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National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition

Speakers

Learn more about the nationally renowned experts scheduled to speak at the upcoming Annual Conference on The First-Year Experience.

2024 Conference Speakers

Brendan Kelly

INSTITUTION/ORGANIZATION GOES HERE

Brendan Kelly BIO will go here.

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Jessica Rowland-Williams

National Institute for Student Success (NISS)

Dr. Jessica Rowland Williams currently serves at the Senior Director of Client Service Delivery of the National Institute for Student Success (NISS) at Georgia State University where she oversees the end-to-end delivery of services to clients and the continued development of cutting-edge student success solutions. She also manages a team of program advisors, who provide best-in-class consulting services to institutions by leveraging content experts and product innovations that sit at the forefront of student success. Jessica previously served as the Director of Every Learner Everywhere, a network of organizations with a mission to help institutions use new technology to innovate teaching and learning to support student success. As Director, she provided leadership and vision for the network and lead the operation of the network strategy. Prior to this role, Jessica served as the Completion Grant Initiative Project Director for University Innovation Alliance. She also worked as Project Director in Georgia State University’s Office of the Senior Vice President of Student Success.

Jessica earned her bachelor’s degree in Biology from Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia and earned both her M.A. and Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from Princeton University. During her time at Princeton University, Jessica served four years as a Diversity Fellow in the Office of Academic Affairs and Diversity and was honored with the Patrice Y. Johnson *80 Memorial Service Award by the Association of Black Princeton Alumni in recognition of her high levels of performance and service to the university. Jessica has devoted her career to helping institutions better serve marginalized students.

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Amelia Parnell

National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA)

Amelia Parnell is Vice President for Research and Policy at the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA), where she directs the Research and Policy Institute (RPI), which links research, policy, and effective student affairs practice in support of student success. Prior to her arrival at NASPA, Amelia was Director of Research Initiatives at the Association for Institutional Research (AIR), where she conducted two national studies related to future directions of the institutional research function.

Amelia’s current research portfolio includes studies on the leadership attributes of college presidents and vice presidents, documenting and assessing co-curricular learning, and assessment and evaluation in student affairs. Amelia’s professional service includes consulting with the Association for Public and Land-grant Universities and participating in the USDOE Common Education Data Standards workgroup. Amelia taught graduate courses in the higher education department at Florida State University.

She holds a Ph.D. in higher education from Florida State University and masters and bachelor’s degrees in business administration from Florida A & M University.

 


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