Ian F. McNeely is professor of history and senior associate dean for undergraduate education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A specialist in German history and the history of knowledge, he is the author of three books, including The University Unfettered: Public Higher Education in an Age of Disruption (2025).

Dr. Dan Volchok is currently the Assistant Dean of Student Success at Harvard University’s Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. In this role he supports nearly 5,000 Master’s and PhD students studying in 57 graduate programs across the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and engineering. Dr. Volchok is responsible for most non-academic support services including student conduct, policy development and review, major events such as orientation, convocation and commencement, emergency management and collaboration with university services including disability services, general counsel, health services, registrar, campus police and international students.

Prior to Harvard, Dr. Volchok was Associate Dean of the Tufts University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences where he was responsible for all student, faculty and academic affairs within the school. In addition to supervising admissions, registrar and program services, he managed student affairs, advised the students government and helped develop new academic programs. He was previously Assistant Dean for Graduate Student Life at Northeastern University and Director of Graduate Program and Student Services at Northeastern’s D’Amore-McKim School of Business.

Dr. Volchok is also currently adjunct faculty in the Northeastern College of Professional Studies Graduate School of Education where he teaches a variety of courses in the Master’s program, including Higher Education Law and Policy, as well as acting as Dissertation Chair for doctoral students in the EdD program.

Dr. Volchok continues to advocate for graduate and professional students through his professional positions and work with the NASPA Administrators in Graduate and Professional Student Services Knowledge Community.

Dr. Volchok earned a Bachelors in Business Administration and MBA from Ohio University and an EdD from Teachers College, Columbia University.

Teresa R. Rivenes is currently the Senior Vice President for the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, also known as the NWCCU, which is a previously regional and now international accreditation agency. Before this role, Dr. Rivenes served as the Vice President at Umpqua Community College and as the Vice President of Academic and Student Services at Tillamook Bay Community College, both located in Oregon. At both institutions, she focused on systemic change, transforming struggling assessment processes into shining examples of assessment and accreditation success. She also led the first faculty teams in Oregon to eliminate developmental education classes and implement guided self-placement for all students. Prior to this, Dr. Rivenes was the Dean of Instruction at Rogue Community College, where she became the first administrator nominated by faculty for The League for Innovation Excellence Award for outstanding leadership in cross-campus first-year experience initiatives.

Prior work included serving as the Director of Academic Success for Great Falls College—Montana State University, the Campus Center Director and Faculty for Park University, and the Academic Director and Faculty for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Dr. Rivenes has also served as the co-chair of the statewide Transfer Council, which is developing Common Course Numbering and Transfer Degree Maps across all state institutions in Oregon.

Dr. Rivenes is a proud community college graduate and first-generation student. She earned her Master’s and PhD in Psychology, focusing her research on the impact of self-esteem on cross-cultural adoption, with a focus on Native American self-esteem and cultural identification. She then went on to earn her EdD from Montana State University, where she earned the Land Grant Student of the Year award and the Distinguished Scholar Award for her research in community college governance and unfunded mandates.

Dr. Rivenes has continued to teach psychology and sociology classes because she is passionate about student success and loves being in the classroom. She is also passionate about relationship-based management, strategic planning for long-term success, innovative educational solutions, and building community partnerships that support student success and economic mobility. Since 2013, she has served as an NWCCU peer accreditor. Dr. Rivenes is a proud completer of the Oregon Institute for Leadership Development, the Future President’s Institute through the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), a 2020-2021 NWCCU Assessment fellow, a 2023-2024 Gardner Institute Chief Academic Officers Innovation Community member, and a lifelong American Association of University Women (AAUW) member.