Pulsipher
Comings and Goings …
The Western Governors University (WGU) Board of Trustees named Scott D. Pulsipher to be its new president, effective April 11. The former president of Needle Inc. and general manager for Amazon Webstore, Pulsipher succeeds Robert Mendenhall, who led the nonprofit online WGU from its beginning in 1999, into a major university today with nearly 70,000 students and a reputation as a national leader in competency-based education. Mendenhall will continue to serve WGU as president emeritus.
The Lesley University Board of Trustees named Jeff A. Weiss, a founding partner of the Alliance Practice and Healthcare Group of Vantage Partners, to be the university’s next president. Weiss succeeds Joseph B. Moore, who retired after nine years as president.
Jane Ciarleglio, the leader of the Connecticut agency that oversees state financial aid and for-profit colleges, retired after working for the state for 36 years, most in roles at agencies related to higher education. Recently, after the state community colleges merged with the Connecticut state universities and the Department of Higher Education’s commissioner left to lead that new system, Ciarleglio took over the state agency, now called the Office of Higher Education (OHE). The OHE lost most oversight of the state’s public colleges and its role in researching and crafting statewide policy for higher education. Keith Norton, the current chief financial officer of OHE, will serve as acting executive director.
Vermont Senate President Pro Tempore John Campbell won’t seek re-election to the Senate this fall, instead becoming executive director of the Vermont Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs. His departure will leave vacancies in all four key decision-making posts in Montpelier: Gov. Peter Shumlin, Lt. Gov. Phil Scott and House Speaker Shap Smith (D-Morristown) all previously announced they would not seek reelection.
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