2022 MSCHE Executive Committee Announced

December 10, 2021

The Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) has announced the election of its Executive Committee and Officers for the term January 1, 2022, through December 31, 2022.

At the Commission meeting on December 2, 2021, Dr. Davie Jane Gilmour, President of Pennsylvania College of Technology, was elected Chair of the Commission along with Dr. Katherine Conway-Turner, President of SUNY Buffalo State, as Vice Chair and Mr. Lloyd Ricketts re-elected as Treasurer. Dr. James Sunser, President of SUNY Genesee Community College, was elected Immediate Past Chair following the completion of two years as Chair of the Commission.

In addition, Dr. Valerie D. Lehr, Professor of Gender Studies at St. Lawrence University, and Dr. Susan D. Looney, J.D., President of Reading Area Community College, were re-elected to the Executive Committee. Dr. Lehr was named Secretary for the second time in a separate vote. They will be joined on the Executive Committee by Dr. Havidan Rodriguez, President of SUNY at Albany, and Ms. Roberta Torian, a Public Representative, who were elected to fill two vacancies.

The Executive Committee is comprised of eight members elected by the Commission annually, including the Chair, Vice-Chair, Treasurer, Secretary, and Immediate Past Chair. Because the Executive Committee holds ad interim authority to act on behalf of the Commission as necessary between meetings to continue the operations of the Corporation and to take actions on accreditation and institutional membership as may be necessary, its composition must include administrative, faculty, and public representatives.

For full bios and a complete listing of MSCHE Commissioners, click here.

Dr. Davie Jane Gilmour

Dr. Davie Jane Gilmour, Chair
Dr. Gilmour, who has served on the Executive Committee since 2019, was elected Chair following two years as Vice-Chair in 2020 and 2021. Dr. Gilmour returned to the Commission in 2019 after having previously served from 2012 to 2017 and during that time was on the Executive Committee in 2017 and held the role as Chair of the Committee on Follow-Up Activities and Candidate Institutions. In 2019, she served on the MSCHE Rebranding Committee that was charged with creating a new messaging platform for the Commission. She has served as President of Pennsylvania College of Technology, a nationally recognized leader in applied technology education, since 1998, and has announced her plans to retire in June 2022.
Dr. Katherine S. Conway-Turner

Dr. Katherine Conway-Turner, Vice-Chair
Dr. Conway-Turner began her tenure as the ninth President of Buffalo State College in August 2014. Dr. Conway-Turner has served as Team Chair and Peer Evaluator for MSCHE. She was elected to the Commission in 2019 and to the Executive Committee in 2020 and 2021.
Mr. Lloyd Ricketts

Mr. Lloyd Ricketts, Treasurer
Mr. Ricketts will begin his second year as Treasurer of the Commission. He served as Chair of the Finance Committee in 2021 and will continue in that role, which follows service as Vice-Chair to the Committee in 2020. He is Treasurer at The College of New Jersey, beginning his association with the College in 1999. Mr. Ricketts has served as a Peer Evaluator and Team Chair for MSCHE, participating in a number of accreditation site visits. He was elected to the Commission in 2019 and a member of the Executive Committee in 2020 and 2021.
Dr. Valerie D. Lehr

Dr. Valerie D. Lehr, Secretary
Dr. Lehr is a Professor in the Gender Studies program and Government department at St. Lawrence University, where she has been a member of the faculty since 1988. Her term as a Commissioner for MSCHE began in January 2018, and in 2022, she will begin her second year on the Executive Committee. Dr. Lehr has previously served MSCHE as a Team Chair, Peer Evaluator, and as a Periodic Review Report Reviewer.
Dr. James Sunser

Dr. James Sunser, Immediate Past Chair
Dr. Sunser, President of Genesee Community College, will serve in the new position of Immediate Past Chair after serving as Commission Chair in 2020 and 2021, and Vice-Chair in 2019. Dr. Sunser, who is in his second term on the Commission, assumed duties as President and Chief Executive Officer of SUNY Genesee Community College in August 2011. Dr. Sunser was a member of the steering committee that reviewed and recommended changes to MSCHE’s accreditation standards and the steering committee that worked on changes to the Commission’s accreditation processes and cycle, and he served on the MSCHE Rebranding Committee that was charged with creating a new messaging platform for the Commission.
Dr. Susan D. LooneyDr. Susan D. Looney, J.D., is the sixth President of Reading Area Community College (PA). She joined the Commission in 2020 and will begin her second year as a member of the Executive Committee in 2022.
Dr. Havidan RodriguezDr. Havidan Rodriguez became the 20th President of the SUNY at Albany in September 2017. Before coming to UAlbany, Dr. Rodríguez was the founding Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at The University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley. He is currently serving in his first term as a Commissioner and will be a new addition to the Executive Committee in 2022.
Mrs. Roberta Griffin TorianMrs. Roberta Torian is a retired Partner from the global law firm of Reed Smith, LLP. Her area of expertise is corporate law with a specialty in banking regulation. She is a former member of the firm’s Executive Committee and is a Fellow of the American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers. She is currently serving in her first term with the Commission as a Public Representative and will be a new addition to the Executive Committee in 2022.
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Categories: The Commission