Education
Ph.D., 1980, University at Albany, State University of New York, School of Criminal Justice
MA, 1974, University at Albany, State University of New York, School of Criminal Justice
BA, 1973, Gannon University, Erie, Pennsylvania
Post-graduate:
Harvard University, Graduate School of Education, Seminar for Experienced Presidents, 2013
American Association of State Colleges and Universities, Experienced Presidents Retreat, 2012
Harvard University, Graduate School of Education, New President’s Seminar, 2006
Harvard University, Graduate School of Education, Institute for Educational Management, 1999
American Council on Education, Fellows Program, 1988-89
Professional experience
Chief Student Success and Academic Affairs Officer, Colorado Department of Higher Education, 2016-17
Lead a team in collaboration with colleges and universities statewide to get more Coloradans to and through postsecondary education, to reduce achievement gaps between population groups, and to maintain quality and affordability of higher education in Colorado.
2014-2016: Senior Fellow, American Association of State Colleges and Universities
AASCU is a national membership organization of 420 public institutions of higher education based in Washington DC. Senior Fellow with the AASCU Division of Academic Leadership and Change. Project-based fellowship focusing on national-level issues in higher education, including strategic planning and leadership, governance, public funding and institutional finance, diversity, assessment of student learning, and access and completion, and other areas.
2015-2016: Corporation For National And Community Service, AmeriCorps
St. Anthony North Health Campus, Family Medicine Residency, Westminster, CO. As a member of the Family Medicine Clinic health care team, served as a Health Coach to patients with chronic conditions to improve/maintain health and reduce acute episodes and hospitalizations. Linked patients with community resources (housing, transportation, health care and others) to help them to better manage chronic health problems.
2013-2014: President, Illinois State University
Chief executive officer of Illinois State University, the first public university in Illinois, founded in 1857. Fall 2013 enrollment was 20,272 students in 71 bachelors degree, 44 masters degree, 10 graduate certificate, and 10 doctoral programs. Nearly 3,300 employees including more than 1,000 FTE departmental faculty; FY14 operating funds budget of $413 million. Research and sponsored program awards were nearly $18 million in FY13. The University awarded more than 5,200 degrees in 2013. More than 194,000 alumni. In 2013-14 the University set record annual fundraising ($19.5m) and enrollment levels.
2006-2013: President and Professor of Sociology, Framingham State University
Chief executive officer of Framingham State University, a public arts and sciences university and member of the nine-campus Massachusetts State University system. The University was founded in 1839 by Horace Mann, and is the nation’s oldest public university founded for the education of teachers.
Nearly 6,500 students attend Framingham State, including nearly 2,000 graduate students. Framingham State University offers 27 undergraduate degree programs and graduate degrees in 27 fields, including an extensive graduate program for teachers in international schools. The University’s annual operating budget is $75 million, and has 470 employees including 175 full time faculty members. The University has 34,000 alumni, most of whom live and work in Massachusetts.
Selected Framingham State University achievements 2006-2013:
- New academic programs: M.Ed. in STEM Education; B.S. in Environmental Science; B.A. in Criminology; two M.S.N. programs (Nursing Education, and Nursing Leadership); M.B.A. program.
- Secured Commonwealth capital funding for new Science Center ($84m), 400-bed residence hall ($47m), and Faculty Office/Classroom building projects. Total capital investment 2006-2013 was more than $200m.
- Established record-setting levels of fundraising/private support.
- Launched first comprehensive fundraising campaign in the University’s history.
- Completed two comprehensive strategic plans (2008-12 and 2013-17).
- Completed comprehensive academic, assessment, capital, climate action, enrollment, diversity, technology and emergency operations plans.
- Established Honors Program Center; joined Commonwealth Honors Program.
- Established Faculty Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning, Scholarship and Service.
- Lead campus participation in Foundations of Excellence in the First Year of College, a national effort to improve the transition of first-year students.
- Established United Way community service partnership to facilitate civic engagement among students (awarded Mulready Community Service Award by United Way of MetroWest).
- Established on-campus Child Care Center in collaboration with MetroWest YMCA.
- Established MetroWest STEM Education Network, a six-college collaboration with 14 school districts, 12 major science, engineering and technology employers, and others to improve student interest and performance, and STEM teaching effectiveness in K-12.
- Developed multifaceted partnerships with Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham Historical Society and Museum, Claflin Hill Symphony Orchestra.
- Implemented new campus information system and portal.
Associated community/professional service - American Association of State Colleges and Universities, National Committee on Teacher Education (Chair of Committee and Chair of McAuliffe Award Committee, 2010); Council of State Representatives (through 2012)
- National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics (2012-14 )
- American Council on Education, Council of Fellows, Director (2008-12)
- Steering Committee, Massachusetts Colleges Online (2006-11)
- Board of Directors, MetroWest Chamber of Commerce (2007-2010); Presidential Search Committee (2009)
- Board of Directors, I-495 Corridor Partnership, Executive Committee (2009-2013 )
- Chair, Council of Massachusetts State University Presidents (2010-11)
- Framingham (MA) Citizen’s Committee on the Police and the Community (2011)
- MA Department of Higher Education, Commissioner’s Working Group on Graduation Rates and Student Success (2009-2011)
- MA Department of Higher Education, Commissioner’s Task Force on Statewide Assessment (Chair, 2012-2013 )
1998-2006: Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professor of Criminal Justice, State University of New York, College at Brockport
Responsible for curriculum, instruction, faculty development, academic planning and policy development, new academic program development, information technology, academic information services, research and sponsored funds, continuing education, and institutional research for a public college with 575 faculty, 6,200 undergraduate students, 1,500 graduate students. Responsible for a $43 million divisional budget, $6.0 million in external research and training funding.
Selected college accomplishments 1998-2006
- Established a Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, a major campus initiative to enhance the professional development of faculty.
- New academic programs: Computational Science (BS, MS); Social Work (MSW); Environmental Science (BS and MS); Women’s Studies (BA); Special Education (MS); Professional Accounting (BS); Marketing (BS); Finance (BS); Public Administration – Public Safety Emphasis (MPA); BS (Political Science) and MPA joint degree program; BS/DPT (Physical Therapy) 3+3 program with SUNY Upstate Medical University.
- Developed innovative collaborative teaching and performance agreements with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, GEVA Theater, and Visual Studies Workshop of Rochester.
- Established the Office of Graduate Studies: responsible for marketing, student recruitment, policy development, and coordination of all graduate programs.
- Implemented an integrated technology organization combining academic and administrative computing, network systems, tech support, media and telecommunications services. Established the College Technology Council, a collegewide technology strategic planning and policy development group.
- Established the Academic Priorities Committee - reviewed proposals for new academic programs, assessed and prioritized existing academic programs; created and administered cyclical academic program review process.
- Lead a major revision of General Education Program, featuring articulated learning outcomes, strengthened mathematics and communications components, required competency examinations in writing, mathematics, and computer skills, and continuous assessment of student learning.
- Implemented a Faculty Allocation Model to align faculty resources and institutional priorities.
- Achieved or renewed accreditation by: Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (Institutional, renewal 2002); Athletic Training (CAAHEP), Business (AACSB), Chemistry (ACS), Computer Science (ABET), Counselor Education (CACREP), Dance (NASD), Nursing (CCNE), Public Administration (NASPAA), Recreation and Leisure Studies (NRPA/AARL), Social Work (BS, and MSW – CSWE), Teacher Education (NCATE).
1991-1998: Dean, College of Criminal Justice; Director, Criminal Justice Center; Professor of Criminal Justice, Sam Houston State University, Texas.
Chief academic officer of the College of Criminal Justice, which offers bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees. Thirty full-time faculty, 12 staff, and nearly 1,700 students. Chief administrative officer of the Criminal Justice Center, which offers leadership development programs for criminal justice professionals. Twenty‑five staff providing courses for more than 22,000 registrants each year. Combined budgets for the College and Center were approximately $6.2 million annually.
Selected College accomplishments 1991-98:
- Increased enrollment in the College of Criminal Justice by 20 percent.
- Quadrupled research and sponsored funds awarded to the College 1991-98.
- Established six undergraduate scholarship programs and three new graduate scholarships through fundraising in the Houston/Harris County, Texas business community.Established comprehensive undergraduate and graduate advising/student services centers.
- Developed new doctoral program in Forensic Psychology
- Extended criminal justice degree programs into innovative six-university consortium called the University Center, located in Montgomery County, Texas.
1982-1991: School of Criminal Justice, State University of New York at Albany.
1986-91: Associate Professor
1988-90: Special Assistant to the President and Vice President for Academic Affairs
1984-88: Associate Dean
1982-86: Assistant Professor and Undergraduate Programs Director
1977-1982: Criminal Justice Research Center, Inc., Albany New York. Various positions from Research Analyst to Executive Director of a private, non‑profit research institute with an annual budget of $500,000 and a staff of 30. Responsibilities included principal investigator, proposal development, chief fiscal officer, supervision of research activity, staff selection and supervision.
1975-1977: Teaching Fellow, School of Criminal Justice, State University of New York at Albany.
1974-1975: Instructor, Department of Criminal Justice, Marshall University, Huntington, WV.
Honors, Awards and Professional Development
- Ranked 11th among most-cited authors in criminal justice journals 1986-90. See Cohn and Farrington, “Who Are the Most-cited Scholars in Major American Criminology and Criminal Justice Journals?” Journal of Criminal Justice 22(6): 517-534, 1994.
- Ranked 9th among most-cited criminology and criminal justice doctoral program faculty in six major journals 1991-95. See Cohn and Farrington, “Assessing the Quality of American Doctoral Program Faculty in Criminology and Criminal Justice 1991-95”. Journal of Criminal Justice Education 9(1), 1998.
- University of Cincinnati Award for “Outstanding Contribution to the Field of Corrections in the United States and Canada” from the American Probation and Parole Association, 1998.
- Delegate, White House Leadership Conference on Youth, Drugs and Violence, Washington DC, March 1996.
- Fellow Award for “Distinguished Teaching and Scholarly Achievement” from the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, 1993.
- Distinguished Alumnus, Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, University at Albany, 1992.
I have been Project Director of 11 federal grants and Co-Director of one grant from the United States Department of Justice (1980-1992). These grants produced the annual Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics for the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, published by the U.S. Government Printing Office. I also directed grants from the New York State Department of Correctional Services (1986-87) and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Community Justice Assistance Division (1995) to conduct evaluation research. These grants total $3,570,313.
Courses Taught
Graduate: Administration of Justice, Computers in Criminal Justice Research, Research Design and Methods, Program Evaluation, Contemporary Issues in Criminal Justice Policy, Incarceration. Undergraduate: Criminology (Fall 2009). Previous: American Criminal Courts, Research in Criminal Justice, Incarceration, Introduction to the Criminal Justice Process, Introduction to Corrections, Correctional Institutions, Probation and Parole, Correctional Law, Seminar in Crime Prevention.
PREVIOUS Community Service
- Rochester Area Interfaith Housing Network, St. Mary’s Church, volunteer (2003-6). Providing temporary shelter and support to homeless families in the Rochester area.
- Liturgy Committee, St. Mary’s Church, Rochester NY, 2004-6.
- Drug Court Planning Committee, 2nd Administrative Judicial District, Texas, 1997. Developed proposal funded by the U.S. Department of Justice to establish a Drug Court Program in East Texas.
- Walker County (TX) Criminal Justice Planning Group, 1996. Developed county criminal justice plan for Governor’s Office, Criminal Justice Division.
- Habitat for Humanity, Montgomery County (TX) chapter, volunteer, 1995-96.
- Texas Board of Criminal Justice, Task Force on Reducing Recidivism, Steering Committee, 1994-95. Developed plan for funding of recidivism prevention programs throughout State of Texas.
- Volunteer Judge, Science and Technology 2000, sponsored by the Conroe (Texas) Independent School District and the Education for Tomorrow Alliance, 1993
- Montgomery County (Texas) Criminal Justice Council, Citizen Member, 1993. County-based justice planning body, appointed by and reporting to County Judges (Supervisors).
- Saint Helen's Parish School Board, Schenectady, New York, 1986‑89: Board Secretary, 1986‑87; Long‑range Planning Committee, 1986‑87; Diocesan School Board Liaison, 1986‑89; Board President, 1987‑88; Constitution/Bylaws Committee, 1988‑89
- Niskayuna Recreation Department, Youth Soccer Program, Coach, 1990
- Niskayuna Girls Softball League, Assistant Manager, 1988, Manager, 1989, 1990
- Niskayuna Little League, Assistant Coach, 1986; Coach, 1987, Manager, 1991
- Computer Literacy Volunteer, St. Helen's School, Schenectady, New York, 1983‑84.
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