Meet the Speakers

The Future of Higher Education: Shaping Your Institution and Leaders Through and After the Pandemic

Paul Friga, Ph.D., Clinical Associate Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Dr. Paul N. Friga is a Clinical Associate Professor at the Kenan-Flagler School of Business at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he teaches courses in management consulting and strategy. He leads numerous strategic planning initiatives on campus and has been appointed the Special Advisor to the Provost for Online Education.

He researches strategic decision-making, knowledge transfer, intuition, management consulting processes and entrepreneurship and has presented at numerous conferences throughout the world. He is the recipient of the UNC Chapman Family Undergraduate Teaching Award (2017), the IU Trustee Teaching Award (2008), IU Kelley School of Business Innovative Teaching Award (2006), and the UNC Kenan-Flagler Ph.D Teaching Award (2001). He co-founded and served as the first chair of the Strategic Management Society’s Strategy Teaching Community. 

Dr. Friga has focused his research on helping higher ed over the past 6 years and has authored over 13 articles (primarily in The Chronicle of Higher Education) and hosted 15 webinars on strategies for universities to handle the impact of COVID-19 during the spring and summer.  His work has been published in The Academy of Management Learning and Education, Research ∙ Technology Management, and two books by McGraw-Hill, The McKinsey Mind (2001) and The McKinsey Engagement (2008).  He also authored two book chapters – one in The Handbook of Strategy Process Research and one in Entrepreneurial Learning: Conceptual Frameworks and Applications. He served as an editor on the Editorial Board of The Academy of Management Learning and Education and his work has been cited in the Economist, CFO Magazine, and other journals.  He completed his Ph.D. and MBA at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Beta Gamma Sigma) and previously worked as a management consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers and McKinsey & Co.  Dr. Friga’s undergraduate degree (Honors Program) is from Saint Francis University, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude with a double degree in Management and Accounting.  He also earned CPA and CMA designations.     

Dr. Friga consults for many large (Fortune 100), mid-size and entrepreneurial companies as well as universities and not-for-profit organizations.  He is also a faculty member in the Institute for Management Studies through which he offers strategy seminars to executives in the U.S. and Europe.  He resides in Chapel Hill, North Carolina with his wife, Meredith, and son, Nicholas.

Howard Teibel, Founder, Teibel Education Consulting

Howard Teibel works with Chief Business Officers, Chief Academic Officers and their teams to confront their toughest challenges as they envision how to define – and redefine – the value of a 21st century education.

Through public speaking and consulting, Howard works with universities, colleges and associations as a partner known for creating progress and momentum. The impact of his work is to empower teams to make difficult decisions, commit and take action – even in the face of uncertainty and disagreement.

Howard’s company, Teibel Education, leads strategic planning initiatives and leadership programs that help leaders move the needle on the critical initiatives of their organizations. Teibel’s client roster includes: University of Colorado, California State University, NACUBO, UPCEA, Princeton University, Rutgers University, University of New England, Georgia Institute of Technology and many others.

Howard’s podcast, Navigating Change brings together thought leaders to explore innovations in education. As a contributor to the book Redesigning Higher Education: Systemic Integration and Cluster Based Learning, with President Don Birx, Howard lays out the change principles that helped transform Plymouth State University to a cluster based academic institution.

Howard is a graduate of University of Binghamton and long-time student of many modalities of personal growth including meditation, a language action theory of Dr. Fernando Flores and the transformation work of the Hoffman Institute. He is also a co-founder of Fathers Forever, an organization dedicated to creating fellowship among men who have experienced the death of a child.

https://www.teibelinc.com

https://teibelinc.com/events-calendar

Ruth Johnston, Ph.D., Strategic Chief Financial Officer, New Mexico State University, WACUBO President

Ruth Johnston is the strategic chief financial officer at New Mexico State University. She helps set system-wide strategy, define financial objectives of individual entities within the university and drive operational efficiency while creating a climate of accountability. Johnston will also provide innovative and strategic guidance to optimize NMSU’s existing, underutilized and untapped assets including real estate holdings.

Ruth is currently the active president on the WACUBO board of directors, and has served on the Network of Change and Continuous Improvement board. She began her position with NMSU in September 2019, after serving most of her career at the University of Washington.

She holds a Ph.D. in organization development and higher education from the Union Institute. She also holds a master’s degree in human relations from Pacific Lutheran University and a bachelor’s degree in counseling psychology/social sciences from the University of Redlands.

Rebecca Barber, Associate Vice President for Financial Planning, Budget, and Analysis, University of Nevada Las Vegas

Rebecca Barber is the Associate Vice President for Financial Planning, Budget, and Analysis, at UNLV where she works extensively with all aspects of university data for the purpose of strategic and financial planning, predictive modeling and econometric analysis. She holds a Ph.D. in Education Leadership and Policy Analysis from ASU as well as an MBA from the W.P. Carey School of Business.

Dr. Barber is also an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Division of Education Policy and Innovation at ASU. She has developed and teaches a 15-credit online graduate certificate on Advanced Analytics in Higher Education, designed to develop analytic capacity within higher education.

Strengths: Strategic thinker, inclusive leadership style, proactive problem-solving, systems-thinking approach, confident and resourceful, lifelong-learner.  

Dr. Stefanie K. Johnson, Associate Professor of Management, University of Colorado Boulder

Dr. Stefanie K. Johnson is a researcher focused on the intersection of leadership and diversity and works with the best companies to implement evidence-based practices to reduce unconscious bias and increase inclusion. She is a member of the MG 100 Coaches, was selected for the 2020 Thinkers50 Radar List, and is the author of the National Bestseller, Inclusify: Harnessing the power of uniqueness and belonging to build innovative teams. She publishes her work in the top journals and has received $3,800,000 in external grant funding. She has presented her work at over 170 meetings around the world including at the White House for a 2016 summit on diversity in corporate America. Media outlets featuring Stefanie’s work include: The Economist, Newsweek, Time, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, HuffPost, Marie Claire, Washington Post, Quartz, Discover, CNN, ABC, NBC, CNBC. She has appeared on Fox, ABC, NBC, CNN, and CNN International.

Guadalupe Valencia-Skanes, Associate Vice President for Business Affairs, The University of Texas at El Paso

Guadalupe (Lupe) Valencia-Skanes is Associate Vice President for Business Affairs at The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP).  She supports the University’s strategic and fiscal planning including organizational development to ensure fiscal resources properly align with the institution’s mission and vision.  Concurrently, she is leading COVID-19 testing efforts at the University.  Lupe has also served the University as its Interim Vice President for Information Services. During that time, the UTEP administrator led a successful evaluation of the organization’s structure.

Before joining UTEP in 2019, Lupe spent several decades serving in accounting executive leadership positions at university campuses throughout the United States including:  the University of Washington (UW), the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA), and the University of Arizona (U of A).

Furthermore, as Executive Director and Associate Controller for UW, Lupe served as the primary liaison between the University and UW’s federal cognizant agency (Cost Allocation Services).   She still serves as a Senior Advisor to UW.

At UAA, she served a dual appointment as Chief Financial and Administrative Officer (CFAO) at the Business Enterprise Institute and the University’s Financial Services Department where she assisted the university with federal compliance, financial reporting, and business process improvements. In this role, she served as CFAO for the Alaska Small Business Development Center and the Alaska Center for Economic Development.

Lupe is currently the 3rd Vice President of WACUBO and holds several committee appointments to include the Comprehensive/Doctoral Institutions and Research Institutions Committee (CDRIC), 2021 Program Committees, 2022 Program Committee Chair, and the Diversity Equity and Inclusion Committee.

The El Paso native is a two-time graduate of the University of Texas at El Paso. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business administration with concentrations in accounting and is a Certified Government Financial Manager.