The Cedar Crest College Sophomore Expedition

Dr. Bryan Gross is the vice president for enrollment management and athletics at Hartwick College. Gross most recently served as vice president of revenue planning and institutional positioning at 3 Enrollment Marketing, Inc., an enrollment and retention solutions and services provider. Prior to his role at 3E, Gross served as vice president for enrollment management and marketing, and as interim vice president of student affairs at Western New England University in Springfield, MA. Before that, he was the associate vice president of enrollment management at St. John’s University in Queens, NY. and associate vice president of admissions, dean of admissions, and director of international admissions at the University of Bridgeport, Bridgeport, CT.

Robert A. Wilson is Provost for Cedar Crest College. As Chief Academic Officer, he provides leadership for the Academic Affairs division, including all academic departments and instructional programs, academic services, the registrar’s office, information technology, Cressman Library, institutional effectiveness and research, and global initiatives and international programs. With a commitment to inclusive excellence, equity, and expanded access to higher education, Dr. Wilson has a passion for ensuring that college enables all students to achieve at their xhighest levels. Dr. Wilson oversees the periodic review and planning process for all academic programs and college offices, the college internationalization process, the bias response team, and all academic judicial cases. Dr. Wilson cooperatively leads the Diversity and Inclusion Council. He furthermore coordinates specialized accreditation for the college’s degree programs, directs compliance with federal and state regulations for higher education. As Associate Provost, Dr. Wilson has led faculty workshops on topics such as diversity and inclusion, integrative curriculum development and revision, the assessment of academic programs, classroom engagement, and general-education knowledge and skills. A practiced teacher of online courses, he is a Quality Matters certified course reviewer. Dr. Wilson was the co-founder of Cedar Crest’s Pan-European MFA in Creative Writing, a low- residency writing program with students enrolled across seven different time zones who come together for residencies in Dublin, Barcelona, and Vienna. He has been President of Faculty Council, Chair of the Curriculum and Academic Policy Committee, Chair of the Department of Humanities, Director of Writing, and a leader for institution-wide Academic Program Review. A faculty member since 2002, he teaches courses in literature, writing, and film studies. Dr. Wilson is Treasurer for the Pennsylvania College English Association, where he has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2010. He maintains active membership in scholarly and academic organizations that include the Association of American Colleges & Universities, the Modern Language Association, and the Nathaniel Hawthorne Society. Wilson earned his Doctor of Philosophy in English from Lehigh University, receiving the 2006 Stout distinguished dissertation prize. He holds a Master of Arts in literature (2000) and a Bachelor of Arts in English, history, and pre-law (1998) from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. In addition, he has a certificate in Education Policy and Program Evaluation from Georgetown University’s School of Continuing Studies (2015).

Dr. Elizabeth M. Meade was inaugurated as the fourteenth President of Cedar Crest College on July 1, 2018. A member of the Cedar Crest faculty since 1993, Dr. Meade was named Interim President in July 2017. Prior to that, she served as Provost for a five-year period after working in the roles of Acting Provost and Chair of Cedar Crest’s Department of Humanities. In her time as president, Dr. Meade has been instrumental in leading the implementation of the College’s strategic plan, advancing programmatic areas, and showing a commitment to disciplined fundraising. She furthered a $5.2M renovation of the student center and a residence hall, along with a branding initiative for the College to proudly declare its identity as a 21st century women’s college. Dr. Meade earned her master’s degree in philosophy and Ph.D. in philosophy from Boston College and bachelor’s degree with distinction in German language and literature from Bryn Mawr College. She is married to Arturo Perez who is a software engineer with Cisco Systems. They have three children.