New Executive Board Members Elected
Four new members of the ACUHO-I Executive Board were elected last month and will begin their terms on January 1, 2025. They will join two ex officio members who will be named by incoming president Kathy Bush Hobgood.
Michael Griffel of the University of Oregon was elected vice president and will serve a three-year term through the presidential cycle. In addition, Brenda Ice of Brown University was named Workforce Development Director, Barry Olson of Western Michigan University will be the Facilities and Physical Environment Director, and Jeff Cooper of California State University, Monterey Bay, will be the Business Practices and Enhancements Director.
Griffel is the associate vice president for student services and enrollment management, and the director for university housing at Oregon. He previously has served on the ACUHO-I Executive Board as the Finance and Corporate Records Officer and the Workforce Development Director. In addition, he has chaired several committees and volunteer groups and was part of the faculty for the Roelf Visser Student Housing Training Institute, the James C. Grimm National Housing Training Institute, and a regional Professional Development Institute.
Ice is the senior associate dean and senior director of residential life at Brown University. During her time in higher education she has served in various volunteer roles including time with the ACUHO-I Leadership Academy and The Placement Exchange. She was TPE chair in 2021.
Olson is the associate vice president for campus life. His involvement with professional organizations includes time as the ACUHO-I/APPA Housing Facilities Conference Chair in 2013 and in various NASPA conference planning roles.
Cooper, the director of student housing and residential life, currently serves as the WACUHO representative to the ACUHO-I Foundation. Previously, he was chair of the Mid-Level Leadership Institute and contributed two terms as a faculty member for the James C. Grimm National Housing Training Institute. He also was a reviewer for The Journal of College and University Student Housing.
The ACUHO-I Foundation, this month, announced two new trustees to its board. Crystal Lopez of Rutgers University was named chair-elect and will serve the three-year leadership cycle. Mari Strombom of Colorado State University was named the vice-chair of the Regional Cabinet and will serve a three-year term. Strombom has served in this role for much of 2024, stepping in when Tim Touchette left the position to become chair-elect.
Lopez is the associate vice chancellor of campus operations and special projects at Rutgers. She has held various volunteer and faculty positions at the regional and international levels, including president of MACUHO and the MACUHO cabinet member for the ACUHO-I Foundation. Strombom is the executive director of housing and dining services at Colorado State. Along with her previous Foundation involvement, she also has been active at the regional level, presenting sessions and panels, starting the AIMHO Women in Housing group, helping lead the AIMHO Senior Housing Officer Institute, and holding the positions of AIMHO Sage and AIMHO president.
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