Commissioners Archive - Middle States Commission on Higher Education

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Mr. Lloyd Ricketts, Chair

Vice President and Treasurer, Wilmington University

Term: 2022-2022

Mr. Lloyd Ricketts, Chair

Mr. Lloyd Ricketts joined Wilmington University (DE) as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in October 2022 following 23 years at The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) where he left as Vice President and Treasurer. Mr. Ricketts was elected to the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) in 2019 and a member of the Executive Committee since 2020. As a member of the Executive Committee, he was elected Treasurer of the Commission in 2021 and 2022. After serving as Vice-Chair of the Finance Committee in 2020, he now chairs the Committee since 2021. He has previously served as a peer evaluator for MSCHE, participating in a number of accreditation site visits, including chairing a team visit. Since joining the College, he has played an integral role in the College's fiscal management. Under his leadership at TCNJ, the College had successfully implemented new financial systems with improved campus financial reporting, as well as other initiatives aimed at preserving the institution's long-term financial health. He had implemented a multi-year financial model to provide a forward-looking assessment of the College's financial condition based on key assumptions such as the level of state support, enrollment level, financial reserves, capital expenditures and strategic restructuring of the College's debt portfolio. Mr. Ricketts serves ex officio and as a regular member of the Board of The College of New Jersey Foundation, Inc., the nonprofit, tax-exempt corporation that solicits, receives, and administers gifts, bequests, and trusts for the benefit of the College. Mr. Ricketts earned his undergraduate degree from New York University Stern School of Business (B.S. in Accounting) and his Master's Degree from New York University Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service (Public Finance).

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Mr. Richard J. Pinkowski, Jr., Vice-Chair

Vice President for Finance, Villa Maria College of Buffalo

Term: 2022-2022

Mr. Richard J. Pinkowski, Jr., Vice-Chair

Mr. Richard J. Pinkowski, Jr., is Vice President for Finance at Villa Maria College of Buffalo. He had previously served as Vice President for Business/Finance at Hilbert College in Hamburg, NY, from 1990 to 2019. Prior to joining Hilbert, he served at Villanova University and the University of Notre Dame. Mr. Pinkowski has volunteered for the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) for more than 20 years, primarily as a finance reviewer on visiting teams. He has also served as the Chair of EACUBO's Buffalo Region Area Planning Committee and was a panel presenter on the topic, Coming Waves of Affiliation in Higher Education at the NACUBO Higher Education Accounting Forum in 2015. Mr. Pinkowski began his second three-year term as an MSCHE Commissioner on January 1, 2021, and will serve as Vice-Chair of the Committee on Finance in 2022 after doing so in 2021.

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Ms. Laurie A. Carter, J.D.

President, Lawrence University

Term: 2022-2022

Ms. Laurie A. Carter, J.D.

Laurie A. Carter was appointed the 17th President of Lawrence University (WI) and assumed the role on July 1, 2021. This follows her four-year presidency at Shippensburg University. Prior to her presidential appointment at Shippensburg, Ms. Carter served as executive vice president and university counsel for Eastern Kentucky University. Before her appointment at EKU, she held various inaugural leadership positions during her 25 years of service at The Juilliard School, considered the nation's premiere performing arts college. Ms. Carter was Juilliard's first African-American administrator and taught on the liberal arts and graduate faculty. She developed the institution's student affairs program, initiated diversity initiatives, created the Office of the General Counsel and co-created the Jazz Studies program which included the development of an international touring program. She was vice president and general counsel and executive director of Jazz Studies when she left to lead the nation's third-largest arts education department at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. At NJPAC, Ms. Carter developed the nation's first all-female jazz summer residency program while creating national partnerships and fundraising to support innovative programs for underserved communities. Ms. Carter serves as a Commissioner for the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) where she is in her first term as a Commissioner and Chairs the Committee on Membership in 2022 after serving as its Vice-Chair in 2021. Ms. Carter attended Clarion University of Pennsylvania, received her master's from William Paterson College, and earned her JD from Rutgers University. She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Snow College.

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Dr. Katherine S. Conway-Turner

President, SUNY Buffalo State

Term: 2022-2022

Dr. Katherine S. Conway-Turner

Dr. Conway-Turner began her tenure as the ninth president of Buffalo State College on August 3, 2014. As president of SUNY's largest and only comprehensive college located in an urban setting, Dr. Conway-Turner's vision for Buffalo State is to become Buffalo's College through engagement, excellence, and social responsibility. In 2016, Buffalo State was among five colleges and universities from across the country chosen to share in the Washington Center's annual Higher Education Civic Engagement Awards. Dr. Conway-Turner, who has served as a Peer Evaluator and Team Chair for the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE), was elected to the Commission in 2019. She was elected to serve as Vice-Chair of the Commission in 2022 after first being named to the Executive Committee in 2020 and 2021. Prior to Buffalo State, Dr. Conway-Turner was Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Hood College in Frederick, MD (July 2010 to July 2014); Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at SUNY Geneseo (2004 to 2009); Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at Georgia Southern University; and Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Delaware. Dr. Conway-Turner serves on numerous boards, committees, and programs nationally, statewide, and locally. She is chair of the Board of the National Campus Compact and on the Executive Committee of The Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities. She also serves as a Pathway Program mentor for the NCAA and on their Division III Presidents Council. Her statewide commitments include serving as co-chair of the Western New York Regional Economic and Development Council, and board service on the Say YES Buffalo Operating Committee, the United Way of Buffalo and Erie County, and the Western New York Women's Foundation among others. She also is a member of the board of directors of Haiti Outreach Pwoje Espwa (H.O.P.E.) and frequently travels to Haiti to provide educational, medical, and community development needs. Dr. Conway-Turner earned her Ph.D. and Master of Arts degrees in Social Psychology, and her Bachelor of Arts degree in Microbiology, all from the University of Kansas. She is the author of numerous articles, chapters, books, and book reviews.

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Dr. Michael J. Fischer

Professor of Accounting; former Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, St. Bonaventure University

Term: 2022-2022

Dr. Michael J. Fischer

Dr. Michael J. Fischer, Professor of Accounting at St. Bonaventure University, is a first-term Commissioner on the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) and will serve from January 1, 2021, to December 31, 2023. Dr. Fischer has been a faculty member at St. Bonaventure University since 1985 and has served in a number of leadership positions, including as the Dean of Enrollment Management; School of Business Dean; and Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. He has significant experience with both specialized and institutional accreditation, including having led the process for initial Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accreditation while Dean of the School of Business; overseeing successful MSCHE Periodic Review Report (PRR) and decennial self-study and visit processes as Provost; and having served as both a PRR and decennial peer reviewer. Dr. Fischer has also been engaged in shared governance activities as both a faculty member and administrator, including as chair or member of St. Bonaventure's faculty senate and graduate council, as well as its academic standards, compensation, curriculum, enrollment management, faculty handbook, finance, and grievance committees. Dr. Fischer earned his B.S. and M.B.A. degrees from the School of Management at the University at Buffalo, and his Ph.D. from Penn State's Smeal College of Business. A Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Dr. Fischer was an audit manager with the international firm of Price Waterhouse before beginning his academic career.

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Ms. Barbara Anne Pratt

Vice President Finance and Operations, Warren County Community College

Term: 2022-2022

Ms. Barbara Anne Pratt

Ms. Barbara Pratt has served as Vice President for Finance and Operations/Chief Financial Officer for Warren County Community College in Washington, NJ, since 2004. Ms. Pratt began her term as a Commissioner for the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) in January 2018 and has served as Chair of the Mid-Point Peer Review Committee since 2021. She has chaired or participated on several MSCHE Evaluation Teams and has served as a financial reviewer for a number of Periodic Review Reports. She was a member of the MSCHE Process Change Steering Committee, chairing the Financial Sustainability Group in 2016. From 2001 through 2004 she served as Vice President for Finance and Administration at New Jersey's Gloucester County College (now Rowan College at Gloucester County). Prior to that time, she worked in various financial functions at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey (now Stockton University), including serving for three years as Vice President of Finance. Ms. Pratt also worked for the New Jersey Board of Higher Education in various financial and student financial aid capacities. In addition to her administrative work, Ms. Pratt teaches history courses on an adjunct basis at WCCC.