Refund policy: Full refund up to 30 days prior.
Please Note: The first 600 attendees that register under a paid ticket for CBExchange will have the opportunity to participate in the event to its fullest with their very own CBExchange Experience box. Due to shipping turnaround time, we cannot guarantee attendees will receive a CBExchange Experience box in time for the conference if the paid registration occured after October 23. Don't delay...Register today!
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We are a network of institutions, employers, and experts committed to unlocking the potential of competency-based learning to ensure education and training is more flexible, responsive, and valuable. C-BEN is the go-to source on competency-based learning—home to practitioners and leaders who are reimagining education and helping others design and build high-quality offerings. Through our work, we aim to advance the understanding of competency-based learning, accelerate its development and scale, develop and maintain quality standards, and remove barriers to its continued growth.
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CBTE 2020 | Competency-Based Theological Education International Conference
CBTE is partnering with C-BEN to offer a competency-based theological education track at CBExchange 2020.
Attend one conference and get the best of two:
- Connect with experts and peers on competency-based theological education (CBTE)
- Learn from thought leaders and peers on latest CBE research, design models and materials
- Attend CBTE-dedicated sessions alongside 70+ additional CBExchange presentations
Learn more at https://cbte.ca
Interested in sponsoring or exhibiting at CBExchange 2020, the premier gathering for higher education leaders seeking to design, build, launch and scale quality competency-based education programs?
Connect with us to learn more!
With multiple sponsorships available at a wide-range of pricing levels, this is a great way to market your organization to the anticipated 1,000+ CBExchange attendees. As an alternative, don’t miss the opportunity to showcase your products and services and connect with hundreds of interested leaders in the CBExchange Exhibit Hall.
As an online sponsor/exhibitor your organization can:
- expect to have a larger reach for potential leads.
- present branded materials in our CBExchange Experience in a Box.
- use our robust event platform for exposure to your services and solutions.
- develop a customized, feature-rich booth in our virtual exhibition hall.
- generate pre, during, and post-touch points with targeted attendees.
- option to access content for up to 6 months.
Dr. Aisha Lowe is a passionate educator who has dedicated her life to improving education for all students and communities. As Vice Chancellor of Educational Services, Aisha provides leadership for Educational Services division activities including transfer and non-credit curriculum, technology strategic planning, global education, special project management, and system wide technical assistance delivery.
Prior to joining the Chancellor’s Office in 2020, Dr. Lowe served as Associate Professor of Education at William Jessup University, where she oversaw the thesis research of future teachers in training. She also served as the Dean of the Office of Academic Research, leading the university’s Strategic Academic Research Plan and academic grant making. Additionally, Aisha served the students of the Los Rios Community College District, Sierra College and CSU Sacramento as an adjunct professor for over eight years.
Over the past 20 years, Aisha has worked with at-risk youth, taught middle school, lead educational research and policy efforts, instructed college students, and served as an university administrator. Her background includes serving as an independent consultant supporting the research and evaluation needs of schools, organizations and educators; serving as the executive director of STAND UP For Great Schools; and serving as director of research for the California Charter Schools Association. She brings expertise in program development and evaluation, strategic planning, research and data management, and grant-making. Dr. Lowe received her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and her Master’s in Sociology from Stanford University where she also received her Ph.D. in Education. Aisha researches effective strategies for educating students of color to help faculty create classroom environments of acceptance and belonging to fully support the whole student and maximize their academic outcomes, and has been a featured speaker at various conferences and for faculty professional development programs nationally.
As a founding member of InSite Information Systems, Alan has applied his 20+ years of leadership, management and IT experience to build North America’s leading competency-based education and training platform. Alan’s multi-industry knowledge combined with strong communication skills, a pragmatic approach to problem solving, and an understanding of the many challenges facing educators and trainers contribute to InSite’s success in developing and commercializing tools and technology that transform the way organizations deliver educations and training.
Alexander Alonso, PhD, SHRM-SCP is the Society for Human Resource Management's (SHRM's) Chief Knowledge Officer leading operations for SHRM's Certified Professional and Senior Certified Professional certifications, research functions, and the SHRM Knowledge Advisor service. He is responsible for all research activities, including the development of the SHRM Competency Model and SHRM credentials.
During his career, he has worked with numerous subject matter experts worldwide with the aim of identifying performance standards, developing competency models, designing organizational assessments, and conducting job analyses. He was also responsible for working on contract task orders involving the development of measurement tools for content areas such as job knowledge (like teacher knowledge of instructional processes) and organizational climates (like organizational climate forecasting in military health care).
Dr. Alonso received his doctorate in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Florida International University in 2003. His works have been recognized for their contribution to real-world issues. They include being recognized by the Society for Industrial Organizational Psychology (Division 14 of the APA; SIOP) with the 2007 M. Scott Myers Award for Applied Research in the Workplace for the development of the federal standard for medical team training, TeamSTEPPS; being awarded a 2009 Presidential Citation for Innovative Practice by the American Psychological Association for supporting the development of competency model for team triage in emergency medicine; and receiving the 2013 SIOP Distinguished Early Career Contributions for Practice Award.
Throughout his career, he has published works in peer-reviewed journals such as Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice, Journal of Applied Psychology, International Journal of Selection and Assessment, People and Strategy, Personality and Individual Differences, Quality and Safety in Health Care, and Human Resources Management Review. He has also authored several chapters on community-based change initiatives in workforce readiness, as well as co-authoring Defining HR Success: A Guide to the SHRM Competency Model in Practice.
Dr. Alonso also served as a columnist analyzing major trends in the workforce for The Industrial Psychologist and HR Magazine. In addition, he has served on several professional society boards including the SIOP and the Personnel Testing Council of Metropolitan Washington.
Amy did her doctoral work in American Intellectual History at Boston College, earned a Master’s in Teaching with Technology from Marlboro College Graduate Center, and an MFA in Creative Writing from Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU). Since joining SNHU in 2011, she has grown with the university to support their commitment to access, affordability, academic excellence, and rapid expansion. She is currently the Vice President of Academic Resources and Technology, and Executive Director of Competency-Based Education. In former lives, she was an award-winning knitter, a published author, and the last of the winners in several triathlons.
Angela Ripley is a Competency-Based Education (CBE) and Assessment (CBEA) Consultant, a newly-created position to drive CBE initiatives at Bow Valley College. Angela comes to Bow Valley College as a former educator, learning development manager, and reviewer of competency based education programs. Angela’s role is to provide the necessary framework, guidelines, strategy, vision, and initiative to promote, socialize, and grow competency based education and micro-credential frameworks at Bow Valley College.
Angie Walker leads Salt Lake Community College’s online education division as the Director of SLCC Online & eLearning Services and teaches as an adjunct faculty member for Southern New Hampshire University. Additionally, Angie is the incoming Chair of the State Board of Directors of Utah Women in Higher Education Network (UWHEN) for the 2020-2021 year. As someone who is passionate about higher education and the positive impact it has on student’s lives, Angie has worked across university and college levels as an educational administrator, project manager, assessment and instructional designer, and teacher. Angie holds a Master of Arts in Art History from the University of Utah and a Master of Science in Education with an emphasis on Instructional Design from the University of Wisconsin - Stout. She also has a graduate certificate as a Higher Education Teaching Specialist from the University of Utah.
April Pennington is the Director of Professional and Organizational Development at Jefferson Community and Technical College in Louisville, KY, where she also serves as co-director of the college's Read & Succeed Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP). With over 20 years of experience in higher education teaching and leadership in an array of roles and contexts, Dr. Pennington has led initiatives focused on adult learners, African American and Latino student success, academic advising, the first-year experience, and transforming developmental education. She holds a doctorate in English from Southern Illinois University and an MA in English from Ohio University.
Brooks Doherty is AVP of Academic Innovation at Rasmussen University and serves on the Competency-Based Education Network (C-BEN) Board of Directors. He is completing a doctorate in education at St. Mary’s University, earned an MA in literature from University College London, and graduated from the University of Minnesota with degrees in Political Science and English. His central areas of interest are competency-based education, developmental education, workforce preparedness, the relationship between liberal learning and professional learning, and Irish literature. Prior to his current work, Doherty taught remedial and college-level writing courses for students of varying disciplines.
Dr. Bruce Gover, Vice President of Institutional Effectiveness, Somerset Community College (SCC) in Somerset, Kentucky. He has over 20 years of higher education experience in a variety of instructional and administrative roles including Professor of Information Technology, Division Chair of Business and Information Technology, Dean of Academic Support Services, and he is currently Vice President of Institutional Effectiveness serving on SCC’s Executive Council. In his role as Vice President, he directs several departments and programs including institutional accreditation, grants development, institutional effectiveness and research, information technology, online learning, and professional and organizational development. Dr. Gover is also the Coordinator of the KCTCS LEAD Academy and the Chair of the KCTCS Technology Solutions Advisory Team. Dr. Gover has been a board member and two-term past President of the Kentucky Community/Technical Education Association (KCTEA). He is a certified Leadership Instructor for the Phi Theta Kappa Leadership Development Studies program and an alumnus of the KCTCS Innovative Educator and KCTCS Leading Educator Academies.
Chantée Guiney is a Specialist in Academic Planning and Development in the Educational Services and Support Division of the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, the largest system of higher education in the nation, serving over 2.1 million students.
Chantée assists with leading state-wide policy reforms to support equitable outcomes and opportunities for students. Her primary areas include curriculum and instruction, with a specialty in programs such as prior learning assessment and competency-based education, with a focus on creating equitable opportunities for adult learners.
Chantée serves on state-wide advisory groups in support of the California Community Colleges Vision for Success. Preceding her twelve-year tenure in education public service, Chantée honorably served in the United States Air Force as a systems analyst. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in management and a Master of Arts in leadership from Saint Mary’s College of California and is pursuing a doctorate degree in education leadership. Chantée is a proud alum of the California Community College system and has a keen passion for maximizing opportunities for minoritized populations to succeed.
Cheryl Aschenbach is an English professor and past Academic Senate President at Lassen Community College in Susanville, CA. She currently serves as secretary for the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC), where her work since June 2015 has focused, among other things, on curriculum processes and standards, competency based education (CBE), equity and diversity, minimum qualifications, career education, noncredit curriculum and instruction, basic skills, online education, open educational resources, incarcerated education, and assessment.
Dr. Christopher Sessums is Director of Academic Affairs at D2L where he works with higher education institutions across the globe to optimize learner success and institutional efficiencies. Prior to joining D2L, Christopher served as a faculty member and administrator at the Johns Hopkins University School of Education, at the University of California Berkeley, and at the University of Florida. His research interests focus on educational technology and teacher professional learning.
Elisabeth joined Rasmussen University in 2014. In her role, Elisabeth works primarily with the Schools of Business, Technology, Justice Studies, and Design, as well as with other departments on initiatives related to Competency-Based Education, Transferable Skills, and Academic Program Review. She is also the Chair of the College Curriculum Committee. Previous to working with Rasmussen University, Elisabeth was an adjunct faculty with American Public University System's Master of Education program, and she also worked as a high school teacher for several years. Elisabeth holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Education with a specialization in Curriculum and Instruction from Capella University.
Dr. Emma L. Miller has been in higher education administration in the state of Texas for over 20 years. She has a Ph.D. in Applied Management and Decision Science with a concentration in Leadership and Organizational Change from Walden University. Currently, Dr. Miller is the program chair for the Competency-Based Education Bachelor of Applied Science in Organizational Leadership program at South Texas College. As a researcher, she has focused on mentoring examining how it relates to student retention and attrition and its impact on the institution as well as Competency-Based Education. She has also served as Assistant Dean for the Bachelor Programs. In addition, Dr. Miller began serving as Board Member of the national organization Competency-Based Education Network (C-BEN) fall 2019.
Jeff Bohrer’s career has focused on supporting the mission of educational institutions through academic technology administration, support, and training. As technical program manager for digital credentials at IMS Global, Jeff coordinates a variety of projects and programs related to digital badges and comprehensive learner records.Prior to joining IMS, Jeff served for twenty years in academic technology positions at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Dartmouth College, University of South Dakota, and Mahtomedi (MN) Public Schools. Jeff holds a master's degree in technology for learning and development and a bachelor's degree in secondary education, both from the University of South Dakota.
For over a decade, Dr. Evans has been deeply involved in higher education and public health, including clinical, academic and administrative research. She is dedicated to producing an interactive and collaborative teaching environment that engages students and that helps give students a voice. She has co-authored multiple articles, presented at the state and national level and participated in various health-related research projects and clinical trials. Dr. Evans holds a PhD and Masters in Public Health, Masters in Administration, and Bachelors of Business. She completed Harvard University's Women in Education Leadership program and Cornell University's Executive Leadership and High-Performance Leadership certificates.
Kacey Thorne is the Director of Skills Architecture at Western Governors University. In this role, Kacey operates at the intersection of higher education and the future of work, where she is responsible for establishing a comprehensive network of competencies and skills that are aligned to workforce needs. This network serves as the foundation for the development of WGU programs and facilitates the ability to offer personalized, workforce-relevant learning pathways. To accomplish this transformative work at scale, Kacey has established an emergent ecosystem of partnerships, processes, tools, and technologies that continues to grow and evolve. Kacey is passionate about the urgent call to action for higher education to better meet the needs of students and employers. She is deeply invested in student success and creating higher education systems that support access, equity, and upward mobility.
During her time with Western Governors University, Thorne has served in multiple roles including the Director of Assessment Design and Development and Curriculum Director for Teachers College. Prior to coming to WGU, Thorne served as a high school teacher in health sciences with Canyons School District. Thorne holds a Master of Education, Instructional Design from Western Governors University and a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Utah.
Karin M. Norington-Reaves is a lifelong public servant with more than 25 years of experience in education, law, advocacy, community, and workforce development. In 2012, Karin became the founding Chief Executive Officer of The Partnership upon her appointment by then- Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. As CEO and change agent, she led the merger and restructuring of three diverse workforce systems into the nation’s most extensive workforce system managed by a non-profit administrative agency. Since then, The Partnership has placed more than 70,000 individuals in employment; collaborated with more than 2,000 employers; and administered more than $400 million in federal and philanthropic funds. The Partnership’s network of 50+ community-based organizations, 10 American Job Centers, and four sector-driven workforce centers serves more than 140,000 people annually. Learn more at www.chicookworks.org.
Kathryn Green is the Technical Program Manager at IMS Global. She assists in the facilitation, creation, and development of multiple digital curriculum specifications, adaptive learning initiatives, product development, operations leadership, and grant-funded projects championing lifelong learning.
Kathryn's career includes experience with CBE, product management, training, change management, vendor relations, software development lifecycles, non-profit startups, fundraising, and public speaking. Prior to IMS, Kathryn was a product leader at Capella University.
Dr. Lisa McIntyre-Hite is Senior Principal of Learning Solutions at Guild Education. Prior to joining Guild, she was Vice President for Partner Strategy and Innovation at Pathstream, an ed-tech start up that was part of Entangled Solutions, where she also served as a Strategic Advisor focused on higher education’s future. Lisa was the founding Dean for Competency-Based Education at Walden University where she developed Walden’s direct-assessment offering, seeing it through from pilot-to-scale. Her professional passion is rooted in the desire to take measurable steps to address inequity in educational systems and to expand access to high-quality, personalized learning experiences for every learner. Prior to working in higher education, Lisa was a high-school principal and English teacher. Her research in CBE and learning innovation has been published by the Clayton Christensen Institute and is featured in several peer-reviewed journals.
Louise Edwards is a Competency-Based Education and Assessment (CBEA) Consultant at Bow Valley College. Prior to this role, Louise’s varied career has spanned academic research, institutional program design and governance, corporate training and, most recently, high school teaching. In her capacity as a CBEA consultant, Louise works with stakeholders both within and outside the College to develop the strategy, processes, guidelines, and tools for competency-based education at Bow Valley College.
Raised in the “Sunshine State,” Marissa completed her undergraduate at Jacksonville University in Jacksonville, Florida. From there she went on to lead Enrollment, Logistics & Recruitment efforts, domestic & international, at her Alma Mater as well as the Savannah College of Art and Design and Vista College. Being a military spouse, Marissa’s understanding for the necessity of distance/untraditional learning lead to pursuing her Master of Science in Management, Strategy and Leadership at Michigan State University. The Boughner’s move in 2018 brought them to the great state of Texas, where Marissa oversees Admissions & Recruitment for MyWay, University of Mary Hardin-Baylor’s CBE programs (Org Leadership – RN to BSN) & Alternative Certification, TeachingMyWay.
Michael Collins is a vice president at JFF. He recently took the helm of a new JFF initiative to directly address the ways in which postsecondary education and training systems can help members of vulnerable populations advance economically—with a special focus on Black learners and workers.
In this new role, he will lead the development and implementation of a strategy that will serve as the foundation of a JFF effort to influence the practices of educational institutions, workforce organizations, intermediaries, associations, states, systems, and philanthropy.
For more than a decade and a half, Michael has led JFF’s participation in nationally recognized college completion initiatives such as Achieving the Dream, The Developmental Education Initiative, Completion by Design, and the AACC Pathways Project in collaboration with leading postsecondary reform organizations such as The Community College Research Center, The Aspen Institute, Achieving the Dream, The National Center for Inquiry and Improvement, SOVA Solutions, and many others.
Before joining JFF, Michael served as assistant commissioner for participation and success at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, where he collaborated with state and federal officials, educators, and other stakeholders to develop pre-K to postsecondary education policy. He is a graduate of the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin.
Michael is chair of the board of the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center and is a member of the boards of the National Student Clearinghouse and the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems. He also serves on the Guttman Community College advisory council and on the steering committee for the Scaling Partner Network convened by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Michael says, “JFF’s mission of economic opportunity for all is perfectly aligned with my life’s mission to ensure that people have the opportunity to develop the skills and earn the credentials they need to lead self-directed lives.”
Outside of work, Michael and his wife, Dana, are devoted to their family. He says, “I spend the lion’s share of my time running after my son, Dashel, and his sister, a chocolate labradoodle named Nova, around our home in Shaker Heights, Ohio.”
Michele Sandlin is an AACRAO Managing Consultant. Her 39 years as a higher education professional included successful tenures at Oregon State University, Pacific University, Portland State University, University of Oregon, and Western State College in Colorado.
Ms. Sandlin is known for her industry-leading expertise in holistic admissions, operations, partnerships, policy, accreditation, articulation, and structural realignment. She has served in state, regional and national leadership positions within AACRAO and the International Baccalaureate Program.
Ms. Sandlin completed her Master of Science degree at Portland State University and her Bachelor of Science degree from Colorado State University.
Paul Fain, News Editor, came to Inside Higher Ed in September 2011, after a six-year stint covering leadership and finance for The Chronicle of Higher Education. Paul has also worked in higher ed P.R., with Widmeyer Communications, but couldn't stay away from reporting. A former staff writer for C-VILLE Weekly, a newspaper in Charlottesville, Va., Paul has written for The New York Times, Washington City Paper and Mother Jones. He's won a few journalism awards, including one for beat reporting from the Education Writers Association and the Dick Schaap Excellence in Sports Journalism Award. Paul got hooked on journalism while working too many hours at The Review, the student newspaper at the University of Delaware, where he earned a degree in political science in 1996. A native of Dayton, Ohio, and a long-suffering fan of the Cincinnati Bengals, Fain plays guitar in a band with more possible names than polished songs.
Mr. Craig is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Achieve Partners. Mr. Craig also serves as Managing Director of University Ventures. His commentary on higher education and workforce issues regularly appears in the Gap Letter, Forbes, TechCrunch, Inside Higher Education, and VentureBeat, among others. He is the author of College Disrupted: The Great Unbundling of Higher Education (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015), which profiles the coming shift toward competency-based education and hiring. He is also the author of A New U: Faster + Cheaper Alternatives to College (Ben Bella, 2018), which describes the critical importance of Last-Mile training and the emergence of bootcamps, income share programs, and Employer-Down models as preferred pathways to good first jobs.
Previously, Mr. Craig led the Education & Training sector at Warburg Pincus where he was the founding Director of Zovio (Nasdaq: ZVO), which established one of the largest online universities in the United States. His prior experience in online education was at Columbia University. From 2004 to 2010, Mr. Craig founded and built Wellspring, a national network of boarding schools and summer camps for overweight and obese children, adolescents, and young adults. He began his career at McKinsey & Co.
Mr. Craig received bachelor's degrees summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Yale University, and his law degree from the Yale Law School.
Sara Lamback is an associate director on JFF's workforce development team, providing project leadership, labor market analysis, and technical assistance on projects that help low-income adults train for and succeed in jobs with career advancement potential. Her work focuses primarily building alignment between innovative training and credentialing programs and local labor market needs. Sara has 15 years of experience across education and workforce development and has worked as a practitioner, researcher, and educational program evaluator. Immediately before joining JFF, Sara conducted research at Harvard University’s Achievement Gap Initiative, where her work focused on secondary-to-postsecondary transitions, effective school leadership, and developing systems-change initiatives. Sara has a Master’s in Education Policy and Management from Harvard Graduate School of Education.
As Director of Learning Design, Stuart oversees the creation, curation, and management of curricula, courses, and content. Stuart has over 20 years of experience in K-12 and higher education leadership, instructional design, and educational technology. Prior to joining LearningMate, Stuart was the Vice President of Instructional Design and Academic Technology at Zenith Education Group and Chief Design Officer at Everest College Phoenix. Stuart holds a bachelor’s in English from Winona State University in Minnesota and a master’s in humanities from the University of Chicago.
Terry Keller serves as the Provost at Lourdes University and is responsible for leading the overall direction of academic programs. He served Lourdes in increasing leadership roles including Dean of the College of Social Sciences. Prior to joining Lourdes University, Dr. Keller instructed courses at Michigan State University, Wayne State University and Aquinas College. He earned a PhD in Social Work from Michigan State University, a Master in Business Administration degree from Webster University, a Master in Social Work degree from Saint Louis University and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Communication from Aquinas College.
Tom Green is the Associate Executive Director for Consulting and Strategic Enrollment Management for the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO). He comes from an over 30-year background in higher education administration, where he spent over 20 years as vice president or dean of enrollment management at private and public colleges and universities.
He is editor-in-chief of SEM Quarterly, a peer-reviewed journal, and oversees the AACRAO SEM Conference, the world’s leading meeting of enrollment managers, now in its 30th year. Green holds a Ph.D. in Higher Education Leadership, Management and Policy from Seton Hall University.
Christy Hill, Ph.D., is Professor of Spiritual Formation and Women’s Ministries, has a passion for facilitating the holistic development of men and women into mature disciples of Jesus Christ, who are transformed by the experience of God’s love and truth. Saddened by the discrepancy between accurate theology and living faith, she seeks to help her learners acknowledge that their operant belief system (behaviors, values, attitudes, motives) reveals their true beliefs. She then seeks to aid spiritual formation by resolving the gap between one’s professed belief system (correct theology) and actual beliefs. Christy manages accreditation and assessment for Grace Seminary.
Emily Askew teaches theology at Lexington Theological Seminary in Lexington, Kentucky. She helped transform LTS’s traditional F2F seminary curriculum into a hybrid online competency-intensive curriculum in 2008. A member of the LGBTQIA community, Dr. Askew has co-authored, with Dr. O. Wesley Allen, Beyond Heterosexism in the Pulpit a tool for preachers to learn to be more inclusive of LGBTQIA people in preaching and teaching. She also writes on theology and Latinx immigration. Her courses include an immersion experience to the US/Mexico border in Tucson/Sonora, Theology and Disabilities, Theology and Domestic Violence, Environmental Theology and Queer Theology.
Erik Ireland is the Director of Kingswood Extended, a distance education division of Kingswood University that delivers credit and non-credit coursework. Erik is completing a DMin degree through Asbury Theological Seminary in the field of CBTE. At home in Sussex, New Brunswick, Canada, are wife Ashley, and children Eli (24 months) and Eleanor (15 days).
Freddy Cardoza, Ph.D., is the Dean of Grace Theological Seminary and the School of Ministry Studies at Grace College, where he seeks to advance the Kingdom of God by expanding the size, reach, and impact of the school, faculty, staff, and the dynamic programs GTS offers. He also serves as Professor of Christian Ministry and Leadership, where he equips Christian leaders for ministry impact, and trains disciples to wield the Word of God and the power of God, for the glory of God. His most recent scholarship includes Christian Education: A Guide to the Foundations of Ministry (2019, Baker Academic).
Gabe Tribbett, M.B.A., M.Div., serves as the Director of Deploy, a competency-based theological education program offered by Grace Theological Seminary. As Director, Gabe gives oversight to program operations, including the following areas: student recruitment, retention, and support; mentor recruitment, training, and support; curriculum development; faculty orientation and development; industry partnership development; marketing and financial management, and program accreditation, assessment, and innovation.
A recognized thought leader in theological education, Greg Henson has worked with the team at Sioux Falls Seminary to revolutionize financial and educational models within theological education by launching the Kairos Project. Now the largest accredited CBTE program in North America, Kairos serves students on four continents and in multiple languages. In partnership and conversation with seminaries, denominations, and ministries around the world, Greg is working create integrated systems of theological education that are affordable, accessible, and relevant while remaining faithful to the transformational essence of such an educational journey.
Dr. Sulfridge is an alumnus of Clear Creek Baptist Bible College, the institution he currently serves as Dean of Academic Affairs. After undergraduate work at Clear Creek, he earned a Master of Divinity degree and PhD in Christian Higher Education from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has worked in Higher education for 17 years. Dr. Sulfridge is published in two peer-reviewed journals and has contributed chapters to two books. He built Clear Creek’s first graduate program, a competency based Master of Arts in Ministry. The program has been approved by ABHE and is under review by SACSCOC.
Joel Liechty is a Director of Ministerial Education for The Wesleyan Church World Headquarters. He is leading a denomination-wide initiative to move towards a competency-based approach to clergy education and credentialing. Joel lives in Flagstaff, Arizona with his wife Stephanie and three boys Eli, Paxton, and Wesley.
Kajle has served in Innovation and Operations at Northwest Seminary since 2017. Kajle brings a background in local church ministry, discipleship and leadership development to the role. In that ministry, Kajle served as the ministry mentor for a student in Northwest’s Immerse program and now fulfills the role as academic mentor on a number of other mentor teams. Kajle moved to the role at Northwest to explore the intersection of the local church and theological education and has been focused on helping to develop resources to aid schools, networks, and institutions in developing their own CBTE programs and curriculum.
Dr. Karla McGehee serves as Assistant Professor of Christian Education at Leavell College and Associate Director of Institutional Effectiveness, where she has an instrumental role in building a culture of assessment at her institution. She has a significant role in overseeing and coordinating the institution's accreditation and assessment processes. She is a member of the institution's Assessment Oversight Committee and both the Leavell College Program Assessment Committee and General Education Assessment Committee. She has two master's degrees (one advanced) and PhD in Christian Education. She has done further study on CBE and assessment-related issues.
Kenton Anderson is President of Northwest Baptist Seminary and Professor of Homiletics at ACTS Seminaries of Trinity Western University. He was the lead architect of the Immerse program, the first fully competency-based degree program accredited by the ATS. Kent’s most recent book, Integrative Preaching displays his interest that our work integrates the various dimensions that allow our students and movements to flourish.
Dr. Kevin Peek has held professorial and/or administrative positions at the University of Nevada, Vista College, North Western Michigan College, the Victoria College, and South Texas College (STC). His experience with competency-based education (CBE) includes two-years as the Chair of the CBE Bachelors Program in Organizational Leadership at STC, project director for seven separate grant-funded projects to develop CBE bachelor’s programs in different colleges/universities, and national recognition for his work in CBE. He is currently publishing a handbook on best practices in CBE and organizing four regional symposiums in Texas for colleges and universities interested in implementing CBE programs.
Larry W. Caldwell is Chief Academic Officer and Dean, and Professor of Intercultural Studies and Bible Interpretation, at Sioux Falls Seminary in Sioux Falls, SD. In addition, he is Director of Strategy and Senior Missiologist for Converge Worldwide. Prior to this he and his family were missionaries with Converge for 21 years in Manila, Philippines, where he was Academic Dean and Professor of Missions and Bible Interpretation at Asian Theological Seminary. Larry teaches regularly on contextualization and cross-cultural Bible interpretation (ethnohermeneutics). His latest book is Doing Bible Interpretation: Making the Bible Come Alive for Yourself and Your People.
Rev. Michelle Owens is the Principal of the Centre for Christian Studies and a Diaconal Minister in the United Church of Canada. She has previously worked in congregational and denominational ministry. The Centre for Christian Studies integrates field based and competency models with progressive Christian theology.
Dr. Melinda (Mindi) Thompson is Associate Professor and Director of Distance Education for the Graduate School of Theology at Abilene Christian University. She is currently serving as President of the ACCESS Association of Christian Distance Educators.
Dr. Nathan Hitchcock has helped launch an array of competency-based programs. He played a key role in designing and implementing Kairos at Sioux Falls Seminary. In 2018 he started Sevensided Consulting, which comes alongside organizations to design competency-based systems using network-based supervision. Through Sevensided he works with seminaries, denominations, missions agencies, and other non-profit organizations to set up architecture for CBTE programming. Hitchcock was a team leader of the ATS Peer Group on Competency-based Education. He received his PhD from the University of Edinburgh.
Ruth McGillivray, M.A., is Chief Innovation Officer for Northwest Seminary in Langley, BC, where she leads new program development and initiatives, and provides oversight to quality control for competency-based programs. Prior to her role at Northwest, Ruth spent 25+ years designing, developing and leading competency-based learning and assessment programs in technology and trades. She served in BC’s trades training system, providing direction to provincial certification and national Red Seal programs, and developed competency-based programs for a variety of technology, health care and HR clients. Ruth’s keywords for program design: scalable, sustainable solutions that reliably meet client needs.
Stephen R. Graham is Senior Director of Programs and Services at the Association of Theological Schools in Pittsburgh. From 2008-2013 he served as Director of Faculty Development and Initiatives in Theological Education at ATS. Prior to joining ATS, he served as the Dean of Faculty and Professor of American Church History at North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago. He is currently directing the ATS Educational Models and Practices in Theological Education project, the most comprehensive study of the work of theological schools in the Association’s history. He holds an MA from Wheaton College and a PhD from The Divinity School of the University of Chicago.
Susan Reese life call and training are summed up in the questions of “Who is God, who and I, and what is God doing through me?” Her BA in Religious Studies greatly shaped her knowledge and awareness of God, her MA in Counseling brought great insight to being Christian, human and the dynamics of change. Her Doctorate in Adult and Higher Education informed and influenced her belief in and love for adult education. Susan is a certified spiritual director and teaches in the SFS Listening People to Life: Training in Spiritual Direction.
Tom Sweeney is a professional program mentor, working for several Bible colleges and seminaries as a CBTE faculty or academic mentor. He holds a DMin in Spiritual Formation as well as a masters degrees in instructional design and church history.
The Open Skills Network (OSN) is a coalition of employers, educational organizations, technology providers, military, and other organizations dedicated to advancing skills-based education and hiring by establishing a network of open skills libraries and skills data. The OSN is committed to creating a more equitable, skills-driven labor market by matching talent with career opportunities through a common skills language, benefitting individuals, employers, and the U.S. economy.
Learning Outcomes:
Participants will gain a high-level understanding of how to:
1) Benefit from Interoperable Open Standards: The adoption of existing open standards for meaningful and actionable record interoperability across education providers and employers, in collaboration with data standards organizations, enables interoperability.
2) Use Open Toolsets: As a first initiative, the OSN is designing and developing the Open Skills Management Toolset (OSMT)- a software as a service resource for academic institutions, government agencies and employers to accelerate more dynamic and data-driven skills authoring and management, as well as encourage open library creation and sharing at scale.
3) Take part in an Ecosystem Coalition: Join a community of employer and education practitioners committed to open and interoperable standards, open toolsets, and opening their libraries of skills data.
4) Understand Policy and Market Strategy: Obtain guidance on unified policy and messaging. Identify and Track Meaningful Metrics: Examples of measurement to prioritize the impact of your work on individuals and communities.
The Open Skills Network (OSN) is a coalition of employers, educational organizations, technology providers, military, and other organizations dedicated to advancing skills-based education and hiring by establishing a network of open skills libraries and skills data. The OSN is committed to creating a more equitable, skills-driven labor market by matching talent with career opportunities through a common skills language, benefitting individuals, employers, and the U.S. economy.
Learning Outcomes:
Participants will gain a high-level understanding of how to:
1) Benefit from Interoperable Open Standards: The adoption of existing open standards for meaningful and actionable record interoperability across education providers and employers, in collaboration with data standards organizations, enables interoperability.
2) Use Open Toolsets: As a first initiative, the OSN is designing and developing the Open Skills Management Toolset (OSMT)- a software as a service resource for academic institutions, government agencies and employers to accelerate more dynamic and data-driven skills authoring and management, as well as encourage open library creation and sharing at scale.
3) Take part in an Ecosystem Coalition: Join a community of employer and education practitioners committed to open and interoperable standards, open toolsets, and opening their libraries of skills data.
4) Understand Policy and Market Strategy: Obtain guidance on unified policy and messaging. Identify and Track Meaningful Metrics: Examples of measurement to prioritize the impact of your work on individuals and communities.