CPPHE Executive Committee

The Executive Committee consists of three officers and three members at large. Each year, the Council membership elects the Vice-Chair, Secretary, and one Member-at-large. The Vice-Chair serves in that post for one year, with major responsibility for organizing the Public Policy Forum, then assumes the Chair for the following year. The Secretary has a one-year term, and Members-at-large serves three-year terms. Terms begin with the CPPHE Business Meeting that is held during the annual Public Policy Forum. For information on the selection process, refer to the CPPHE by-laws.

Terms conclude at the end of the business meeting of the year indicated.

Kayla Elliott, Chair (2021-2024)
The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies

Kevin McClure, Vice-Chair (2022-2025)
UNC Wilmington

Meredith Billings, Immediate Past Chair (2019-2022)
Sam Houston State University

Kelly Rosinger, Secretary (2021-2023)
Pennsylvania State University

Vanessa Sansone, Member-at-Large (2020-2024)
University of Texas at San Antonio

Kelly E. Slay, Member-at-Large (2022-2025)
Vanderbilt University

Raquel Muniz Member-at-Large (2019-2023)
Boston College

Meet the CPPHE Executive Committee

Kayla Elliott, The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
Kayla C. Elliott is Director of Workforce Policy at The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, America’s Black think tank. Her team centers Black communities in policy debates concerning the future of work, workforce development, and access to good jobs by developing and advocating for robust policy solutions that prioritize Black workers and learners today and in the future. Prior to this she was director of higher education policy at The Education Trust, and held various teaching and research positions at Florida Atlantic University, where she earned a Ph.D. in higher education leadership. Kayla also holds a masters in philanthropy and a certificate in nonprofit management, and has worked with a range of nonprofit organizations including Lumina Foundation, the Southern Education Foundation, and Teach For America. A proud graduate of Fisk University, Kayla is a third generation alumna and a staunch HBCU advocate.

 

Kevin McClure, UNC Wilmington

 

Kelly Rosinger, Pennsylvania State University
Kelly Rosinger is an assistant professor in the Department of Education Policy Studies and a research associate in the Center for the Study of Higher Education at Penn State University. Her research examines the barriers students face going to and through college and how postsecondary policies, practices, and interventions shape educational outcomes. Kelly has published research in Educational Researcher, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, AERA Open, Education Finance and Policy, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Review of Higher Education, and The Journal of Higher Education. Kelly was an Institute of Education Sciences’ postdoctoral fellow in education policy at the University of Virginia. She earned a Ph.D. in higher education and a master’s degree in public administration and policy, both from the University of Georgia, and a bachelor’s degree in public relations from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

 

Kelly E. Slay, Vanderbilt University

 

Vanessa Sansone, University of Texas at San Antonio
Vanessa A. Sansone was elected to CPPHE in 2020. She is an Assistant Professor of Higher Education in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). She is Latinx, a critical policy scholar, and a former Senior Institutional Research Analyst who worked within the University of Texas System. As a Professor, her areas of research interest focus on understanding college affordability, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, and power & governance structures, especially for students from Latinx, military-affiliated and rural backgrounds. Her empirical work has been published in such outlets as The Review of Higher Education, Review of Educational Research and New Directions for Student Development Services. She was named one of the 35 most outstanding women in higher education in 2020 by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. She holds a Doctorate in Educational Leadership with an emphasis in Higher Education from UTSA, a Master of Education degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies with an emphasis in Higher Education Administration from UTSA, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from St. Mary’s University, San Antonio.

 

Raquel Muniz, Boston College
Dr. Muniz's research is grounded in examining oppressive power structures and the strategies to disrupt them in education. Specifically, she examines the ways in which racialization shows up at the intersection of law, policy, politics, and the culture of resistance. Through this racial equity-centered work, she seeks to inform educational equity discourse and scholarship. To do this, she employs a systems thinking lens that counters deficit narratives and centers the onto-epistemological perspectives of students of color as they experience and respond to oppressive power structures.

 Past CPPHE Chairs:

  • Meredith Billings (2022)
  • Deshawn Preston (2021)
  • ​Jason Taylor (2020)
  • Emily Calderon Galdeano (2019)
  • Tiffany Jones (2018)
  • Lorelle Espinosa (2017)
  • Nick Hilliman (2016)
  • Leticia Osegera (2015)
  • Marvin Titus (2014)
  • Jennifer Delaney (2012-2013)
  • Will Doyle (2011)
  • Colleen O'Brien (20109-2010)
  • Patricia Yaeger (2008)
  • Donald Heller (2006-2007)
  • Scott Thomas (2003-05)
  • Karen Card (2001-2002)
  • Les Goodchild (1998-2000)
  • Bob Hendrickson (1996)