​Ron Cole became provost and dean of the college at Allegheny College, his undergraduate alma mater, in 2015. Prior to this appointment, he served Allegheny as a faculty member for 20 years and held several leadership positions including chair of the geology department, moderator of the faculty, and member of the trustee diversity task force. As a faculty member, he actively engaged undergraduate students in research with funding from the National Science Foundation, National Geographic Society, and the American Chemical Society and was the recipient of an award for excellence in teaching. Before his career in higher education, Cole worked in the environmental consulting industry.

Katie Conboy is provost and senior vice president at Simmons University. Previously, she spent 26 years at Stonehill College, where she was professor and department chair of English and then for 13 years the chief academic officer. Her scholarly interests include British fiction, feminist theory, and Irish literature. Conboy is a regular presenter at national higher education association meetings on topics such as the future of the liberal arts and liberal education, strategic planning, change management, and faculty work. She has served on the CIC Chief Academic Officer Task Force, the board of directors of the American Conference of Academic Deans, and the advisory board for the National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education.

​LeeRay Costa is professor and chair of the gender and women’s studies program at Hollins University. Her research, teaching, and community activism focus on social justice and a desire to understand processes of social change. Trained as a feminist cultural anthropologist, she has conducted ethnographic fieldwork on women’s activism and non-governmental organizations in Thailand, on transgender youth (Male Bodies, Women’s Souls, co-authored with Andrew Matzner, 2007), and on the local food movement in Hawaii. Her current interests include exploring the integration of contemplative practices and spirituality into social justice education and social movement activism. Her research and teaching have been supported by grants and fellowships from the Fulbright Program; the Andrew W. Mellon, Teagle, and Luce Foundations; and the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges.

​Monique Guillory has served as the vice president for academic affairs at the College of Saint Elizabeth since 2015. Previously, she served as vice president for academic and student affairs for the Southern University System—the only historically black higher education system in the country. Guillory served as deputy chief of staff at Jackson State University, where she coordinated the institution’s first strategic plan, and was campus executive administrator at the University of the Virgin Islands. She is the co-editor of Soul: Black Power, Politics, and Pleasure (1998).

​Beth Tyner Jones is a partner with Womble Bond Dickinson (U.S.) LLP in the firm’s Raleigh, North Carolina, office. Jones practices primarily in the areas of employment and education law and uses her experience as a human resources professional and in-house legal counsel to assist both public and private institutions of higher education. She has experience representing these colleges and universities in a broad range of issues, including tenure denial, faculty discipline and dismissal matters, discrimination and harassment, program closures, wrongful termination, student discipline, FERPA compliance, accommodation requests, investigations, and governance matters.

​Marilyn Sutton-Haywood serves as dean of arts and sciences at Pfeiffer University in Misenheimer, North Carolina. Previously, she was a faculty member and vice president for academic affairs at Shaw University, Bethune-Cookman University, and Johnson C. Smith University. Sutton-Haywood has strong interests in faculty development and academic leadership.

​Jenna Templeton, vice president for academic affairs at Chatham University, provided leadership through the university’s academic reorganization and transition to undergraduate coeducation. Her career in higher education administration has included service as director of online academic and support services, associate dean of distance education, and director of student life. Earlier, her work focused on advising at-risk youth who were completing high school equivalency diplomas and securing entry-level employment. Templeton also provided individual counseling for college students focused on overcoming personal and academic barriers to successful degree completion.