Office of Academic & Student Affairs

Sandy Kallio joined the University of Wisconsin System Administration’s Office of Academic and Student Affairs in September 2017. She provides communications support for initiatives led by the Vice President. Prior roles with UW System institutions included university relations positions with UW Colleges and UW-Extension to support the work of the Provosts and the Chancellor. Most recently, Sandy 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. She serves on the board of Centro Hispano of Dane County.

Christine Navia is Associate Vice President for Student Success in the University of Wisconsin System Administration. She earned her M.A. and her Ph.D. in higher education from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and a B.A. in political science from Carleton College. Chris began her tenure at UW System in 2008 as an institutional planner responsible for the coordination of a wide variety of equity-focused efforts, including improving retention and graduation rates for underrepresented students; expanding precollege and summer bridge program offerings; aiding UW institutions in the implementation of their campus climate assessments; and administering grants specifically designed to help UW institutions close opportunity gaps for students of color. In 2012, Chris left the UW System to work as a higher education consultant in Washington, D.C., where she provided intensive support to other public state systems of higher education in the design and implementation of student success initiatives focused on increasing baccalaureate degree attainment among students of color. Chris returned to the UW System in 2014 as a senior academic planner responsible for the development and approval of new academic programs and policies. In her current position as Associate Vice President, Chris oversees the Office of Student Success whose central mission is dedicated to advancing the educational success of all UW students. Her direct areas of responsibility include creating a stronger educational pipeline from the K-12 system to college; supporting the design and implementation of student-centered retention and graduation initiatives; and further developing a more seamless system of transfer for students moving between UW institutions. Additionally, Chris serves as the liaison to the UW System’s Senior Student Affairs Officers and Student Reps.

Ben Hill Passmore is Associate Vice President for the Office of Policy Research and Analysis, joining the University of Wisconsin System Administration in April of 2018. In this role, he is charged with supporting both UW System leadership and UW campuses with data and predictive modeling to improve decision making, progress and performance. Prior to joining the UW System, Ben spent 15 years with the University System of Maryland finishing his time there as the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance. He has worked in institutional and policy research since 1992 with a specific focus on analytics and expanding data use, educational access, improving college attainment, trend forecasting, and organizational change in higher education. Ben holds a PhD in cultural anthropology from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. He has held faculty positions at universities and community colleges where he has taught a range of students including underrepresented minorities, non-traditionally aged students, active duty military, and traditional students. He has taught online, face-to-face, and hybrid courses. He has conducted research in educational and workplace settings on organizational transformation, risk and social capital, and policy creation in Eastern Europe, the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands, and the United States.

Alice Pulvermacher is a Project Manager in the Office of Academic and Student Affairs. She has been with the University of Wisconsin System Administration since 2014. Alice’s responsibilities include management of system scale change initiatives as assigned by the Vice President. Prior to joining the University of Wisconsin System, Alice was a research project manager in the College of Engineering at UW-Madison from 2004 to 2014. In that leadership role, she was responsible for implementation and testing of technology systems designed to provide support and resources at both the individual and organizational levels. This work included a multi-state initiative with 200 organizations representing diverse sets of partners and stakeholders from the private and public sectors and led to an expanded role providing quality improvement coaching. Alice earned a B.S. in project management in a specialized field from Michigan State University and an M.S. in adult education from UW-Madison. She currently serves on the board of the Elvehjem Neighborhood Association and has previously served on the communications committee for the Academic Staff governance committee at UW-Madison.

Nicole Sment joined UW System’s Office of Academic and Student Affairs as the Executive Staff Assistant in October, 2016 where she provides support for the Vice President. Prior to her position with UWSA, she earned experience as an executive assistant in various for profit and non-profit industries including an adult literacy organization where she designed and implemented an online course for students working on a GED. Nicole earned her B.A degree in Theatre Arts, graduating from Bradley University.

Carleen Vande Zande is the Associate Vice President of Academic Programs and Educational Innovation for the University of Wisconsin System. She earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction and educational policy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Prior to joining the University of Wisconsin System in 2017, Carleen served as the associate vice chancellor for curricular affairs and student academic achievement at University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. She provided leadership for the university’s efforts for curriculum and assessment of student learning and had responsibility for programs and initiatives dealing with general education, assessment, curriculum planning and approval, program review, articulation agreements, and accreditation. Additionally, she worked with the Office of Institutional Research, Advising, the Registrar's Office, and the Center for Academic Resources. She also held tenured in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy at Oshkosh. Carleen serves the higher education community as a consultant evaluator for the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) for accreditation reviews and serves on HLC institutional change request panels. She is a member of the Association for Assessment of Learning in Higher Education and National Association for the Study of Higher Education and has been a frequent presenter for the American Association of Colleges and Universities initiatives. She serves on the Waupun Memorial Hospital Board and is the president of community scholarship boards.

Molly Vidal, Special Assistant to the Interim Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs, joins UW System Administration from UW Colleges and UW-Extension where she has served as Special Assistant to Chancellor Sandeen in her roles as Chief of Staff and External Relations Director. Molly maintains a dual appointment with UW Colleges and Extension for 2018 to enable her liaison roles for restructuring projects within UW System Administration, UW Colleges and UW-Extension. She has served as the Director of Outreach for the Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, was a senior policy advisor working on precollege issues and the Wisconsin Covenant for Governor Doyle and served as a speech writer for the UW Board of Regents