Utah State Senator Ann Millner is intensely focused on improving Utah through education and workforce development. She is a Regents Professor of Health Administration and former President at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. A proponent of flexible certifications and pathways in higher education, Senator Millner shares more about what Dual Mission Institutions are, and why they are necessary for today's students - those working adults who want to move up the ladder and those emerging adults seeking to find their career paths and passions. 

Senator Millner earned degrees from University of Tennessee, Vanderbilt University, Texas State University, and a doctorate in education from Brigham Young University. 

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With a legal background steeped in higher education and diversity, President Jonathan Alger of James Madison University quickly learned his passion was in combining the three fields. As he says in this episode of Rebuilding the American Dream: "I've always been interested in using education and knowledge to make a difference in the world. That's what I loved about being a lawyer, frankly, is that you can use the tools of the law and legal reasoning to improve society's responses to major issues and and solve problems."

President Alger has taken that charge seriously at JMU. He has developed a wide number of initiatives; short, medium and long term goals with action and accountability at the core, to affect change and help the JMU students make a difference in the world.

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Dr. David Mellott is the head of Christian Theological Seminary, a unique institution with a series of core values upon which their mission is focused. Not just from the perspective of training clergy, but Dr. Mellott and CTS are focused on teaching the values of human dignity, justice, diversity to their students and impacting real and lasting change across communities. As Dr. Mellott shares: "I do see our students really coming to life when they realize that so much of what's important about life isn't necessarily about their own individual lives, but about the community."

Dr. Mellott holds a PhD from Emory University, an MA in Religious Studies and a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, and a BA in English Literature and Latin American Studies from the Pontifical College Josephinum.

To learn more about the lecture series available to the public called "Our Life In Common", please visit www.cts.edu

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With a unique topic not often addressed in conversations in collegiate sports, today we discuss the disability sports communities and the importance of bringing those communities and student-athletes within the umbrella of formal college athletic departments. Our guest is Dr. J. P. Barfield. With over 25 years of experience in the adaptive physical activity and sports fields, Dr. Barfield's work focuses on health related and quality of life outcomes of adaptive physical activity and disability sports. He examines both competitive and recreational sports to identify factors that help participants increase their social and health outcomes. 

Doctor Barfield is the Professor and chairperson of the Department of Applied Physiology, Health and Clinical Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He received degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Appalachian State University and Middle Tennessee state. 

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Dr. Gregory Washington, President of George Mason University, could not have imagined during his childhood that he would have the experiences and opportunities that would lead him to now be the President of GMU, one of the largest public universities in the country. What he has seen, while reflecting on his youth, are the ways in which pathways were presented at critical times, ways lit for him by those who went before. Join us for this episode of Rebuilding the American Dream to learn more from Dr. Washington, but more importantly - his motivation behind all of his actions - "I feel that I have not just a mission, but A) a responsibility to a be that for others, as someone was for me, but B) put in place systems and pathways and initiatives and programs to as many young people as we possibly can, and ensure that they have somebody there for them."

First generation college student himself, Dr. Washington earned bachelors and masters degrees and his PhD, all in mechanical engineering at North Carolina State University. 

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The University of Rhode Island, while located in a small state, has a tremendous amount of impact in the local communities and even state-wide. In building coalitions and partnerships with local, state and federal officials, Dr. Parlange has been able to create great champions for the work that URI is doing to better the citizens of the state and entice folks from out of state to enroll and enjoy the incredible programs and beautiful nature URI has to offer - which has shown in its increase in enrollment numbers over the last two years.

Dr. Parlange received his Masters of Science and his doctorate from Cornell University and his Bachelor of Science degree from Griffith University in Australia.

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A woman of many hats and many committees and many responsibilities, Stevie Baker-Watson, Associate Vice President for Student Wellness and Theodore Katula Director of Athletics and Recreational Sports at DePauw University, is still focused on the individual and building relationships. In this episode of Rebuilding the American Dream: The Student-Athlete Experience, she shares some of her best practices and purposeful actions to create those meaningful relationships and be able to use her leadership to make sure voices are heard and there is transparency. Additionally, she shares some practical advice on budgeting for athletic departments and providing equity amongst her teams.

To learn more about her speech entitled "The Athletics Budget is a Unicorn", she invites all to reach out to her via email.

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Higher education institutions face many of the same challenges, but often work alone in finding solutions. In this episode of Rebuilding the American Dream, Dr. James Henderson, President of the University of Louisiana System, shares several programs and specific experiences where the UL System (a public, nine campus university system) has been able to come together and support each other, find solutions for collective problems and empower individuals to create larger system-wide impact - while still allowing each institution to best manifest it's own mission.

Dr. Henderson has dedicated his career to serving the people of his home state of Louisiana. He has served as president of his alma mater, Northwestern State University and Chancellor of Bossier Parish Community College. Dr. Henderson holds degrees from Northwestern State University, University of West Florida, and a doctorate of management from the University of Maryland—University College.

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Director of Athletics, Mike Kinnison, embodies Delta State University athletics and the family environment. At DSU for over 40 years as a student-athlete, teacher, coach and now Athletic Director, he has had astounding success on the fields (particularly in baseball). More importantly his pride lies in the exponential positive influence on thousands of young people over the years. Join this conversation on how Coach Kinnison and DSU invest in their student-athletes by setting expectations early and often and giving them confidence to succeed 5, 10, 40 years down the line - and it starts with their education first. 

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President Geoffrey S. Mearns has a unique and exciting history: a student-athelete preparing to compete in Olympic trials, a trial lawyer and prosecutor in high profile cases and now 17th President of Ball State University. President Mearns shares how those experiences prepared him for leadership in higher education and the inspirational stories that motivate him and the staff, students and faculty to change the world every day - by changing their communities.

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