Administrators' Institute Faculty Bios

Michael Broshears

Michael “Brody” Broshears serves as the Director of University College at Illinois State University (ISU). In this role, he oversees University College Advising, the Dr. Julia N. Visor Academic Center, Preview (Orientation), Student Support Services, developmental math, first year seminars, and persistence and retention strategies. Prior to this most recent appointment Brody had served as the Assistant Vice President for Academic Success and Director of University Division at the University of Southern Indiana (USI). Before joining USI, Brody created and then directed, the Academic Advising Center for undecided students at Northern Illinois University. He also spent six years as an academic advisor at the University of Northern Iowa.

Brody is an active member of NACADA and is in his third year as a faculty member for the Administrators’ Institute and begins his tenure as a member of the Administrators’ Institute Advisory Board this year. Brody completed a three-year term on the NACADA Board of Directors in 2019. Prior to that, he completed a two-year term on the NACADA Council as Regional Division Representative (2014-2016). He has also served a two-year term as Region Chair (2011-2013) for Region Five. Brody has presented and keynoted at numerous regional and annual conferences on topics including retention and student success, advising administration, happiness/meaning making and the advising profession, advising systems, the needs of undecided students, career advising, and peer advising programs. He is also a current consultant and speaker for NACADA Consulting.

Brody has spent his entire professional career helping students and staff make the most of their college experiences. Honesty, openness to diversity, and collaboration are important in all that he does. He views his primary role in this profession as that of an educator with an ethical responsibility to improve the lives of those around him. Brody received a bachelor’s degree in political science at Indiana University and a master’s degree in college student personnel services from Miami University.

Faculty Expertise:

Four-year Public Universities
First-Year Students
Undecided & Exploratory Students
Administration
Advising Models
Career and Academic Advising
Collaboration Across Division/Units
Data collection, management & decision making
Facilitating Change
Relationship Building

Deb Dotterer

Debra “Deb” Dotterer has served in various advising roles at Michigan State University for more than 31 years. Currently, she is the Director of the Student Information System having led the university through a $45M SIS Modernization Project. Before this, Deb served as the inaugural Assistant Dean for University Advising building a centralized approach to advisor training and development, recognition, and a wide campus assessment of advising. Prior roles included Assistant Dean and Director of Undergraduate Studies for the College of Natural Science, an academic advisor for the College of Engineering, and as Assistant to the Dean for James Madison College. Earlier in her career, she also held leadership roles at Ivy Tech State College in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where she was Manager of Evening Services, and at Saint Francis College in Fort Wayne, where she served as Dean of Admission and Financial Aid.

In addition to her extensive experience at MSU, Deb is a respected leader within NACADA (The Global Community for Academic Advising). She has served as Region V Chair, Michigan Liaison to the Regional Steering Committee, Chair of the STEM Advising Commission, an Emerging Leader Mentor, a Great Lakes Great Leader Mentor, and Chair of the Professional Development Committee and currently serves as a member of the NACADA Consulting Advisory Board. She also contributed to the Regional Review Working Group and co-chaired the Regional Review Implementation Committee. Furthermore, Deb has chaired multiple regional and state-wide conference planning teams, further cementing her impact on the field.

Deb earned her B.S. in Education from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and her M.A. in College and University Administration from Michigan State University.

Faculty Expertise: Will not be participating in Consultations appointments

Research Universities
Academically Underperforming Students
Honors Students
Transfer Students
Undecided & Exploratory Students
Administration
Advising Models
Collaboration Across Division/Units
Facilitating Change
NACADA Core Competencies

Stephanie Kraft-Terry

Dr. Stephanie Kraft-Terry is the Interim Director of Advising for the College of Natural Sciences at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa where she supervises a team of professional advisors and collaborates with departmental faculty advisors. In addition, she served as a campus liaison for the Excellence in Academic Advising (EAA) project and is currently an EAA fellow. Stephanie has presented at advising conferences on the topics of advising assessment, curriculum development, facilitating collaborative change, and proactive advising; and has co-authored chapters and articles in the NACADA Clearinghouse, Journal, and NACADA-sponsored books.

Faculty Expertise:

Four-year Public Universities
Administration
Advising Models
Advising Assessment and Advisor Evaluation
Data collection, management & decision making
Establishing an Advising Center
Faculty Advising
Grant Writing
Program Review
Self-Study Frameworks (for Accreditation, Redesign Plans, etc.)

Isabelle Langham

Isabelle Rena Langham has served in various roles and has over 15 years of diverse experience across multiple sectors, including academia, nonprofit management, and government. She specializes in strategic leadership and innovative approaches that enhance educational experiences, advising practices, and process improvement.

A first-generation graduate, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in Women’s Studies from Tennessee State University and a Master of Education in Organizational Leadership and Communications from Belmont University. Currently, she is pursuing a Doctorate in Public Administration and Policy.

Throughout her career, Isabelle has integrated technology, academics, and student support to empower students and meet organizational needs. As a people-first leader, she prioritizes the experiences of students and staff, using data analytics to enhance environments and advising practices. Instrumental in implementing EAB-Navigate at Tennessee State University, she helped improve coordinated student care and advocated for wrap-around collaboration to boost retention and persistence.

Isabelle's diverse expertise includes community-based work, enhancing STEM access for low-income and first-generation students, and leading teams in high-pressure environments. Recognized for her leadership, she was selected for NACADA’s Emerging Leaders Program in 2022. Beyond her professional achievements, Isabelle is a music lover and coastal enthusiast who enjoys being near water, immersing in new cultures, and restaurant hopping.

Isabelle Rena Langham is a forward-thinking leader with a passion for student success, a wealth of transferable skills in strategic planning and collaboration, and a commitment to fostering inclusive educational environments. Her vision for student success is to leave it all on the floor like a dancer—to embrace the fluidity that comes with change, acknowledge expressed individuality, and exhaust every opportunity to create and inspire holistically.

Faculty Expertise: Will not be participating in Consultations appointments.

Historically Black Colleges and Universities
First-Year Students
Advisor Training & Development
Facilitating Change
Retention and Persistence

Greg Mason

Greg Mason is the Director of the Advising and Certification Center for the College of Education at Penn State University. He has served in that capacity since 2016, overseeing all advising operations within the college as well as many other student-facing functions. Greg has spent over sixteen years within the field of academic advising.

A NACADA member since 2008, Greg has presented at annual and international conferences over the past ten years. He is a past chair of NACADA’s Advising Administration Community, and currently serves on the NACADA Council, representing the Advising Communities Division.

Faculty Expertise:

Four-year Public Universities
Large Universities
Research Universities
First-Year Students
Student-Athletes
Administration
Advising Models
NACADA Core Competencies
New Advising Professionals

Kyle Ross

Dr. Kyle Ross (he/him) is the Executive Director of NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising. Kyle served in several leadership roles of the association since he became a member in 2012, including as Chair of the Undecided and Exploratory Students Advising Community, Division Representative on the Council, Board Member, and President of the Board of Directors. During his term on the Board of Directors, Kyle led strategic planning processes for the association and led a team through a comprehensive review of the association Bylaws. Kyle has 12 years of experience in academic advising and advising administration. Professional roles have included advising undecided and exploratory students and health profession students at Washington State University, advising first-generation students at Eastern Washington State University, and supervising a team of 15 academic advisors in the College of Business at Oregon State University. He has presented and published on parallel planning, alternative advising, social justice, advisor wellbeing, and solution-focused techniques in advising. He earned a bachelor’s in psychology from the University of Washington, and a master’s in counseling and doctorate in educational leadership from Washington State University. His research focused on capacity-building, adult and organizational learning, and student attrition, using action research methods.

Faculty Expertise: Will not be participating in Consultations appointments.

Four-year Public Universities
First-Year Students
Online Students
Undecided & Exploratory Students
Administration
Career and Academic Advising
Facilitating Change
New Advising Professionals
Program Review
Relationship Building

Kim Smith

Dr. Kimberly Smith currently serves as Special Assistant to the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Academic Affairs at Virginia Tech. In addition, serves as an affiliate assistant faculty member with the Higher Education program. Previously, she served as Associate Vice Provost for Student Success Initiatives where she provided leadership for university-wide initiatives related to enhancing student learning. Dr. Smith was responsible for developing, implementing, and assessing initiatives throughout the institution in collaboration with various university stakeholders. She currently serves as a Board Member for the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) and is a faculty member for the NACADA Consultant and Speakers Bureau. Dr. Smith has presented at the regional, national, and international level at various professional conferences on topics related to assessment of advising, advising undecided students, utilization of technology in advising, and developing an effective advising program for orientation. She’s the co-author of a chapter in Student Academic Services: An integrated approach entitled “Applying Quality Educational Principles to Academic Advising.” She is also the author of a chapter in Research Studies in Higher Education: Educating Multicultural College Students entitled “Factors Impacting the Academic Achievement of Undecided College Students” based on her research and experience. Finally, she serves as the Immediate Past President of the American Association of Blacks in Higher Education (AABHE).

Faculty Expertise:

Historically Black Colleges and Universities
First Generation Students
Students from Underrepresented Groups (BIPOC)
Students in Distress/Mental Health issues
Transfer Students
Undecided & Exploratory Student Advising
Data collection, management & decision making
Diversity Inclusivity and Equity Initiatives
Professional Development Planning and Delivery

Self-Study Frameworks (for Accreditation, Redesign Plans, etc.)

Kevin Thomas

Dr. Kevin Thomas is the Vice President for Enrollment Services and Student Success at the University of Central Arkansas (UCA). Kevin previously served as the Director of Retention and Student Success at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) from 2012 through 2019 where he led efforts that resulted in an increased retention rate over that time of 10%. Within his recent career, Kevin was promoted to the Director of the Academic Advising and Retention Center after serving as the Assistant Director of Undergraduate Advising Practices at Western Kentucky University (WKU). Before joining the academic advising profession in 2007, Kevin worked in Housing and Residence Life in various roles at Murray State, Ball State, and WKU.

At UCA, Kevin establishes the collective vision and direction of the offices within Enrollment Services & Student Success, which includes Academic Advising, Admissions, Financial Aid, the Registrar's Office, Online, Transfer, and Returning Student Services, Strategic Enrollment Communication, Student-Athlete Advising, Student Success, and the Veterans Resource Center. Over the past five years, Kevin has been a key leader in the creation of UCA Commitment, a tuition and fee-free program for Arkansas students whose families earn $100,000 or less, a successful transition to a primary role advising on campus, and a scholarship remodel that focuses on high school GPA – not standardized testing requirements. Each of these efforts has strengthened the opportunity to access, the opportunity to succeed, and the opportunity to graduate from UCA. Most recently, UCA experienced a 26% growth in freshmen through the work of admissions, advising, strategic communication, and providing access and opportunity to college-going students.

Within NACADA, Kevin has served as chair of the Advising Administration Community, the chair of the 2017 Annual Conference in St. Louis, twice a mentor within the Emerging Leaders Program, and served on the Board of Directors from 2019-20. In 2018, Kevin was selected as an Outstanding Advising Administrator within NACADA. Dr. Thomas earned his doctorate in Educational Leadership from WKU and his master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Murray State University.

Faculty Expertise:

Academically Underperforming Students
Veteran / Military Connected Students
Administration
Collaboration Across Division/Units
Facilitating Change
Grant Writing
NACADA Core Competencies
Peer Advising & Mentoring
Relationship Building
Retention and Persistence

John Vasquez

John is a strong advocate for underrepresented groups such as Black, Latinx, Indigenous (BIPOC), and Queer+ individuals. He enjoys connecting people with opportunities and guiding colleges and universities toward diversity, equity, inclusiveness, and well-being through advising offices and practices. John has focused on driving positive, systemic changes to support students, faculty, and staff throughout his career. His role in advising executive leaders on transitioning their thinking toward creating a new inclusive culture shows his ability to influence leaders, and he likes to show other mid-level leaders how to do the same. John’s expertise lies in examining and redesigning advising policies, practices, and procedures through an equity lens and utilizing data-driven insights to improve advising practices. Some of the projects he has helped lead include:

Implementing an enhanced advising model has significantly increased the capacity to improve student success. This was achieved through reduced caseloads, holistic student support, and the provision of individualized academic and career development plans (IDPs).
Building a culture of equity and inclusion to reduce course success inequities by increasing faculty and staff capacity for high-impact practices in high DFW courses that support student success.
Bolstering data analytics and predictive analytics to support student success and completion
Stabilizing college funding through increased retention as a direct result of implementing new advising programs

Outside of work, John's personal interests are as diverse as his professional ones. He can be found hiking and falling off a mountain, then enjoying a well-deserved glass of wine with his rescued border collie Tessie and his partner Robert. He also enjoys going for a 3-mile run at an ungodly hour in the desert, or nurturing his aloe vera plant, trying not to kill it for the third time.

Faculty Expertise:

Hispanic Serving Institutions
Small Colleges & Universities
Rural-serving Institutions
Graduate and Professional Students
Data collection, management & decision making
Establishing an Advising Center
Faculty Advising
Program Review
Title III Grants - Advising Focus

Tara Warden

Tara Stopfel Warden serves as the Assistant Vice Provost for Advising, Academic Services & Strategic Partnerships at the University of Cincinnati (UC.) She specializes in strategy and innovative program design for student success, advising, and enrollment management. Her leadership within UC’s urban, Research I setting supports 53,000 students at 14 colleges and three campuses, including two community colleges. She provides executive support to advance coordinated strategy university-wide and manages a portfolio including: academic advising, orientation, student success technology & assessment, early college programs/dual enrollment, and Cincinnati Public Schools Strong.

Tara has advocated for and facilitated several million dollars of permanent investments in student success, accompanying remarkable increases in enrollment, student retention, and graduation rates, while reducing equity gaps for under-represented students. The programs she has founded have received awards and recognition from NACADA twice for innovation and exemplary practices. In addition, Tara was honored with NACADA’s Michael C. Holen Pacesetter Award in 2019, and in 2020 she received the ACE Ohio Excellence in Higher Education Leadership Award.

Currently serving as a faculty member and past chair of NACADA’s Administrators’ Institute, Tara also regularly serves as a consultant. She offers experience from both large public and small private universities in Ohio, Tennessee, and Texas, with background spanning academic affairs, student affairs, and enrollment management. Tara earned an M.Ed. in Counseling and Student Services (Higher Education Administration focus) and a B.A. at the University of North Texas.She is a graduate of the HERS Leadership Institute.She loves to travel, read, kayak and explore the outdoors with her husband, Chris, and 13-year old son, Cooper.

Faculty Expertise:

Four-year Public Universities
Large Universities
Research Universities
Two-Year Colleges
Administration
Advising Models
Data collection, management & decision making
Diversity Inclusivity and Equity Initiatives
Retention and Persistence
Enrollment Management & Student Success

Dana Zahorik

Dr. Dana Zahorik is a past president for NACADA, serving for the organization from 2016-2017, and served as a Fellow for the inaugural Excellence in Academic Advising partnership with the Gardner Institute. She has served on multiple committees and leadership positions within NACADA, delivered presentations, written articles and co-edited and was a contributing author of the publication, Peer Advising and Mentoring: A Guide for Advising Practitioners. She is currently a consultant for NACADA’s Consulting Services, where she has delivered workshops, as well as conducted program reviews for a variety of institutions.

Dana Zahorik has spent her entire professional career in a higher education advising and counseling capacity and currently serves as Director of Advising Services and Retention Initiatives for Fox Valley Technical College. Dana developed and facilitated FVTC’s Academic Advising Council and took on the role of implementing a college-wide Proactive Advising Model through a collaborative effort with faculty and academic advisors. In addition, she is the Chair of the College-Wide Retention and Completion Committee, coordinates and provides academic and faculty advisor training and development, and developed and implemented FVTC’s peer advisor program. Dana serves as a member of the Digital Equity Committee and is the Wisconsin Technical College Student Success Administration Liaison for FVTC.

In addition to her advising and retention related experience, she has also served as faculty for College and Career Success and Psychology coursework. Prior to her current position at FVTC she served as a personal and career counselor and facilitated training for economically disadvantaged students. She earned her Master’s degree in Counselor Education: Student Development from University of Wisconsin Oshkosh in 1995 and her Doctorate in Higher Education Leadership from Nova Southeastern University in 2006.

Faculty Expertise:

Two-Year Colleges
Academically Underperforming Students
Undecided & Exploratory Students
Advising Models
Advisor Training & Development
Establishing an Advising Center
Faculty Advising
Peer Advising & Mentoring
Program Review
Retention and Persistence