Western Association of Schools and Colleges

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DARYL G. SMITH, Professor of Education and Psychology at The Claremont Graduate University.

Prior to assuming her current faculty position at CGU in 1987, Smith served as a college administrator for 21 years in planning and evaluation, institutional research and student affairs. Her current research, teaching, and publications have been in the areas of organizational implications of diversity, assessment and evaluation, leadership and change, governance, diversity in STEM fields, and faculty diversity. She is the author of numerous articles, papers, and monographs. Daryl has also served as an evaluator and consultant to many projects, campuses, and foundations. Most recently she has served as a Fulbright Senior Specialist in South Africa.

With Alma Clayton-Pedersen and Sharon Parker, Daryl was responsible for evaluation of the Campus Diversity Initiative, a collaboration between the James Irvine Foundation and the Association of American Colleges and Universities. This five-year project involved working with 28 private colleges and universities in California; its goal was to develop institutional capacity to sustain and monitor progress on diversity and student success.

ALMA R. CLAYTON-PEDERSEN, PH.D.

From 2001 until June 2010, Alma Clayton-Pedersen served as Vice President for education and institutional renewal at the Association of American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U). She is currently a full-time consultant and a Senior Scholar at AAC&U, advising on projects and initiatives focused on institutional change, collaborative leadership, faculty development and student success. While Vice President, her portfolio included several grant-funded projects and three of AAC&U's ongoing programs—the Network for Academic Renewal, the Greater Expectations Institute, and the LEAP Campus Action Network.

Alma is a co-author of a number of research briefs and monographs. She has provided consultation on assessment, diversity, student success, and institutional change to departments, administrative units, campuses, and trustees at a range of institutions, from elite privates to large community colleges to research universities. She has also advised foundations, associations, and businesses. Throughout her more than 30-year career in education, Alma has directed grant-funded projects supported by the Lumina, BellSouth, Ford, and James Irvine foundations as well as the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Fund for the Improvement of Post Secondary Education (FIPSE), and the Metropolitan Nashville Government.