WCET Executive Council

Dale P. Johnson

WCET Executive Council, Director of Digital Innovation, Arizona State University

dale.johnson@asu.edu

LinkedIn Profile

As director of digital innovations for the University Design Institute at Arizona State University, Dale Johnson works with university leaders to develop and implement digital solutions to enable student success. Those efforts have earned him the 2016 Sally M. Johnstone Award from WCET recognizing his thought leadership, excellence in practice, and demonstrated leadership capabilities. In 2018, Dale was honored by the IMS Global Learning Consortium with an outstanding service award for his leadership of the adaptive courseware community of practice. He has spoken on the topic of digital innovation in higher education at more than 20 conferences in the USA, Rwanda, Brazil, South Korea, Germany, Mexico, Russia, and Vietnam, and has led workshops on the subject at numerous universities.

Michael K. Moore

WCET Executive Council Chair, Vice President for Academic Affairs, University of Arkansas System

mmoore@uasys.edu

Mordecai Ian Brownlee

WCET Executive Council, President, Community College of Aurora

@ItsDrMordecaiLinkedIn Profile

One of the youngest presidents in the country at 37 years old, Dr. Mordecai Ian Brownlee became the sixth president of the Community College of Aurora (Colorado) on August 2, 2021. With campuses in Aurora and Denver, CCA is a Minority Serving Institution (MSI) and Hispanic-Serving institution (HSI) providing instruction to over 10,600 students throughout its service area. Prior to his presidential appointment, Mordecai served as the vice president for student success at St. Philip’s College, where he led the college to record enrollment of over 13,500 students and its four largest degree and certificate awarding classes in its 124-year history.

Leah Matthews

WCET Executive Council, Executive Director, Distance Education Accrediting Commission

Loraine Pai Schmitt

WCET Executive Council Vice Chair, Executive Dean, Academic & Student Affairs Innovation & Technology, Portland Community College

loraine.schmitt@pcc.edu

Loraine Pai Schmitt is the executive dean of Academic & Student Affairs Innovation & Technology at Portland Community College with over 25 years of experience in online learning in higher education. In her role, Loraine oversees online learning and is providing strategic leadership to move the college toward more robust support for digital learning. She is also building a new division with an evolving vision to integrate academic and student affairs technology systems and practices to better support equitable student success. She serves on the WCET Executive Council, is on the board of directors for the Instructional Technology Council (ITC), and is also faculty for the ITC Leadership Academy. Loraine has a passion for pursuing meaningful organizational change and engaging in mentoring emerging leaders in higher education.

Chantae Recasner

WCET Steering Committee Vice Chair, WCET Executive Council, Equity Research Manager for Advanced Analytics, Western Governors University

chantae.recasner@wgu.edu

LinkedIn Profile

As the equity research manager on the Advanced Analytics team at Western Governors University, Chantae Recasner is responsible for driving and supporting research to help advance WGU’s efforts to close inequitable attainment gaps across student groups. She leads a team of faculty research fellows with the support of a data scientist and works to help the Advanced Analytics team drive contribution to WGU’s Academic Equity Compendium.

Shannon Riggs

WCET Steering Committee Past Chair, WCET Executive Council, Executive Director of Academic Programs and Learning Innovation, Oregon State University Ecampus

shannon.riggs@oregonstate.edu

@ShannonRiggsLinkedIn Profile

Shannon Riggs serves as executive director of academic programs and learning innovation for Oregon State University Ecampus. In this role, she supports Oregon State’s land grant mission by providing leadership and direction for academic programs and learning innovation throughout the division. Active nationally in the field of online education, Shannon regularly presents at conferences and has written for publication about online course development, faculty development, leadership, and innovation. She is currently serving a three-year elected position for the Quality Matters Academic Advisory Council and is the chair of the WCET Steering Committee.

Jory Hadsell

WCET Steering Committee Chair, WCET Executive Council, Vice Chancellor and CIO, Technology, Foothill-De Anza Community College District

jhadsell@cvc.edu

@joryhadsellLinkedIn Profile

Alexandera (Sasha) Thackaberry

WCET Executive Council, Vice President of Student and Partner Services, Pearson

Sasha.Thackaberry@pearson.com

Fred Lokken

WCET Executive Council, Professor, Truckee Meadows Community College

Fred Lokken is dean of WebCollege and a tenured professor of political science at Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno. He served as chair of the Nevada Distance Education Directors Group for seven years and has been a board member of the Instructional Technology Council (ITC)—an affiliated council of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) since 2003. He also served as chair-elect, chair and past-chair of the ITC. Lokken also currently serves as chair of the Coalition of Affiliated Councils (COAC) of the AACC. He has been a member of the WCET National Academic Integrity Task force for the past two years.

Russ Poulin

Executive Director, WCET & Vice President for Technology-Enhanced Education, WICHE

303-541-0305rpoulin@wiche.edu

@RussPoulinLinkedIn Profile

Russ Poulin is the executive director for WCET. He directs the team’s work in supporting the efforts of postsecondary institutions from all 50 states with a focus on the policy and practice of digital learning. He is a highly sought-after expert and leader regarding policy issues for distance education and on-campus uses of educational technologies. As WICHE vice president for technology-enhanced education, he advises on policy and projects for the regional higher education compact. Russ’s commitment to the field is continually noted, and he was honored to have represented the distance education community on federal negotiated rulemaking committees and subcommittees. Russ has received recognition from the Online Learning Consortium (OLC), the Presidents’ Forum, Excelsior College, and the National University Technology Network (NUTN) for his contributions to postsecondary digital education and educational policy.

Russ received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado Denver and holds a master’s degree from the University of Northern Colorado. For no discernible reason, Russ also writes movie reviews for WCET members. As a movie enthusiast, Russ is most fascinated with characters and plots that surprise him. In addition, Russ is a recovering trivia guy who is also partial to cats and to his wife, Laurie.