2006 MCPA Conference Home


2006 Annual Conference

Featured Conference Speakers

Dr. Eric Dey
University of Michigan

Eric L. Dey is Associate Professor in the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education, and Senior Advisor to the Dean, University of Michigan School of Education. Dr. Dey earned the PhD in Higher Education from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), and holds Master of Education and Bachelor of General Studies degrees from Wichita State University. Dey's research is concerned with the ways that colleges and universities shape the experiences and lives of students and faculty. The central concern of this work is in identifying the influence that different institutional structures have on individuals, and the degree to which these influences are dependent on the evolving context within which the enterprise of higher education operates. As one example of this work, Dey was a member of the team of social scientists tapped to provide research on the educational effects of diverse student bodies; this work was foundational to the Supreme Court's decision supporting the continuing use of affirmative action in college admissions. In 1998, Dey was selected as one of forty "Young Leaders of the Academy" nationally by Change magazine and was the 1996 recipient of the distinguished Early Career Achievement Award from the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE). More recently, ASHE also honored his work on the University of Michigan's Affirmative Action Legal Defense team with a Special Merit Award in 2003.

Dr. Debra Rowe
Oakland Community College

Dr. Rowe is the Higher Education Co-Chair of the U.S. Partnership for the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (www.uspartnership.org). She is also Senior Fellow at the Association of University Leaders for a Sustainable Future and (www.ulsf.org), National Co-coordinator of the Higher Education Associations Sustainability Consortium (www.heasc.net) and Senior Advisory Councilor for the
Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (www.aashe.org ). She helps higher education associations and institutions integrate sustainability into mission, curricula, student life, operations and community partnerships. Debra is also a professor of Sustainable Energy Technologies and Behavioral
Sciences. Her Ph.D. is in Business. Debra's B.A. is from Yale University.

Dr. Jeanne Steffes
President, ACPA
Syracuse University

Jeanne Steffes, Ph.D., is the Associate Vice-President for Student Affairs at Syracuse University. She received her undergraduate degree from Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI; her graduate degree from The Ohio State University in Columbus, OH and her doctorate from the University of Maryland, in College Park, MD. Her professional positions have included work experiences at Capital University in Columbus OH; Cornell University in Ithaca, NY; Northeastern University in Boston, MA; and at the University of Maryland in both Student and Academic Affairs.
Dr. Steffes is the current President of ACPA-College Student Educators International, having just been re-elected to that position after serving as President of the Association from 2004-2005. Her other leadership roles included serving as the ACPA Director of State and International Divisions, the President of the Maryland College Personnel Association and the President of the Boston Area College Housing Association. She was the Program Chair for the 2000 ACPA Washington, DC convention and the ACPA Registration Chair for the 1995 Boston and 1996 Baltimore Conventions. She is recipient of the ACPA Outstanding Division State Leader Award, the ACPA Commission for Students Their Activities and Their Communities Research Award, and in 2002 she was named the Outstanding Mentor to Graduate Students/New Professionals given by the ACPA Standing Committee for Graduate and New Professionals. In 2005 she received the William Thomas, Jr. Mentoring Award from the College Student Personnel Program in the College of Education at the University of Maryland. In 2003 she received the ACPA Annuit Coeptis Senior Professional award and was named a Diamond Honoree. She and colleague Keith Edwards are the 2004 recipients of The Association of College and University Housing Officers-International (ACUHO-I) Article of the Year Award. At the University of Maryland in the Department of Resident Life she is a former recipient of Professional Managerial Employee of the Year and is a two-time nominee for the Stanley Drazek Teaching Excellence Award at the University of Maryland University College.