​Ernest Cole is associate professor and chair of English at Hope College, where he teaches post-colonial literature with an emphasis on sub-Saharan Anglophone Africa, India, and the Caribbean. He is Towsley Research Scholar at Hope College and serves as director of global learning and coordinator of freshman composition. Previously, Cole taught African literature at Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone; Gambia College, Brikama; and the University of the Gambia. He has written two monographs, Theorizing the Disfigured Body: Mutilation, Amputation, and Disability Culture in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone (2014) and Space and Trauma in the Writings of Aminatta Forna (2016). He also has edited two collections, Emerging Perspectives on Syl Cheney Coker (2014), with Eustace Palmer; and Ousmane Sembene: Writer, Filmmaker, and Revolutionary Artist (2016), with Oumar Cherif Diop.

​William C. Deeds is vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college at Morningside College and has served in this role since 2000. Previously, he served Moravian College as dean for academic affairs and professor and chair of the department of psychology. His interests include liberal education, assessment of student learning, faculty hiring and development, and using data effectively for planning and decision making. Deeds is a frequent presenter at CIC’s Workshops for Department and Division Chairs and the Institute for Chief Academic Officers. He was named CIC’s Chief Academic Officer of the Year in 2016.

​R. Joseph Dieker is vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college at Cornell College in Iowa. Previously, he served in a similar position at Culver-Stockton College and was professor of music and chair of the fine arts division. Dieker has presented at CIC’s Workshops for Department and Division Chairs and the Institute for Chief Academic Officers. He is a conductor and clarinetist, and he continues to find performance opportunities within his busy schedule.

​Judith Muyskens has been provost and professor of French at Nebraska Wesleyan University since 2008. In her position of provost, she oversees both academic and student affairs and is working with colleagues to blend these two areas of campus life. Previously, Muyskens served at the Appalachian College Association, Colby-Sawyer College, and the University of Cincinnati. She is a former member and chair of CIC’s Chief Academic Officer Task Force and remains active in co-authoring French textbooks.

​Leanne M. Neilson is provost and vice president for academic affairs and professor of psychology at California Lutheran University. She is a clinical psychologist and is active in work related to accreditation and assessment. Neilson has presented on topics pertinent to higher education administration at CIC’s Workshops for Department and Division Chairs and the Institute for Chief Academic Officers.

​Kathleen A. Rinehart serves as general counsel for Saint Xavier University (IL). Previously, she led the education law practices at two large law firms in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Rinehart developed a general counsel model for use on campuses that do not have an established, in-house general counsel office. She has served as counsel to boards, presidents, and other administrative leaders regarding matters of governance; strategic planning; legal compliance; drafting and implementation of institutional documents, policies, and procedures; management of student issues and education records; campus safety; prevention of legal exposure; and litigation management.

​Jane Wood is vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college at Mount Marty College. She came to Mount Marty in 2016, after serving in the same position at Westminster College (PA) for three years. While at Westminster, Wood collaboratively led a program prioritization process, added seven new majors, and restructured academic departments into divisions and schools. Previously, she served as dean of the college of liberal arts and sciences at Park University. She is co-author, with Reverend Sue Dolquist, of a collection of autobiographical essays, What Eve Didn’t Tell Us (2002), and editor of a volume of essays, The Theme of War and Peace in Virginia Woolf’s War Writings (2010). Wood is a past president of the board of directors of the Unicorn Theatre and served as one of two state coordinators for the Missouri chapter of the American Council of Education’s Office of Women in Higher Education.