​Jeffrey H. Barker is vice president for academic affairs and dean of the school of humanities and sciences at Converse College, where he has served since 2002. A philosopher by training, his scholarly work focuses on bioethics and includes books, book chapters, and essays in philosophy journals and law reviews. Barker serves as vice chair of the institutional review board for the Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System, as a member of the institutional biosafety committee of the Biomedical Research Alliance of New York, and as a consultant member of the bioethics committee of the South Carolina Medical Association. He also is past coordinator of CIC’s Workshop for New Chief Academic Officers.

​Mark J. Braun is professor of communication studies at Gustavus Adolphus College, where he also served as provost from 2011 to 2016 and earlier as associate dean and department chair in communication studies. From 2007 to 2011, Braun was senior vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college at Augustana University (SD). He formerly served on the board of directors of the American Conference of Academic Deans and has served on the national board for the Broadcast Education Association. Braun has presented at CIC’s Workshops for Department and Division Chairs and the Institute for Chief Academic Officers, and he received the 2014 CIC Chief Academic Officer Award.

​Tresmaine Grimes is dean of the Dyson College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Education at Pace University. She served as vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty at Bloomfield College from 2015 until 2019. Previously in her career, she was assistant vice president for academic affairs and associate professor of psychology at Iona College, and associate professor and chair of the department of psychology and sociology at South Carolina State University. Grimes has published articles in The Handbook of Multicultural School Psychology and journals including the Review of Journalism and Mass Communication, and is the recipient of a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse for a two-year study, Rural Black Youth in Transition: Impact on Drug Use. Grimes has a strong commitment to collegial and consultative decision-making processes.

​J. Andrew Prall became the provost of St. Edward’s University in Texas in 2018. Previously, he served as vice president for academic affairs at the University of Saint Francis in Indiana. Under Prall’s leadership, the University of Saint Francis completed its first set of comprehensive program reviews in ten years and created its first wholly online programs. He also played a central role in efforts to increase partnerships with regional employers and economic development agencies by locating a new performing arts center and relocating the Keith Busse School of Business and Entrepreneurial Leadership in downtown Fort Wayne. Prall’s professional activities include participation in CIC’s 2015–2016 Executive Leadership Academy and a two-year Franciscan Leadership Enhancement Program.

​Kathleen A. Rinehart served as the ninth president of Cardinal Stritch University from 2017 to 2020. Previously, she served as General Counsel and Secretary of the Corporation for Saint Xavier University; Of Counsel at Franczek Radelet in Chicago; and law clerk to Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice (Ret.), Janine P. Geske. In her current role as principal of Conflict Consultants Network, Rinehart works with colleges and universities across the country as a facilitator, leadership coach, and consultant regarding the implementation of supervisory best practices and communication tools that assist academic leadership and faculty to manage departmental and other organizational conflict. She also served as a member of the National Association of College and University Attorneys board of directors and is a Life Member of the organization. Prior to her legal career, Rinehart was an educator and master teacher at New Trier High School (IL).

​Tarshia L. Stanley is dean of the school of humanities, arts, and sciences at St. Catherine University, where she has served since 2018. Previously she was director of the E.W. Githii Honors Program and associate professor of English at Spelman College. During her time at Spelman she also served as chair of the English department and was the faculty lead in implementing the college-wide revision of student advising. Stanley’s professional interests are in film and media studies, particularly focusing on images of women of African descent. She has written several articles on black women in African, African American, and Caribbean cinema as well as on black female iconography in American popular culture. She edited The Encyclopedia of Hip Hop Literature, published by Greenwood Press in 2008 and, most recently, edited a forthcoming volume for the Modern Language Association’s teaching series entitled Approaches to Teaching the Works of Octavia E. Butler.