Office of Academic & Student Affairs

Carol Edquist joined UW System Administration as Budget Director for the Office of Academic and Student Affairs, coming from UW-Extension where she served as the Budget Director for the past 11 years. Carol will jointly maintain her role with UW-Extension in supporting budget operations through the close of fiscal year 2018-19, as well as continuing to assist with the current restructuring project and transition. She has over 18 years of combined budget and financial experience at UW System institutions, previously working at UW-Milwaukee as Business Manager for the Center for International Education. She brings with her a deep knowledge of UW System budget, fiscal, and administrative processes; policies; financial and human resources systems; tools for reporting and analytics; and management best practices.

Sandy Kallio joined the University of Wisconsin System Office of Academic and Student Affairs in September 2017. She provides strategic communications support for initiatives led by the Vice President, including the UW System Math Initiative, 360 Advising Initiative and Navigate student success management system implementation. Prior roles with UW System institutions included university relations positions with the former UW Colleges and UW-Extension to support the work of the Provosts and the Chancellor. Sandy also was a senior writer for a Lumina Foundation grant to chronicle the development of the UW Flexible Option. She started her professional career in K-12 education and subsequently worked for more than 20 years as a newspaper reporter and editor for the Wisconsin State Journal in Madison. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a B.S. in education and M.A. in journalism.

Vanessa Moran joined the Office of Academic & Student Affairs in November 2020 as Director for the Office of Educational Opportunity. Most recently, Vanessa served as the Principal of Little Chute Elementary School, located in the Fox Valley. Other administrative positions previously held include Associate Principal and Dean of Students. Vanessa taught elementary education for a decade, during which time, she was awarded the Golden Apple Award by the Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce and was also named a Herb Kohl Fellowship State Finalist.

Vanessa received her B.A. from the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay and her M.A. from the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh. She holds a duel licensure as both a Principal and Director of Curriculum and Instruction.

Additionally, Vanessa serves on the School Board for the Howard-Suamico School District, where she resides with her husband and two young children.

Alice Pulvermacher is a Project Director and Principal Investigator in the University of Wisconsin System Office of Academic and Student Affairs. She was appointed to lead the UW System Math Initiative designed to improve student outcomes in mathematics and remove this barrier to retention and graduation. She secured a $2.3 million grant to support this systemwide change initiative involving 13 four-year institutions and 13 two-year branch campuses, as well as coordination with Wisconsin’s technical college, 4-year private and K-12 systems. She previously served as grant Project Director to document and disseminate the academic, operational, budgetary, communications and policy infrastructures essential for competency-based education.

Prior to joining UW System Administration, she was a Research Project Director in the UW-Madison College of Engineering from 2004 to 2014. She was responsible for implementation of individual and organizational change initiatives, including an $8 million multi-state project with 200 private and public organizations. That was among several federal and private grants she managed during the past 16 years.

She earned a B.S. in project management from Michigan State University and an M.S. in adult education from UW-Madison.

Aaron Seligman currently coordinates the UW System’s Prison Education Initiative and supports the Board of Regents Education Committee with UW System Administration. Previously, Aaron oversaw public charter schools as Director of the Office of Educational Opportunity. While working at UW Hillel, he managed communications, programming, and student leadership. He also helped educators become civically active at Leadership for Educational Equity, a national leadership development nonprofit. Aaron previously practiced commercial and political law at a large Wisconsin law firm, taught Spanish with Teach For America in Washington, D.C., and worked in policy and communications for a national issue campaign.

Aaron earned a B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis, an M.A. in teaching from American University, and a J.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He lives with his wife and their two daughters in Madison, Wisconsin. Aaron enjoys cooking and all outdoor activities, especially Ultimate Frisbee.