Academic Dean

Devin Byrd, Ph.D., is a Clinical Psychologist and currently serves as the President for Bastyr University. Prior to joining Bastyr, he served as the Vice President for Academic Affairs for Saybrook University where he provided oversight for programs such as the Mind Body Medicine and Integrative Functional Nutrition programs, Counseling, Psychology, and Clinical Psychology degrees. His fiscal responsibility included overseeing budgets for all academic programs (for both Colleges) and the Academic Affairs Operations division (e.g., registrar, library, writing center, department of research).

He spent 13 years at South University in several roles including Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, wherein his responsibilities included oversight for five (5) Colleges and one (1) School of the Institution (Arts and Sciences, Business, Health professions, Nursing and Public Health, Theology and School of Pharmacy), supervision of the College/School Deans, Faculty, and curriculum. An additional function of this role was to oversee the development and launch of new academic programs and to achieve programmatic accreditation (including reaffirmations) and programs offered across eleven campuses.

Dr. Byrd graduated from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology and from Virginia Tech with a Master of Science and PhD degrees in Clinical Psychology. During his graduate studies, he completed his pre-doctoral internship at Brown University where he served as the Intern Representative for the Child track and completed rotations at the VA PTSD clinic, Bradley School, Child/Adolescent Inpatient facility, and the Child/Adolescent Anxiety Disorders clinic. His personal interests include spending time with his family and friends, traveling, boating, golf, and home projects.      

Jeffrey Cass is the Dean of the College of Arts and Humanities at Arkansas Tech University in Russellville, AR. Prior to this appointment he was Provost at the University of Houston-Victoria and Professor of English. He also been a faculty member and administrator at the University of Louisiana at Monroe and Texas A&M International University. Jeffrey is a native of Valley Center, CA and received is Ph.D. from the University of California at San Diego. His professional field is British Romanticism and has published in the area of women and Orientalism. More recently, he has published research on the work of John Galt and William Godwin.

Dr. DeWayne Frazier currently serves as the University Provost where he is the Chief Academic and Student Development Officer for Iowa Wesleyan University. Dr. Frazier is known as an academic entrepreneur and his career is marked by enrollment growth through creative academic programming. Dr. Frazier’s portfolio includes the Adult and Graduate Programs, library services, academic support, international education, Registrar Office, Office of Student Development, career services, community service office, campus ministries and the university academic divisions (Business, Education, Humanities, Nursing, and Sciences). Dr. Frazier serves on the President’s Cabinet and is also a full professor in the Division of Business. Under Dr. Frazier’s leadership, Iowa Wesleyan has seen over 100% increase in overall student enrollment in less than two years. Under Frazier’s leadership, Wesleyan has increased international student enrollment by over 600% (18 to 120 students). Frazier has designed and incorporated a step-by-step plan for designing new academic programs and has implemented in the university wide strategic plan metrics to develop a minimum two new programs for review each academic year. Under his leadership the university has launched its first two graduate programs as well as an aggressive micro-credential program. Frazier is a national presenter on academic entrepreneurship.

Prior to serving at Iowa Wesleyan, Dr. Frazier was the associate vice president for academic affairs and dean of the Graduate School at Campbellsville University in Kentucky. At Campbellsville University, Dr. Frazier oversaw 17 different graduate programs across various disciplines including business, counseling, education, music, social work, social science, and teaching English to speakers of other languages. Frazier was responsible for implementing recruitment strategies, overseeing curriculum development and monitoring program resources. Under his leadership, the Graduate Programs grew steadily from a Full-Time Equivalency (FTE) of 453 in the Fall 2010 to 535 FTE in the Fall 2012. Two of the programs have recently (2014) been ranked by U.S. News and World Report in the top online programs in the United States.

Dr. Frazier came to Campbellsville University after serving three years as the Senior Vice President for International Programs (SVP for IP) at Upper Iowa University (UIU) in Fayette, Iowa. Dr. Frazier was responsible for overseeing UIU’s academic extension centers located in foreign locations. Upper Iowa University currently has centers in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia. Under Dr. Frazier’s leadership, full-time student numbers at the international academic extension locations have increased from 399 to 831 over the past three years. The enrollment growth reflects a 108 percent increase in total students.  As the Sr. VP for IP, Dr. Frazier oversaw all academic requests, including final grade appeals, internship extensions, appeals from suspension, approval of faculty, and final review of course substitutions. Frazier served on the university wide curriculum committee and graduate curriculum committee as an ex-officio member. He also worked closely with the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association on Accreditation to assure that all programs operate within the given principles and parameters of the commission. 

Dr. Frazier has presented at various conferences on topics ranging from job satisfaction to immigration regulations. He has presented at the World Conference of the International Association for the Promotion of Christian Higher Education and the NAFSA national conference. Dr. Frazier has presented on “F-1 Students for Admissions Offices” and “International Student Recruitment 101” at the Southern Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers as well as presentations on globalization. He has published numerous articles on topics such as internationalization of the campus and international recruitment.

Dr. Frazier’s earned his Bachelor’s degree from Campbellsville University in Political Science/ Mathematics. He completed his M.A. in international politics at the Patterson School for Diplomacy and International Commerce on the campus of the University of Kentucky and finished an additional M.A. at the University of Louisville in higher education administration. Dr. Frazier completed his Ph.D. in leadership at the University of Louisville. The topic of his dissertation was the “Job Satisfaction of International Educators in the Post-September 11th Era”.

Dr. Best joined UCM in August 1995 as an assistant professor of finance and became a professor in 2005. He was named chair of the Department of Economics and Finance in 2003, associate dean of the Harmon College of Business Administration in 2008 and dean of the college in 2010. Following an extensive restructuring of academic programs, Dr. Best began service as dean of the newly formed Harmon College of Business and Professional Studies in 2011. His strong business acumen contributed to Dr. Best becoming interim senior vice president for Finance and Administration in August 2017, and concurrent with a university administrative reorganization, he was appointed executive vice president and chief operating officer in January 2018. In this capacity, he was responsible for implementing a three-year budget planning cycle for the university, revising university fiscal policies and leading efforts to provide more robust reporting for budget managers. With board oversight, he also helped formalize the university’s contingency reserves guidelines.

Early in his tenure as president, Dr. Best established priorities that include: ensuring a focus on and highlight on academic quality; building a sustainable financial model, which includes automation and streamlining practices; expanding the spectrum of educational opportunities available to students, including seeking out markets beyond undergraduate and graduate degrees; strengthening alumni engagement and developing a strong fundraising arm through the UCM Alumni Foundation, including filling key staff and leadership positions; and engaging marketing and branding efforts to roll out a new slogan and graphic icon that relates to students and assists with building program-level recruitment. He has also challenged faculty and staff to continue a long legacy of being service-minded toward students and to become problem solvers.

Throughout his service at UCM, Dr. Best has shared his financial and administrative expertise to the benefit of the university. Early in his career, he was appointed to a Board of Governors Academic Affairs Subcommittee on Faculty Compensation, which recommended a new faculty compensation model ultimately approved by the board. During the 2014–2015 academic year, he played a role in the development of the university’s Strategic Resource Allocation Model (SRAM) by chairing a team that considered how the budget process could further enhance transparency and accountability, optimally allocate resources to academic programs and directly connect to student success, growth with quality and sustainability and efficiency metrics.

While serving the Harmon College, Dr. Best played a key role in the college’s accreditation by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International), having been involved in three of the college’s Continuous Improvement Review visits by external teams. He was also engaged with AACSB at a national level, having served on the AACSB Continuous Improvement Review Committee and on numerous peer review teams for other university business programs. As dean, he oversaw the creation of the Donn G. Forbes Center for Financial Studies, funded through a private gift to the university, and facilitated a partnership with the UCM Alumni Foundation to create the Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF) with an initial allocation of $500,000.

Dr. Best’s tenure at UCM includes a strong record of participation in department, college and university committees that have given him a broad, well-rounded knowledge of the campus community. He has served on the Faculty Senate, Academic Program Review Committee, University Research Committee, University Scholarship Committee, Professional Enhancement Committee and a number of other committees and work groups. His teaching assignments included more than 100 sections of a dozen unique courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels covering concepts in corporate finance, international finance, investments and personal finance. His professional contributions include publication of numerous scholarly research-based articles in peer-reviewed journals and more than 40 presentations at professional conferences, as well as service on the Board of Directors for both the MidAmerican Business Deans Association and the Southwestern Business Deans Association.

Dr. Best began his higher education at Georgia College in Milledgeville, where he earned a Bachelor of Business Administration with a major in management. Advanced study led to a Ph.D. in finance from Florida State University in Tallahassee.

Active members of the community, Dr. Best and his wife, Robin Best, reside in Warrensburg, Mo., and have two daughters, Amy Burk and Lindsey Keirsey, and six grandchildren. Previously, Dr. Best served as treasurer and board member of Habitat for Humanity of Johnson County, and he currently serves as a member of Johnson County Economic Development Corporation’s Board of Directors, Whiteman Area Leadership Council, Missouri Campus Compact Presidential Advisory Board and KCPT Board of Directors.

Dr. Chris Bustamante serves as the Executive Director of the Arizona Community College Coordinating Council (AC4). In this position, he leads the statewide council of presidents/chancellors of the ten community college districts in their work to advance the mission and interests of Arizona’s community colleges. He is also the former president of Rio Salado College (Rio) and the Maricopa Corporate College (MCOR), both located in Tempe, Arizona. The institutions are part of the Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) which serves approximately 200,000 students annually. Rio is the largest of the District’s ten individually accredited colleges and serves nearly 50,000 students each year. Dr. Bustamante retired in August 2018 after forty years of public service in Arizona, including over twenty-six years in MCCCD. 

Dr. Bustamante is a well-known advocate for increasing access to higher education and degree completion. In addition, he is highly regarded for forging transformational partnerships with business, government, and educational providers. 

He was appointed President of Rio in June 2010 and President of MCOR in August 2016. Prior leadership roles at Rio include: Vice President of Community Development and Student Services and Dean of Academic Affairs. Previously he served in senior level government affairs positions for MCCCD and as Assistant to the Superintendent for Community and Government Relations for the Phoenix Union High School District, and as a Legislative Assistant in the Arizona House of Representatives. 

A native to Arizona, he holds both a doctorate and master’s degree in educational leadership from Northern Arizona University. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Arizona and attended Pima Community College as a transfer student. 

Dr. Bustamante’s commitment to higher education is noted by his leadership roles nationally and locally. He currently serves as the Board Chair for Higher Learning Advocates (HLA), a Lumina funded advocacy organization, and served as Chair of the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) Board of Trustees (2016-17), and as a CAEL Senior Fellow (2020-21); currently serves as a CAEL Advisory Board member (2018-Present) and ED2Work Advisory Council member (2021-). In addition, he served as a board member for the American Council on Education (ACE) (2016-2018) and Chair of ACE’s Commission on Education, Attainment, and Innovation (2014-15). He served on the Board for the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) (2015-2017) and its Executive Committee (2017), and as President of the National Community College Hispanic Council (NCCHC) (2014-15). In 2018, he completed service as a member of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE), the Presidents’ Forum Advisory Board, Credential Engine Board, and the Advisory Board for the Higher Education Research and Development Institute (HERDI). In addition, Dr. Bustamante served as President of the Continuous Quality Improvement Network (CQIN/AFIT) and member of its Executive Committee (2012-2018). He currently serves on the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA) and its Executive Committee. Locally, he was co-chair of the Arizona-Mexico Commission’s Education Committee (2016-2018), Friends of Public Radio Arizona Board Member (2010-2018), and currently serves on the local boards of the Boy Scouts of America and the Be A Leader Foundation in Phoenix. 

Chris and his wife, Mary, live in Tempe, Arizona, where they are raising their three daughters.

On Nov. 12, 2019, the Central New Mexico Community College (CNM) Governing Board unanimously selected Tracy Hartzler to become the sixth president of CNM. She officially began her presidency on Jan. 1, 2020.

Before becoming CNM President, Ms. Hartzler was CNM’s Vice President for Finance and Operations and has been at CNM since 2015.

In September 2021, President Hartzler was one of 25 community college presidents nationwide selected to participate in the Aspen New Presidents Fellowship, managed by the prestigious Aspen Institute College Excellence Program. The program supports community college presidents in the early years of their tenure as they strive for higher and more equitable levels of student success.

President Hartzler has been a key leader among a partnership of five colleges in New Mexico to establish the Collaborative for Higher Education Shared Services (CHESS). The five partner colleges are collaborating on an unprecedented level to implement shared technology platforms that all five colleges will use to improve the student experience from recruitment and enrollment to completion and career, as well as modernizing and streamlining technology and processes that will be consistent across the colleges for administrative, HR and financial services. CHESS’ unique structure allows the colleges to take advantage of the efficiencies of a true college system while retaining their independence and unique connections to their local communities. In addition to CNM being a founding partner for CHESS, President Hartzler also serves as the Vice Chair on the CHESS Board.

Under President Hartzler’s leadership, CNM was one of five community colleges nationwide that helped found and launch Unmudl, a national skills-to-jobs marketplace that provides working learners with the shortest, most flexible and affordable options for skilling up quickly and improving their career prospects. Businesses use the service to find the skilled workers they need to grow. President Hartzler serves as Chair for the Unmudl Steering Committee.

President Hartzler has served the public sector for more than 25 years in education, government, and policy roles. She earned her Juris Doctorate from the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America. She earned her Master of Education Degree from the University of Virginia with highest honors; and she earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree, cum laude, from Saint Mary’s College in Indiana. She is a member of the New Mexico, Indiana (inactive), and District of Columbia Bars.

Dean Gilbert has been a leader in higher education for more than 20 years.  She began her career as a faculty member and over the years has served in a variety of higher education leadership positions.  She became the Dean of the University of Toledo’s College of Arts and Letters on July 10, 2017. 

During her tenure, the College of Arts and Letters (CAL) has seen record highs in retention rates, graduation rates, and external research funding.   Faculty in the College have received numerous accolades for their research excellence including four Fulbright scholars, a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow and a winner of the Kennedy Center’s National Playwright Award.  In addition, students in the college have significantly increased their participation in undergraduate research both on campus and at regional and national conferences.  This past fall CAL students represented over 20% of the student participants in the University’s annual undergraduate research showcase.   In the spring CAL students were part of two teams of students who competed in the international Biodesign Challenge at the Museum of Modern Art in New York city. 

During her first year as Dean, Gilbert led the College through a college-level strategic planning process that identified the following five key values as the foundation for achieving strategic success during the next five years:  Integrity, Excellence, Diversity, Engagement and Innovation.

Dean Gilbert is deeply committed to building the College of Arts and Letters into one of the finest liberal arts colleges, housed in a public university, in the country.  In her first year as Dean, the College approved a new minor in Data Analytics.  In her second year, she led a university-wide initiative to develop new majors in data analytics and data science. Other curricular initiatives under her leadership have included:  a LatinX curriculum infusion project, a graduate certificate in Disability Studies, a re-activated Masters in Public Administration program, and an ongoing effort to develop an interdisciplinary doctoral program in the humanities. 

Gilbert believes that creating a supportive and engaging academic environment is essential to academic excellence.  During her tenure as Dean, the College established a New Scholars Program designed to create an intellectual community for students who are highly engaged in terms of their academic achievements, commitment to service and/or leadership.  In addition to co-curricular activities, Gilbert has prioritized scholarship support for students in need.  Under her leadership the College has created the Strategic Scholarship Initiative designed to support students in academic good standing who need a small amount of financial assistance to stay on track to graduation. 

From July 2014 to July 2017, Professor Gilbert served as the Dean and Director of the Ohio State University, Lima Campus.  During this time the campus saw record increases in retention rates, graduation rates, and fundraising.  Under Gilbert’s leadership, the campus became known for its commitment to community engagement efforts focused on creative collaborations and service.  She also served as a Professor in the OSU Department of Women’s , Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Prior to this position, she had been at the University of Toledo as a full professor and Chair, in the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies and the founding director of the School of Interdisciplinary Studies.

In addition to serving as the Dean of the University of Toledo’s College of Arts and Letters, Gilbert is also a tenured full Professor in the Department of Theatre and Film.  For the past 20 years Gilbert has been an independent documentary filmmaker, teacher and scholar. She has been a national producer for public television and has produced two award-winning feature documentaries and several short non-fiction films. Her first feature documentary film, Homecoming Sometimes I am Haunted by Memories of Red Dirt and Clay, premiered nationally on PBS and won several national awards for Best Documentary.  Professor Gilbert also co-authored, with Quinn Eli, a companion book to the film, also entitled Homecoming, published by Beacon Press. Her documentary, Children Will Listen, which followed DC public school children engaged in a year-long theater arts project, premiered at the 2004 AFI Silverdocs Documentary Festival and had a national primetime PBS broadcast premiere.  Her films and videos have been screened in numerous international and national festivals including the Women in the Director's Chair Festival, the Chicago International Television Festival, FESPACO, the Athens International Film and Video Festival, and the Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema.

Gilbert is the recipient of several awards and fellowships including the Rockefeller Media Arts Fellowship, Harvard University's Bunting Fellowship, the Kellogg National Leadership Fellowship award and the American Council on Education Fellowship. Dean Gilbert received her bachelor's degree from Yale University, her Master of Fine Arts degree from Temple University and Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska

Tom Gallagher serves as Dean at Missoula College and Point of Contact (POC) Director for Cybersecurity Center of Academic Excellence (CAE2Y) at Missoula College. Tom has been a professor of Information Technology and Computer Science at Missoula College, University of Montana since 2001. Prior to coming to UM, Tom served in the roles of Technology Director and System Administrator. He holds a doctoral and masters degree in Education Leadership from the University of Montana, masters degree in Computer Science from Western Washington University, and baccalaureate degree in Mathematics from Carroll College. His dissertation is entitled Baccalaureate Time-to-Degree for Montana University System Two-year College Transfer Students

Marguerite Cotto had nearly four decades of service to Northwestern Michigan College when she retired in 2021. She started her career at NMC in 1979 as a Spanish instructor. It was a long way from the University of Puerto Rico where she focused on Soil Science and Hispanic Studies. She advanced to become academic chair where she developed one of the richest modern language programs of its kind in the state. She was later tapped to lead the University Center. In that role, her diplomatic leadership style united independent minded institutions under a common goal. That strength also positioned her to lead a group of programs as diverse as College for Kids and the Marine Center as Vice President of Lifelong & Professional Learning. One of her strengths was her ability to connect with a wide variety of people from different backgrounds. The other was to see endless possibilities.

Stephanie was born in Texas, raised in Colorado, and has lived, raised 3 daughters, and worked in Bozeman Montana for 26 years.  All the men in her family where in construction, the ski  industry, and ranching while the women were all educators going back 3 generations.  It is no wonder that her professional life involves connecting industry to education and education to industry. Making these connections supports students as they reach their potential and a diverse local economy.  Dean Gray holds  a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from University of Colorado and a Master of Public Administration from Eastern Washington University. Stephanie has been with Gallatin College for 8 years, and two years the Dean.  Prior to Gallatin College Dean Gray worked in a variety of non-profits in a home for pregnant teens, a teen shelter as a case worker, on a mental health team as a case manager, and at the local Human Resource Development Council as the Youth Development Director.  Without a doubt, her favorite job, and the work that has made the largest difference in peoples lives and the communities future is as the Dean of Gallatin College!