Teresa R. Rivenes is currently the Senior Vice President for the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, also known as the NWCCU, which is a previously regional and now international accreditation agency. Before this role, Dr. Rivenes served as the Vice President at Umpqua Community College and as the Vice President of Academic and Student Services at Tillamook Bay Community College, both located in Oregon. At both institutions, she focused on systemic change, transforming struggling assessment processes into shining examples of assessment and accreditation success. She also led the first faculty teams in Oregon to eliminate developmental education classes and implement guided self-placement for all students. Prior to this, Dr. Rivenes was the Dean of Instruction at Rogue Community College, where she became the first administrator nominated by faculty for The League for Innovation Excellence Award for outstanding leadership in cross-campus first-year experience initiatives.

Prior work included serving as the Director of Academic Success for Great Falls College—Montana State University, the Campus Center Director and Faculty for Park University, and the Academic Director and Faculty for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Dr. Rivenes has also served as the co-chair of the statewide Transfer Council, which is developing Common Course Numbering and Transfer Degree Maps across all state institutions in Oregon.

Dr. Rivenes is a proud community college graduate and first-generation student. She earned her Master’s and PhD in Psychology, focusing her research on the impact of self-esteem on cross-cultural adoption, with a focus on Native American self-esteem and cultural identification. She then went on to earn her EdD from Montana State University, where she earned the Land Grant Student of the Year award and the Distinguished Scholar Award for her research in community college governance and unfunded mandates.

Dr. Rivenes has continued to teach psychology and sociology classes because she is passionate about student success and loves being in the classroom. She is also passionate about relationship-based management, strategic planning for long-term success, innovative educational solutions, and building community partnerships that support student success and economic mobility. Since 2013, she has served as an NWCCU peer accreditor. Dr. Rivenes is a proud completer of the Oregon Institute for Leadership Development, the Future President’s Institute through the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), a 2020-2021 NWCCU Assessment fellow, a 2023-2024 Gardner Institute Chief Academic Officers Innovation Community member, and a lifelong American Association of University Women (AAUW) member.

Dr. Nariman Farvardin, Stevens Institute of Technology's seventh president since 2011, has transformed the university into a nationally prominent technological research powerhouse. Under his leadership, undergraduate applications surged 294%, enrollment rose 62% and career outcomes reached an impressive 96.8% of graduates employed or in graduate school within six months. Farvardin's tenure has driven a 199% increase in research funding and $500 million in campus improvements, including the landmark University Center Complex. His innovative academic initiatives and creation of new research centers have positioned Stevens at the forefront of technology education, preparing graduates to excel in an increasingly complex, technology-centric world. Access his full bio at //stevens.edu/president.

Contact: president@stevens.edu

Dr. Koch is a child of immigrants who came to the United States in pursuit of a better life. His first language was not English, and postsecondary education was valued by his family as a means for realizing the American Dream. A recipient of need-based aid while in school, Koch is a staunch advocate for and leader of efforts that increase student access to and, ultimately, completion of postsecondary education. He has worked in and with higher education institutions for over 30 years. He has done so since 2010 at the Gardner Institute where he was named Chief Executive Officer in 2021.

Dr. Andrew Koch has substantive experience with undergraduate education administration, redesign of educational systems to address performance gaps, strategic planning, fundraising, reaffirmation of accreditation, postsecondary access and success, and enrollment management efforts. His work includes extensive grant writing and fundraising with support coming from sources such as Ascendium Education Philanthropies, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, ECMC Foundation, GEAR UP, Kresge Foundation, Lilly Endowment, Inc., Lumina Foundation, and the National Science Foundation.

Dr. Koch holds a baccalaureate degree in history and German from the University of Richmond, a master’s degree in history from the University of Richmond, a master’s degree in higher education administration from the University of South Carolina, and a Ph.D. from Purdue University in American Studies. He was an American Council on Education Fellow in 2013-14.

Dr. Koch’s scholarly and professional interests are focused on student success and the ways in which colleges and universities both reflect and shape democracy and culture in the United States. Through this work, he serves as a passionate advocate for historically underrepresented and underserved students – seeing higher education as a vehicle for advancing equity and social justice.

He is the author of an array of publications such as the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th editions of The First-Year Experience in American Higher Education: An Annotated Bibliography as well as Improving Teaching, Learning, Equity, and Success in Gateway Courses: New Directions for Higher Education, Number 180. He is the co-editor of The Transfer Experience (Stylus, 2021). His solo-authored book on "Transforming the gateway course experience: A call to action for higher education" was recently published.

Koch has served on several boards and commissions including the Gardner Institute’s Board of Directors; the Board of Directors for Asheville Empire Youth Lacrosse; the Indiana College Access and Success Network; the Directorate Board for the American College Personnel Association Commission on Admissions, Orientation, and the First-Year Experience; the Military Family Research Institute; the Higher Learning Commission’s Think Tank on Persistence and Completion; the Higher Learning Commission’s Defining Student Success Task Force; the advisory committee for the Association of American Colleges and Universities Strengthening Guided Pathways and Career Success by Ensuring Students are Learning project; the National Advisory Board for the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition; and the editorial review board of the Journal of the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition.

Dr. Koch lives with his wife, Dr. Sara Stein Koch, and their six children in Mills River, North Carolina. In their spare time, he and his wife enjoy hiking with their children; attending their children’s track, soccer, and lacrosse events; gardening; and reading.

To contact Drew, email him at koch@jngi.org.