How Higher Education Can Change to Thrive with a Changing Demographic

Panelists

Archie Holmes, Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, The University of Texas System

Archie Holmes joined The University of Texas System as Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs in October of 2020. He provides oversight and guidance for the eight UT System academic institutions, who enroll more than 224,000 students, produced nearly 62,000 graduates a year, and have an aggregate annual operating budget of more than $7 billion.

Prior to joining U. T. System, Archie was the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs at the University of Virginia and was a faculty member at both the University of Virginia and The University of Texas at Austin. As Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, he served as chief advisor to and representative of the executive vice president and provost in academic matters related to the curriculum and general health and welfare of the academic units.

Dr. Holmes received his bachelor's and PhD degrees, both in electrical engineering, from the University of Texas at Austin and the University of California at Santa Barbara respectively.

Mark Mitsui, Retired Community College President

Mark Mitsui's career in the community and technical colleges spanned more than three decades and included stints as a teacher, administrator, president and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Colleges at the US Department of Education. His primary focus has been institutional and systemic change for equitable student success and economic mobility through a community/technical college education. Along the way, he served as a commissioner for a regional accreditor (the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities), President of the National Asian Pacific Islander Council and as a member of the American Council on Education Board and several other boards and councils. Now retired, he currently co-chairs the NASEM Roundtable on Improving Undergraduate STEM Education.

Susan Rundell Singer, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, Rollins College; President-elect, St. Olaf College

Susan Rundell Singer is an experienced national and institutional leader in higher education, uplifting the value of a liberal arts education. Currently, she serves as Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost at Rollins College and is President-elect of St. Olaf College. Previously, she led the Division of Undergraduate Education at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and was the Laurence McKinley Gould Professor of Biology at Carleton College, where she directed the Perlman Center for Learning and Teaching. Recruited to NSF by the White House, she was charged with implementing holistic, evidence-informed approaches to increase persistence and success of all undergraduates. She led 14 federal agencies in achieving the undergraduate goals of the first Federal STEM Education 5-year Strategic Plan, including producing one million more STEM graduates by 2018. She pursues a career integrating higher education and science aimed at improving undergraduate education at scale. Her scholarship focuses on partnerships and networks of organizations collaboratively advancing undergraduate STEM education, with an emphasis on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. Equitable and excellent undergraduate education is a signature element of her successes at Carleton, NSF, national organizations, and Rollins, enhanced by a strong track record with partnerships and fundraising. Susan is an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellow, and recipient of the American Society of Plant Biology teaching award and Botanical Society of America Charles Bessey award. She is a past-chair of AAAS' Education Section. Currently, Susan is an Association of American Universities Senior Scholar, chairs the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) Board on Science Education, and serves on the Board on Life Sciences and the Roundtable on Systematic Change in Undergraduate STEM Education. She chaired several NASEM studies, including Discipline-based Education Research. Her Ph.D. is in Biology, from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.