Board of Directors

The Coalition is governed by a board of directors that provides leadership and sets the course for our organization’s future. Elections for new board members take place in March, and board terms begin on July 1 and last three years. 

The Board is composed of Institution Directors, with representation from each category of member institution (public universities, private universities, and liberal arts colleges), and Outside Directors, who bring broader expertise to help the Coalition achieve its mission.

Board Leadership, 2023-2024

Adam Sapp, Chair
Elena Hicks, Past Chair
Kevin Mathes, Vice Chair
Andy Evans, Treasurer

Board of Directors, 2023-2024

 
Andy Evans
 

Andy Evans

Evans is a former managing director in executive search at Koya Leadership Partners. His prior financial and administrative management experience in higher education spans 30 years and includes serving as chief financial officer at Oberlin College and Wellesley College. He has served on numerous boards supporting higher education and as a commissioner for the New England higher education regional accrediting association.

 
 

Nathan Fuerst

Fuerst is the vice president of enrollment management at the University of Connecticut, where he and his team lead undergraduate admissions, financial aid, registrar, retention, orientation and the Lodewick Visitors Center. Prior to arriving to UConn in 2011, Nathan held various roles in admissions and enrollment at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

 
Elena Hicks
 

Elena Hicks

Hicks is the assistant vice provost and dean of admission at Southern Methodist University, where she oversees all activities in the office of admission, serving first-year, transfer and international applicants. Hicks has previously served as dean of admission at Loyola University Maryland and assistant dean of admission and director of information systems at Texas Christian University.

 
Jay Jacobs
 

Jay Jacobs

Jacobs assumed the role of vice provost for enrollment management at the University of Vermont in 2021. In this role, he leads and manages all areas relating to the university’s undergraduate student recruitment and retention through a division comprised of Undergraduate Admissions, the Office of the Registrar, Student Financial Services, and New Student Orientation and Student Advancement. Prior to joining UVM, Jacobs most recently served as the director of enrollment management and admission operations for the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida.

 
 

Michael Keaton

Keaton is the vice president for enrollment management at Ursinus College, previously serving at Drexel University. Mike began his admissions career in 1998 in Boston at Wentworth Institute of Technology and later Northeastern University before moving to Haverford College in 2001. At Haverford, Mike held several roles, including Senior Associate Director of Admission and Director of Multicultural Recruitment. In 2012 Mike “switched sides of the desk,” and spent 5 years at Friends’ Central School as Co-Director of College Counseling. In 2017 Mike returned to admissions at Drexel University. He has a keen interest in the representation of college admissions in media and popular culture.

 
Jessica Marinaccio
 

Jessica Marinaccio

Marinaccio is the dean of undergraduate admissions and financial aid at Columbia University in New York City. Marinaccio joined Columbia’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions in 1999, and has served in such leadership roles as senior assistant director, associate director, and director of admissions operations.

 
Kevin Mathes
 

Kevin Mathes

Mathes is assistant vice president and dean of admissions at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. He joined the admissions office in 2017; previously, he worked in admissions at St. Lawrence University and Dartmouth College.

 
Dawn Medley
 

Dawn Medley

Medley is the senior vice president for enrollment management at Drexel University. Her previous roles include vice provost for enrollment management and student retention at Stony Brook University and associate vice-president of enrollment management at Wayne State University. At Wayne State, she was the architect of the first in the nation Warrior Way Back Program and the Heart of Detroit, which provides a free education to all Detroit high school graduates. She has over 30 years of experience in college admissions, financial aid and retention, with a long-term focus on access and equity.

 
Rodney Morrison
 

Rodney Morrison

Morrison serves as vice president for enrollment management at the University of Delaware, where he is responsible for Admissions, Student Financial Services and the Registrar areas. Morrison has more than 25 years of experience working in enrollment management. Prior to Delaware, he served as the associate provost for enrollment & retention management at Stony Brook University as well as the associate chancellor for enrollment management at Rutgers University, Camden Campus. He also served in leadership positions in non profit educational management(MLT), Wall Street (Lehman Brothers), Mount St. Mary College (NY), University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business and the University of Rochester(NY). A first generation college graduate, Morrison is passionate about access, diversity, equity & inclusion.

 
Adam Sapp
 

Adam Sapp

Sapp is assistant vice president and director of admissions at Pomona College, where he manages both international and domestic territories, as well as the recruitment of military veterans and native and indigenous populations. Prior to joining Pomona, he served in admissions roles at Princeton University and Claremont McKenna College.

 
Charlie Stewart
 

Charles Stewart

Stewart is chief executive officer of Sotheby’s. Before assuming the leadership role at the international art, jewelry and real estate broker in 2019, Stewart most recently served as co-president and chief financial officer of Altice USA, a leading technology, telecommunications and entertainment provider.

 
Sara Urquidez
 

Sara Urquidez

Urquidez is the executive director of the Academic Success Program in Texas. ASP is a comprehensive college access program that recruits, trains and oversees college advisors and places them in public high schools to guide students through the college and financial aid processes. Urquidez also participates in multiple professional associations, college and university advisory boards, and scholarship committees.

 
Kate Volzer
 

Kate Volzer

Kate Volzer is the former CEO and Co-founder of Wisr. which was acquired by EAB in March '21. Volzer worked in admissions for the undergraduate college at the University of Chicago from 2009-2014.

 
Mary Wagner
 

Mary Wagner

Mary Wagner is the executive director of strategic higher education enrollment leadership at The College Board. Prior to this role, Wagner served as the assistant vice president for enrollment management and the executive director of admission at the University of South Carolina. She has been working in enrollment management for 25+ years at public and private institutions of varying size and selectivity throughout the South. She is a past president of the Association of Chief Admission Officers at Public Universities.

 
Peter Wilson
 

Peter Wilson

Peter Wilson serves as the assistant vice president and dean of college admissions at the University of Chicago, where he has worked in admissions roles since 2010 where he also attended for his undergraduate degree and MBA. He has served on the Coalition’s Advocacy and Philanthropy Committee and an advisory board member at Wisr.

 
Ari Worthman
 

Ari Worthman

Ari Worthman has 20 years experience in the field of college counseling and admissions. Worthman joined Lakeside in 2012, after serving as assistant director of admissions at Haverford College and senior associate director of college counseling at Pine Crest School. Worthman has served in a variety of leadership positions, including on the Board of Directors of the Southern Association for College Admission Counseling, as a trustee and board chair for the Association of College Counselors in Independent Schools, and as treasurer for the Pacific Northwest Association for College Admissions Counseling. He also has served on the admissions advisory committees for Dickinson College, Drexel University, and Southern Methodist University.

 

Directors Emeriti

and the institutions they represented during their service as board members

Rosalind Alderman, St. Mary’s University

Seth Allen, Pomona College 

Carolyn Blair, Clayton School District

Kristine Dillon, Consortium on Financing Higher Education

Juan Espinoza, Virginia Tech

Zina Evans, University of Florida  

Andrea Felder, American University

John Gaines, Questbridge

Tim Galbreath, Clemson University 

Barbara Gill, University of Maryland

Chris Gruber, Davidson College

Kedra Ishop, University of Michigan

Stacey Kostell,  University of Vermont

John Latting, Emory University 

Courtney McAnuff, Rutgers University - New Brunswick

Lee Melvin , University at Buffalo

James Nondorf, University of Chicago

Jeremiah Quinlan, Yale University

Audrey Smith, Smith College

Whitney Soule, Bowdoin College

Paul Thiboutot, Carleton College

David Wermuth, Stone Point Capital