Board of Directors

The Coalition is governed by a board of directors that provides leadership and sets the course for our organization’s future. Elections for new board members take place in March, and board terms begin on July 1 and last three years.

The Board is composed of Institution Directors, with representation from each category of member institution (public universities, private universities, and liberal arts colleges), and Outside Directors, who bring broader expertise to help the Coalition achieve its mission.

Board Leadership, 2024-2025

Kevin Mathes, Chair
Adam Sapp, Past Chair
Sara Urquidez, Vice Chair
Andy Evans, Treasurer

Board of Directors, 2024-2025

Andy Evans

Evans is a former managing director in executive search at Koya Leadership Partners. His prior financial and administrative management experience in higher education spans 30 years and includes serving as chief financial officer at Oberlin College and Wellesley College. He has served on numerous boards supporting higher education and as a commissioner for the New England higher education regional accrediting association.

Nathan Fuerst

Fuerst is the vice president of enrollment management at the University of Connecticut, where he and his team lead undergraduate admissions, financial aid, registrar, retention, orientation and the Lodewick Visitors Center. Prior to arriving to UConn in 2011, Nathan held various roles in admissions and enrollment at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Elena Hicks

Hicks is the assistant vice provost and dean of admission at Southern Methodist University, where she oversees all activities in the office of admission, serving first-year, transfer and international applicants. Hicks has previously served as dean of admission at Loyola University Maryland and assistant dean of admission and director of information systems at Texas Christian University.

Jay Jacobs

Jacobs assumed the role of vice provost for enrollment management at the University of Vermont in 2021. In this role, he leads and manages all areas relating to the university’s undergraduate student recruitment and retention through a division comprised of Undergraduate Admissions, the Office of the Registrar, Student Financial Services, and New Student Orientation and Student Advancement. Prior to joining UVM, Jacobs most recently served as the director of enrollment management and admission operations for the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida.

Michael Keaton

Keaton is the vice president for enrollment management at Ursinus College, previously serving at Drexel University. Mike began his admissions career in 1998 in Boston at Wentworth Institute of Technology and later Northeastern University before moving to Haverford College in 2001. At Haverford, Mike held several roles, including Senior Associate Director of Admission and Director of Multicultural Recruitment. In 2012 Mike “switched sides of the desk,” and spent 5 years at Friends’ Central School as Co-Director of College Counseling. In 2017 Mike returned to admissions at Drexel University. He has a keen interest in the representation of college admissions in media and popular culture.

Kevin Mathes

Mathes is associate vice president and dean of admissions at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. He joined the admissions office in 2017; previously, he worked in admissions at St. Lawrence University and Dartmouth College.

Dawn Medley

Medley is the senior vice president for enrollment management at Drexel University. Her previous roles include vice provost for enrollment management and student retention at Stony Brook University and associate vice-president of enrollment management at Wayne State University. At Wayne State, she was the architect of the first in the nation Warrior Way Back Program and the Heart of Detroit, which provides a free education to all Detroit high school graduates. She has over 30 years of experience in college admissions, financial aid and retention, with a long-term focus on access and equity.

Jesse Meyer

Meyer is the vice president for advancement at Illinois Wesleyan University. He recently served as the senior director of major gifts and college campaign manager for the University of Chicago. Prior to his time at UChicago, he served as both a regional director and senior regional director of development for the University of Notre Dame's development office. A former college athlete, Meyer received his undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago, a master's in higher education from the University of Iowa, and a PhD in higher education from the University of Kansas, focusing on alumni athlete philanthropy at selective institutions.

Adam Sapp

Sapp is assistant vice president and director of admissions at Pomona College, where he manages both international and domestic territories, as well as the recruitment of military veterans and native and indigenous populations. Prior to joining Pomona, he served in admissions roles at Princeton University and Claremont McKenna College.

Chad Spencer

Spencer is vice president of enrollment management at Centre College in Danville, KY. He has worked in admission and financial aid for 25 years and served as senior associate dean of admission and director of financial aid at Davidson College from 2005-2023. He is dedicated to college access and affordability initiatives and has been instrumental in the development of need-based financial aid models to increase Pell Grant recipient enrollments to the institutions where he has worked.

Charles Stewart

Stewart is chief executive officer of Sotheby’s. Before assuming the leadership role at the international art, jewelry and real estate broker in 2019, Stewart most recently served as co-president and chief financial officer of Altice USA, a leading technology, telecommunications and entertainment provider.

Kasey Urquidez

Urquidez spent her career at the University of Arizona, serving most recently as vice president of enrollment management & dean of undergraduate admissions. She is dedicated to all facets of education, with a special focus on access to and equity in college for all students.

Sara Urquidez

Urquidez is the executive director of the Academic Success Program in Texas. ASP is a comprehensive college access program that recruits, trains and oversees college advisors and places them in public high schools to guide students through the college and financial aid processes. Urquidez also participates in multiple professional associations, college and university advisory boards, and scholarship committees.

Kate Volzer

Kate Volzer is the former CEO and Co-founder of Wisr. which was acquired by EAB in March '21. Volzer worked in admissions for the undergraduate college at the University of Chicago from 2009-2014.

Mary Wagner

Mary Wagner is the executive director of strategic higher education enrollment leadership at The College Board. Prior to this role, Wagner served as the assistant vice president for enrollment management and the executive director of admission at the University of South Carolina. She has been working in enrollment management for 25+ years at public and private institutions of varying size and selectivity throughout the South. She is a past president of the Association of Chief Admission Officers at Public Universities.

Peter Wilson

Peter Wilson serves as the assistant vice president and dean of college admissions at the University of Chicago, where he has worked in admissions roles since 2010 where he also attended for his undergraduate degree and MBA. He has served on the Coalition’s Advocacy and Philanthropy Committee and an advisory board member at Wisr.

Ari Worthman

Ari Worthman has 20 years experience in the field of college counseling and admissions. Worthman joined Lakeside in 2012, after serving as assistant director of admissions at Haverford College and senior associate director of college counseling at Pine Crest School. Worthman has served in a variety of leadership positions, including on the Board of Directors of the Southern Association for College Admission Counseling, as a trustee and board chair for the Association of College Counselors in Independent Schools, and as treasurer for the Pacific Northwest Association for College Admissions Counseling. He also has served on the admissions advisory committees for Dickinson College, Drexel University, and Southern Methodist University.

Directors Emeriti

and the institutions they represented during their service as board members

Rosalind Alderman, St. Mary’s University

Seth Allen, Pomona College

Carolyn Blair, Clayton School District

Kristine Dillon, Consortium on Financing Higher Education

Juan Espinoza, Virginia Tech

Zina Evans, University of Florida

Andrea Felder, American University

John Gaines, Questbridge

Tim Galbreath, Clemson University

Barbara Gill, University of Maryland

Chris Gruber, Davidson College

Kedra Ishop, University of Michigan

Stacey Kostell, University of Vermont

John Latting, Emory University

Jessica Marinaccio, Columbia University

Courtney McAnuff, Rutgers University - New Brunswick

Lee Melvin, University at Buffalo

Rodney Morrison, University of Delaware

James Nondorf, University of Chicago

Jeremiah Quinlan, Yale University

Audrey Smith, Smith College

Whitney Soule, Bowdoin College

Paul Thiboutot, Carleton College

David Wermuth, Stone Point Capital