as an expert witness. Ms. Franke is a fellow of the National Association of College and University Attorneys, a trustee of AAUP’s Academic Freedom Fund, and a member of the editorial advisory board for “Educator’s Guide to Controlling Sexual Harassment.”
Ms. Franke earned her B.A. (magna cum laude), M.A. (linguistics), and J.D. degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and an LL.M. from Georgetown University. Through a Fulbright senior scholar award, she studied the development of private universities in Australia. Avocationally, she is an amateur cellist dedicated to chamber music. She resides in Washington DC.
Mr. Harrington's practice focuses on representing and advising colleges and universities as well as health care organizations and other non-profit organizations involved in education, health care and medical and scientific research and development. He advises and represents such clients on a broad range of issues including employment policies and disputes, academic and scientific misconduct proceedings, student-related issues and disciplinary matters, discrimination and disability issues, corporate governance and ethics, information technology, privacy and security, records retention and management, intellectual property policies and transactions, copyright and fair use, sponsored research issues, contracts and business transactions, affiliated entity issues, institutional compliance programs, regulatory compliance issues, institutional policy development, and institutional and governmental audits and investigations. Mr. Harrington previously held senior legal and administrative positions at Boston University, The University of Vermont, and Harvard Medical School, and is an adjunct faculty member teaching higher education law at Boston College Law School and Graduate School of Education.
Steven Healy was the Director of Public Safety at Princeton University from 2003 to 2009, where he lead the University's safety, security, and law enforcement programs. He is a Past President of the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA), and served as a member of the association's Government Relations Committee for 12 years. He is a nationally recognized expert on the Clery Act.
As President of IACLEA, Steven contributed significantly to the national dialogue about campus safety and security in the aftermath of the tragic rampage-shooting incident at Virginia Tech University in April 2007. He has appeared on numerous news programs and talk shows including CNN with Lou Dobbs, ABC Nightly News, CBS, the Fox Network, MSNBC, and National Public Radio. He testified before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on the topic of "Security on America's Campuses." In May 2007, he was invited to testify before the House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor on the topic of "Best Practices for Keeping America's Campuses Safe." Steven was named one of the "Top 25 Most Influential People in the Security Industry" by Security Magazine.
In December 2007, he completed his term as the chairperson of the National Center for Campus Public Safety Advisory Board. In that role, Mr. Healy was responsible for leading the development of a strategic plan and framework for the National Center for Campus Public Safety. In February 2008, Mr. Healy was a featured presenter in a Plenary Session at the ACE Annual Meeting, addressing issues of "Campus Security, Response and Recovery in a New Era."
Prior to Princeton, Mr. Healy was the Chief of Police at Wellesley College in Wellesley, MA. He also served as Director of Operations at the Department of Public Safety at Syracuse University. During his tenure at Wellesley College, Mr. Healy was the IACLEA Regional Director for the North Atlantic Region and President of the Massachusetts Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators. Mr. Healy is a 1984 graduate of the United States Air Force Academy. He spent 10 years on active duty with the United States Air Force as Security Police Officer. From 1992 to 1995, Mr. Healy was the Operations Officer for the 95th Security Police Squadron at Edwards Air Force Base. Mr. Healy is a frequent speaker at national conferences and seminars on issues related to campus safety and security.
He serves as a subject-matter expert for the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice. He is currently leading an IACLEA special panel reviewing post-Virginia Tech challenges and concerns for the higher education community. At the request of the U.S Department of Education, he was asked to serve on a special working group developing emergency management planning guidelines for the higher education community. He is IACLEA's representative to the NACUBO "National Campus Safety and Security Project" and to EDUCAUSE's "The IT Role in Campus Safety" project. Mr. Healy was a featured speaker and panelist with Dr. Margolis on emergency response and recovery at the annual meeting of the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO).
Corinne P. Kowpak, Ed.D. has served five different types of higher educational institutions in the last 35 years. Currently the Dean of Students at York County Community College in Wells, Maine, Dr. Kowpak has always worked in the senior student affairs office whether at the University of Vermont for 17 years, or as the vice president or dean of student affairs since 1990 at Springfield College, York College/City University of New York, or Keene State College.
Dr. Kowpak was a first generation college student who earned her bachelor’s degree in physical and health education at Hunter College/City University of New York and completed her master’s and doctorate at The University of Vermont.
An active member of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators for 30 years, currently Dr. Kowpak is the Knowledge Community Chair in Region 1 and serves on the regional advisory board. She has just completed six years as a member of the New England Regional Resource Center for Higher Education (NERCHE) Student Affairs Think Tank. Throughout her career, Dr. Kowpak has been involved in ACPA, ASJA, NODA and ACE/NIP. She has presented at numerous national and regional conferences and has been an invited speaker for professional training and development meetings and workshops.
Dr. Linda Langford currently serves as an associate Center director at the U.S. Department of Education's Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse and Violence Prevention, located at Education Development Center, Inc. in Newton, MA. She has worked at the Center since 1998, managing the Center's evaluation projects for four years and since 2002 directing the Center's violence prevention initiatives, including developing a "framework" for violence prevention in higher education settings. Recently, she has been working collaboratively with researchers and practitioners around the country to apply the Center's violence prevention framework to the issue of hazing prevention. She also works at the SAMSHA-funded Suicide Prevention Resource Center as an Evaluation Scientist. Her work focuses on strategic planning, program evaluation, and health communications with special interests in environmental approaches to prevention, practitioner-researcher collaborations, and translating research to practice. She holds a doctorate in behavioral sciences from the Harvard School of Public Health and was an assistant clinical professor at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston from 1998-2006, teaching a core course in strategic planning for health communications.
Barbara A. Lee is Professor of Human Resource Management at the School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers University, and its former dean. She is also of counsel to the law firm of Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge, LLP. Professor Lee has taught employment law and higher education law at Rutgers since 1982. She is the author of numerous books and articles on employment law, higher education law, employment discrimination, and academic employment practices. She is the coauthor, with William A. Kaplin, of The Law of Higher Education, 4th ed. (2006) and Academics in Court (1987) with George LaNoue. She is a former member of the board of directors of the National Association of College and University Attorneys and was named a NACUA Fellow. Professor Lee received her B.A. in English from the University of Vermont, her M.A. in English and Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from Ohio State University, and her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.
Dr. Gary J. Margolis has more than a decade of higher education public safety experience as the Chief of Police at the University of Vermont, and more than nineteen years in policing. Under his leadership, UVM Police Services became a twice internationally accredited police agency through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) for whom Dr. Margolis is a Commissioner. Dr. Margolis holds a Research Associate Professor appointment in the UVM College of Education & Social Services, and a faculty appointment at Norwich University in Northfield, VT. He offers courses in leadership development to masters and doctoral students in the graduate programs at both institutions.
He is a Past General Chair of the University & College Section of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the oldest and largest police association in the world, and a former member of the association's executive committee. Dr. Margolis is an active member of the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators as a member of the Government Relations Committee and Chair of the Education Committee. He is often called upon by the US Department of Justice and US Department of Homeland Security as a campus security expert. He is a much sought after speaker, consultant, educator, expert witness, and trainer on campus safety and security; security technology application; emergency response & recovery planning; and preventing violence against women crimes on campuses. In the Fall 2008, he evaluated the forthcoming iteration of the FEMA Action Guides for Emergency Response & Recovery.
Dr. Margolis has testified before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary on matters relating to criminal justice. Prior to his role as the Chief of Police at UVM, Dr. Margolis was a training administrator at the Vermont Police Academy, responsible for the basic and in-service training of Vermont's police officers. He has a Masters Degree in Education and a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Vermont.
In January 2007, Dr. Margolis led a full-scale active shooter exercise on campus and has been featured as a key note speaker on the subject. Dr. Margolis is a graduate of the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government Executive Education Program on Crisis Management and, in early 2008, traveled to Israel as an invited guest of the Israeli Government to study terrorism and share his expertise with the Israel National Police and Israel Defense Forces.
Dr. Margolis has been a featured speaker and panelist on emergency response and recovery with Mr. Healy at the annual meetings of the National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA), the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO), and the National Association of College Auxiliary Services (NACAS). His work has been featured in Police Chief magazine and the Campus Law Enforcement Journal magazine.
Steven J. McDonald is General Counsel at Rhode Island School of Design and previously served as Associate Legal Counsel at The Ohio State University. He has handled a number of Internet-related legal matters, ranging from alleged infringements of copyrighted materials on student web pages to investigations of computer break-ins to an e-mail death threat to Socks the cat. He began his legal career in private practice at Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue, where he represented CompuServe in Cubby v. CompuServe, the first online libel case, and he also has taught courses in Internet law at Ohio State's College of Law and at Capital University Law School. He is a past member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of College and University Attorneys and is the editor of NACUA’s The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act: A Legal Compendium. In State, ex rel. Thomas v. The Ohio State University, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that he really is a lawyer. He received his A.B. from Duke University in 1982 and his J.D. from The Yale Law School in 1985.
Drawing on both her legal knowledge and her Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certification, Amy McLaughlin, a Director of Dinse, Knapp & McAndrew, P.C., helps clients develop and implement effective workplace policies and strategies and manage sensitive and difficult employment issues on a day-to-day basis. In addition, Ms. McLaughlin defends employers in state and federal courts and before administrative agencies. In her litigation practice, she has represented employers in a broad spectrum of cases, including cases involving claims of discrimination, retaliation, harassment, breach of contract, defamation, wage and hour issues, and violations of non-competition agreements. Ms. McLaughlin frequently provides compliance training on a wide variety of employment-related topics and is also a regular contributor to the Vermont Employment Law Letter, which is authored and edited by the firm. Ms. McLaughlin received her law degree from Widener University School of Law in 1997 and her undergraduate degree from Loyola College in Maryland in 1994. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. McLaughlin served as a staff attorney with the Vermont Department of Labor, primarily focusing her practice on wage and hour compliance and workers' compensation issues.
Jeffrey J. Nolan is an attorney and partner with Dinse, Knapp & McAndrew, P.C. in Burlington, Vermont, where his practice focuses on representing and advising institutions of higher education and other employers with respect to employment law issues, representing and advising institutions of higher education with respect to student-related matters and compliance issues unique to higher education, and assisting institutions of higher education and other employers with the development and implementation of appropriate policies, handbooks and legal issues training programs. Jeff has practiced in these areas since joining the firm in 1992. He received his J.D. with honors from the University of Connecticut of School of Law (1991), and his B.A. magna cum laude, from the University of Vermont (1988), where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Jeff has given many presentations regarding legal issues affecting colleges and universities, including a presentation on Gender Identity Discrimination Issues at the National Association of College and University Attorneys’ Spring 2005 Civil Rights Conference and several presentations at UVM’s Legal Issues in Higher Education Conference, and he co-authored, with Francine Tilewick Bazluke, a NACUANOTE on Gender Identity and Expression Issues published by NACUA in June, 2005
Ms. Novak is currently a consultant for Campus Safety, Student Risk Management, AODV Prevention, and Student Organization Development. She is recognized as a national expert in student-focused risk management and campus safety. She has been invited to speak at national conferences and on college campuses around the country on a variety of topics including; effective self-governance, critical decision-making strategies, current issues in higher education law and policy, campus safety efforts that engage students, as well as proactive risk management. She has served as faculty for several nationally sponsored professional institutes, including the National Interdisciplinary Hazing Intervention Institute which she co-chairs. Kim also currently serves as a member of the U.S. Department of Education Higher Education Center for Alcohol Other Drug and Violence Prevention Review Group. She has been honored with recognition for service by the Association of Student Judicial Affairs and for her presentation skills at the Stetson College of Law Higher Educational Law Conference as well as by numerous higher education groups and campus organizations.
Prior to embarking on her consulting career full-time, Kim served as the Director for Student and Campus Community Development at Arizona State University, Downtown Phoenix campus. Kim was a key player in the opening of the campus in 2004. Her primary responsibilities involved the oversight and development of administration and supervision of a team that led Student Conduct Programs, High Risk Behavior Education, Student Affairs Risk Management, Student Advocacy Services, Crisis Intervention and Response as well as Campus Safety for the new urban campus. She was also the Assistant Director for Student Affairs Risk Management at Arizona State University, Tempe Campus where she led the design and implementation of a comprehensive and proactive risk management model for The Division of Student Affairs. Prior to joining the ASU community, Kim worked for nine years at Texas A&M University where she served as Program Coordinator for Risk Management and Organizational Development at Texas A&M University where she lead the implementation of the University's proactive risk management plan for student organizations.
She has a B.A. in English and a Masters of Public Administration from Southwest Missouri State University. Kim is actively involved in several national organizations and is currently working on the edits for a second edition of the Student Risk Management Compendium she co-edited for NACUA in 2006. Kim offers a high energy, interactive presentation style aimed at providing participants the opportunity to enhance their knowledge in both practical and theoretical perspectives.
Amy L. Parsons, Deputy General Counsel, Colorado State University System. Amy advises the System campuses on a wide array of legal issues, specializing in student affairs, litigation, and athletics. Amy serves as Assistant Clinical Professor on the faculty of CSU's School of Education where she teaches The Law of Student Affairs in Higher Education in the SAHE masters degree program. Amy also serves as an Instructor in CSU's Osher Institute of Lifelong Learning, where she lectures in various areas of the law. Amy is an active member of NACUA and NASPA where she has presented and moderated panels on student affairs issues. Prior to joining CSU, Amy served as a litigation attorney at Brownstein, Hyatt & Farber, P.C. in Denver where she represented CSU, and other institutions, as outside legal counsel. Amy received her B.A. degree, magna cum laude, in Political Science, from Colorado State University and her J.D. from the University of Colorado, where she was an associate editor of the Law Review. Amy and her husband and two children live in Loveland, Colorado.
Brent Paterson serves as Senior Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Clinical Associate Professor of Educational Administration and Foundations at Illinois State University. As Senior Associate Vice President, Brent supervises the Career Center, Disability Concerns, Health Promotions and Wellness, Recreation Services, Student Affairs Information Technology, Student Counseling Services, Student Health Services, and the University Police. He provides leadership for Student Affairs crisis response and chairs the university threat assessment team. Previously, Brent was a member of the student affairs staff at Texas A&M University for 17 years serving in various roles including Dean of Student Life. Brent has been active in the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA), the Southern Association for College Student Affairs (SACSA) and the Association for Student Conduct Administration (ASCA) holding leadership positions in these associations. Brent is the author of several publications including co-editor and contributing author of Crisis Management: Responding from the Heart. He is a recipient of the D. Parker Young Award from ASCA for outstanding scholarly and research contributions in the area of higher education law. Brent holds a B.S. degree from Lambuth University, a M.S. degree from the University of Memphis, and a Ph.D. from the University of Denver.
Dr. Denzil Suite is the Associate Vice President for Student Affairs at the University of Southern California. In that capacity he has oversight responsibility for a wide range of offices directly involved in student life and leads the Division as a whole on those occasions when the Vice President is away from the university.
Dr. Suite has worked in Student Affairs at UC Berkeley, Cal State LA, and at UC Santa Cruz. He has been invited to speak about college student issues at several national conference and universities around the country.
In addition to his responsibilities in Student Affairs, Dr. Suite holds an appointment as Associate Professor of Education in the Rossier School of Education, where he teaches courses on the history of higher education and on intervention strategies in student development.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in Psychology at The Ohio State University, a master’s degree in Higher Education and Student Development from the University of Vermont, and a Ph.D. in Policy and Organization from the University of Southern California.
Scott L. Warner is a partner in the Chicago law firm of Babbitt, Land & Warner LLP. Scott served as Assistant and Associate General Counsel for Northwestern University for approximately four years prior to entering private practice for a second time in 2006. His current practice focuses on the representation of colleges, universities, academic medical centers, and other non-profit entities in a wide range of litigation and counseling matters. Scott speaks regularly on various higher education issues. He holds both a B.A. and a J.D., cum laude, from the University of Michigan. After graduating from law school in 1995, Scott clerked for the Honorable Jay C. Waldman of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. He is a member of the National Association of College and University Attorneys and the Association for Student Conduct Administration.
Lawrence White is President of Lawrence White Consulting. He was appointed Chief Counsel to the Pennsylvania Department of Education in March, 2003. Prior to his appointment, he worked for more than 25 years as a higher education lawyer and administrator. As Assistant Attorney General in the Educational Affairs Division of the Maryland Attorney General’s Office from 1984 to 1989, he served as counsel to the Board of Regents of the University of Maryland System, Morgan State University, and the Maryland Higher Education Commission. From 1989 to 1991 Mr. White was Deputy General Counsel to the University of Virginia. From 1991 to 1999 he was University Counsel at Georgetown University and an adjunct faculty member in Georgetown’s Department of Government. From 1999 until his appointment as Chief Counsel of Pennsylvania’s Education Department, he worked as a program officer at The Pew Charitable Trusts in Philadelphia and taught in the Legal Studies Department at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. From 1982 to 1999 Mr. White was a member, director and officer of the National Association of College and University Attorneys. He received his J.D. degree from the University of Pennsylvania and his B.A. degree from Harvard University.
In June of 2003 Wendy White was appointed Senior Vice President and General Counsel of the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Medicine. Previously, Ms. White held the positions of Vice President and General Counsel (2001-2003) and Deputy General Counsel of the University (1999-2001). She formerly was a partner in the law firm of Shea & Gardner in Washington, D.C., during the period 1981 – 1999, where she specialized in issues relating to non-profit institutions, labor and employment, products liability and commercial litigation. In addition, Ms. White served as Associate Counsel to the President of the United States in 1996-1997. Ms White attended Goucher College (A.B., magna cum laude, 1972) where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She received her law degree from the University of Pennsylvania (J.D., magna cum laude), was an editor of the Law Review and a member of Order of the Coif. Ms. White is a member of the American Law Institute, the Board of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, and the Board of the National Association of College and University Attorneys. She is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar and the District of Columbia Bar. Ms. White is a frequent speaker on labor and employment, higher education and ethics issues.
Last modified October 22 2009 01:48 PM
