Great Lakes Colleges Association, Strengthening Education in the Tradition of the Liberal Arts
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About Us

The Great Lakes Colleges Association, Inc. was chartered in the state of Michigan and incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit in 1962, and works on behalf of the thirteen member colleges located in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

Our Mission

The mission of the Great Lakes Colleges Association is to take actions that will help strengthen and preserve our colleges; and by being a leading force on behalf of education in the tradition of the liberal arts and sciences. Rich in tradition, GLCA will continue to enhance our colleges by leading as new areas of opportunity and challenge emerge.

Leadership Groups

The Board of Directors is the primary governing body of the Great Lakes Colleges Association and consists of the presidents of the member colleges, the chair of the Deans’ Council, three faculty representatives of the Academic Council, and the President of the Association, ex officio. The Board approves the programs and projects undertaken by the Association and sets the annual budget.

Mauri Ditzler
President
Albion College [Vice Chair]

Hilary Link
President
Allegheny College

Thomas Manley
President
Antioch College

Adam Weinberg
President
Denison University [Secretary/Treasurer]

Mark McCoy
President
DePauw University

Anne Houtman
President
Earlham College

Matthew Scogin
President
Hope College

Jorge G. Gonzalez
President
Kalamazoo College

Sean Decatur
President
Kenyon College [Chair]

Carmen Twillie Ambar
President
Oberlin College

Rockwell Jones
President
Ohio Wesleyan University [Past Chair]

Gregory Hess
President
Wabash College [Executive Committee Member-at-Large]

Sarah Bolton
President
The College of Wooster [Executive Committee Member-at-Large]

Charles Stinemetz
Deans’ Council Chair
Provost
Ohio Wesleyan University

Beth Choate
Academic Council Representative
Allegheny College

Alyssa Cheadle
Academic Council Representative
Hope College

Michael McDonald
President
GLCA

The Chief Academic Officers of the member colleges meet twice annually to review existing and consider new programming related to faculty, curricular and pedagogical development.

Marc Roy
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Albion College

Ron Cole
Provost and Dean of the College
Allegheny College

Kevin McGruder
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Antioch College

Kim Coplin
Provost
Denison University

Dave Berque
Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs
DePauw University

Becky Thomas
Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty
Earlham College

Cady Short-Thompson
Provost
Hope College

Danette Ifert Johnson
Provost
Kalamazoo College

Joe Klesner
Provost
Kenyon College

David Kamitsuka
Acting Dean
Oberlin College

Charles Stinemetz
Provost
Ohio Wesleyan University [Chair]

Scott Feller
Dean of the College
Wabash College

Lisa Perfetti
Provost
The College of Wooster

The Academic Council consists of two faculty from each member college. Academic Council discusses issues of importance to faculty across the campuses and advises the Board, Deans’ Council, and GLCA staff on current and emerging issues of importance for faculty. Members share Council discussions with their campus community. Three members serve on the Board of Directors.

Vanessa McCaffrey
Associate Professor of Chemistry
Albion College

Dan Jaqua
Assistant professor of Economics and Management
Albion College

Caryn Werner
Professor of Mathematics
Allegheny College

Beth Choate
Assistant Professor of Environmental Science
Allegheny College

Lara Mitias
Associate Professor of Philosophy
Antioch College

Brian Kot
Assistant Professor of Biology and Environmental Science
Antioch College

Catie Heil
Digital Curation Librarian
College of Wooster

Garrett Thomson
Professor of Philosophy
College of Wooster

Sherry Mou
Professor of Modern Languages
DePauw University

Jeff Hansen
Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry
DePauw University

Lori Watson
Professor of Chemistry
Earlham College

Rajaram Krishnan
Professor of Economics
Earlham College

Lora Kolean
Assistant Professor of Music
Hope College

Alyssa Cheadle
Assistant Professor of Psychology
Hope College

Brittany Liu
Associate Professor of Psychology
Kalamazoo College

Chris Ludwa
Assistant Professor of Music
Kalamazoo College

Carolin Hahnemann
Professor of Classics
Kenyon College

Juan De Pascuale
Associate Professor of Philosophy
Kenyon College

Elizabeth Hamilton
Associate Professor
Chair of German Languages and Literatures
Oberlin College

Annemarie Sammartino
Associate Professor of History
Oberlin College

Derek Mong
Assistant Professor of English
Wabash College

James Brown
Professor of Physics
Wabash College

GLCA Staff

Mickey McDonald

Simon J. M. Gray

Colleen Monahan Smith

Derek S. Vaughan

Gregory R. Wegner

Charla J. White

Mickey McDonald

President

Michael (Mickey) McDonald is the president of the Great Lakes Colleges Association. He joined the GLCA staff on July 1, 2018. Just prior to joining the GLCA, Mickey served ten years as Provost of Kalamazoo College, including one term as Acting President, and before that he was a professor of mathematics and served in various administrative roles at Occidental College in Los Angeles. Mickey earned a B.S. from Davidson College and a Ph.D. in mathematics from Duke University.

Simon J. M. Gray

Program Officer, Global Liberal Arts Alliance

As Program Officer, Simon’s primary responsibility is programming for the Global Liberal Arts Alliance and currently oversees the Global Crossroads grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. He also works with GLCA faculty and staff groups. Prior to joining GLCA in July 2015, Simon taught Computer Science at The College of Wooster. Simon earned a B.A. in anthropology and philosophy and an M.A. in anthropology from the University of Virginia, then a Ph.D. in computer science from Kent State University.

Colleen Monahan Smith

Assistant to the President

Colleen is assistant to the president and works on event planning for the Global Liberal Arts Alliance, Board of Directors, Deans’ Council, special summits and other meetings. She also is a coordinator of the New Writers Award. Previously, she worked as a Legislative Director on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. Colleen earned her BS from Santa Clara University in Northern California where she studied Political Science with minors in Spanish and International Studies. Colleen joined the Great Lakes Colleges Association in 2012.

Derek S. Vaughan

Vice President for Finance and Administration

Derek S. Vaughan is the Vice President for Finance and Administration where he serves as the chief financial and operating officer. He also serves as the program officer for several groups including Chief Financial Officers, Institutional Researchers, HR Officers, Chief Information Technology Officers, and Tuition Remission Exchange Officers. Additionally, Derek serves as the administrator for the consortial Tuition Remission Exchange (TRE) program and the primary data sharing officer. Derek earned a BS in math and a BBA in quantitative business analysis from Ohio University, an MS in student personnel services and an MBA in organizational behavior from Miami University, and a PhD in higher education administration from the University of Michigan. Prior to joining the GLCA in 2004, Derek held positions in student affairs at Northwestern University, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, and Miami University.

Gregory R. Wegner

Director of Program Development

As a program officer, Greg has helped develop, refine, and oversee several faculty development programs since joining the GLCA in January 2003 – including the Mellon-funded Expanding Collaboration Initiative, the GLCA Academic Leadership Institute (GALI), and the Teagle-funded GLCA/GLAA Consortium for Teaching and Learning. Previous positions included Associate Director of the Pew Higher Education Roundtable, based at the University of Pennsylvania. He is co-author (with Robert Zemsky and William F. Massy) of Remaking the American University: Market-Smart and Mission Centered. He studied English and American literature, with a B.A. from Alma College, M.A. from the University of Michigan, and Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.

Charla J. White

Program Officer, Controller

Charla White is a program officer and controller at the GLCA. Charla works closely with administrative and diversity groups, secures logistics for domestic meetings, helps the VP for Finance and Administration monitor and enforce policies and procedures, and assists in the auditing process. Charla was previously employed at Earlham College where she worked in the Student Life area and the grant funded Odyssey Program for rural, first-generation, college-bound students. Charla holds a Master’s Degree in Education with a focus on assessment and evaluation (American InterContinental University, 2010) and a Bachelor of Arts in English (Earlham College, 2008). Charla came to GLCA in 2002 following her work at Earlham College.