Wendy Troxel
Dr. Wendy G. Troxel serves as the inaugural Director of the NACADA Center for Research at Kansas State University. The Center provides opportunities for provide opportunities for research and professional development to a diverse global membership and the academic advising profession. As an Associate Professor in the Department of Special Education, Counseling, and Student Affairs she teaches graduate level classes in research methods and assessment, and supports the scholarly work of students.
Prior to coming to KSU, she served as an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Administration and Foundations at Illinois State University, teaching research methods courses in both quantitative and qualitative methodologies, program evaluation and assessment, working with students in the College Student Personnel Administration program, and advising doctoral students. Her research interests are in the area of teaching, learning, and advising in the first year of college, the impact of formative assessment techniques in the classroom, faculty & staff roles in the program assessment process, and the challenges and barriers for first generation students. She earned her doctorate in educational leadership at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), with special emphases in both educational research and education law.
Elizabeth Guertin
Dr. Elizabeth Guertin is currently Assistant Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and Executive Director of Advising at Indiana University Bloomington. In this role she has responsibility for leading initiatives that enhance student success and persistence, that foster high-quality academic advising and that promote integrated academic and career planning for all students. She is past president of the National Association of Deans and Directors of University Colleges and Undergraduate Studies and was the founding director for new advising programs at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and at the University of Colorado Boulder. Elizabeth Guertin has also served as a co-chair of the Reinvention Collaboratives’s Specialized Network on Advising and Academic Guidance. She recently received the Michael C. Holen Pacesetter Award from the National Academic Advising Association.
David Spight
Dr. Spight began his career providing academic advising to undecided students at Colorado State University. In 2008, he was named the Assistant Dean for Academic Advising in the School of Undergraduate Studies at the University of Texas at Austin and was tasked with developing a new advising center for a new academic unit aimed at helping students explore majors. In 2016, he transitioned to a new position as Director of Undergraduate Affairs in the College of Engineering at the University of California, Davis. Spight has been highly involved in NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising, a professional organization focused on enhancing academic advising with nearly 15,000 members nationally and internationally. He has served as chair of Commission on Undecided/Exploratory Students, a member of the council, a board member, Vice President, and most recently as President. Spight has presented and published articles on advising undecided students, first-generation students, assessment of advising, and integrating academic and career advising. Spight earned his Doctorate of Education in Higher Education Administration from the University of Alabama. He has also served as one of the co-chairs for the specialized network on Advising and Academic Guidance with the Reinvention Collaborative.
Gaye DiGregorio
Gaye DiGregorio is the Executive Director of the Collaborative for Student Achievement, which empowers students to create and achieve their personal and educational goals at Colorado State University. She has a B.S. in Human Development and Family Studies at Colorado State University, a M. A. in College Student Personnel at Bowling Green State University, and a PhD in Higher Education Leadership at Colorado State University.
Her background in academic advising has broadened to overseeing student success programs such as providing orientation and transition programs, coordinating living learning communities, mentoring and supporting opportunity scholars, and coordinating university wide retention programs. Her background as a first-generation student and leadership with programs and services for marginalized populations, sparked her research interest with first- generation students. She has also served as one of the co-chairs for the specialized network on Advising and Academic Guidance with the Reinvention Collaborative.
Vanessa Harris
Vanessa Harris has over six years of experience as the former Director of University Advisement at the University of New Mexico UNM-West campus and over 15 years in the field of academic advisement. She is the current chair of the NACADA Advisory Board for Academic Advising Consultant and Speaker Service (AACSS). She has over 10 years of service with NACADA. She has served in various areas such as Emerging Leader Program, Assessment Institute Advisory Board and the Diversity Committee. She has also served as one of the co-chairs for the specialized network on Advising and Academic Guidance with the Reinvention Collaborative.