AIA - Meet Our People

Rich Stanley serves as the Alliance Convener. In this role, Rich serves as the primary lead for AIA-affiliated initiatives. Richard H. Stanley was appointed as senior vice president and University Planner in February of 2004 at Arizona State University. In this position, he works with the existing academic and administrative units, he coordinates the interaction of program, facility, and financial planning activities across Arizona State University’s four campuses. The focus of the work is medium-term and long-term planning to implement the vision of the New American University. He is a member of the ASU Executive Committee. He is also one of five members of the University Budget Committee which coordinates budget planning for ASU.

Prior to joining ASU, Stanley spent 24 years at New York University, most recently as executive vice provost. During his tenure at NYU he had planning responsibilities in the areas of space and facilities, academic budgeting, enrollment management, and faculty resources and support. He also had operational responsibility for admissions and financial aid and for information technology services. Earlier in his career, he held positions in internal auditing and in the publishing industry.

Dr. Sukhwant Jhaj serves as the AIA liaison for Arizona State University. Trained as a designer, Sukhwant Jhaj uses design thinking to discover new solutions for incremental and disruptive challenges facing higher education. In his role as vice provost at Arizona State University, Jhaj pursues ways to create greater levels of student success for all learners across all degree types. He works to identify new ways the university can improve learning outcomes, and helps ASU set a new standard of quality and accessibility that can be shared with institutions of higher education around the country and the world. In addition to his role in the Office of the University Provost, Jhaj is the dean of University College, an instrumental and significant part of ASU’s efforts to enhance retention, graduation, and overall student achievement. Jhaj is a faculty member in The Design School within the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts.

Jhaj is an active researcher. He is an expert in design thinking, design of student experience, managing change, open innovation and user centered design. He speaks extensively on these topics and has served on several national advisory groups focused on improving student success and institutional transformation.

In his book, “Delivering on the Promise of Democracy: Visual Case Studies in Educational Equity and Transformation,” Jhaj has crafted a new look at how imaginative leadership and a shift in perspective can guide institutions as they work to improve access and success for all students.

Anika Olsen is the AIA Liaison for Northern Arizona University, serving as the lead representative and advocate for AIA engagement on behalf of the institution. She is the Vice President for Enrollment Management at Northern Arizona University. She brings 25 years of higher education experience to her role as Vice President for Enrollment Management. Anika has held posts that span a wide range of administrative areas, including Housing and Residence Life, Greek Life, Admissions, Communications and Orientation. In recent years, Anika has served as a Principal and Consultant with EAB Enrollment Services, advising some of the nation’s most notable colleges and universities on their operational and recruitment challenges.

Anika's team is at the center of the implementation of NAU’s Student Access and Success Plan, ensuring access for students to successfully meet their academic aspirations during this time of unprecedented change in higher education. She is passionate about placing the student experience at the core of the university’s decision-making process.

Kasey serves as the university’s chief enrollment strategist, overseeing the offices of Undergraduate Admissions; Early Academic Outreach; New Student Orientation; Scholarships & Financial Aid; Parent Family Programs; Career Development and Student Engagement. She is an active member of many regional and national boards. Currently serving as the Vice Chair for the Women’s Foundation for the State of Arizona, on the Hispanic Scholarship Fund’s Advisory Board for Southern Arizona, on the Executive Board for Arizona Women in Higher Education, as well as the Cambridge Assessment’s Higher Education Western Regional Council. Previously she served as a Commissioner for the AZ Commission on Postsecondary Education and the Metropolitan Education Commission, as well as a College Board Trustee and a member of the National Association of College Admissions Counseling Admissions Practices Committee.

As a first-generation college graduate, Kasey is passionate about higher education access and success. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in Family and Consumer Sciences from UA and earned two master’s degrees, from Chapman University and UA respectively, and a doctoral degree in educational leadership from Northern Arizona University.

Brittney Paulk serves as the Assistant Director of the Arizona Innovation Alliance. Reporting to the Alliance Convener and in council with campus Liaisons and Fellows, Brittney supports AIA institutions in identifying collaborative initiatives and new solutions, scaling proven innovations, and communicating and diffusing outcomes that advance the larger student success and cost effectiveness goals of the AIA. Prior to her appointment, Brittney served as a Projects Director in the Office of the University Provost at Arizona State University. Under the direction of the Deputy Provost and Provost executive leadership, Brittney planned and executed a portfolio of strategic initiatives to advance academic affairs, degree programming, and student success. During her time at ASU, she was appointed the Fellow for the University Innovation Alliance, working across the eleven-member consortium to scale innovations and promising practices to increase degree attainment among historically marginalized student populations

Andrew Sarracino serves as the Fellow for Arizona State University. He has over 12 years of experience working with underrepresented students, both nationally and internationally, to improve educational equity. Most recently, Andrew established a $2M ASU visiting scholar program focused on preparing students to alleviate the energy crisis in Pakistan. Andrew comes from a family of Lumberjacks where his mother, uncle, aunt, and several cousins graduated from NAU

Marcela Pino Alcaraz serves as the Fellow for Northern Arizona University. Marcela has over a decade of experience in large scale project management and transformational change both in the private and public sectors. Areas of impact include sourcing negotiation and contracting strategy, organizational structure design, supply chain technologies, product lifecycle management, global business process improvement, and international education. Marcela is committed to building strategic and systematic solutions for increased student access and success in service to the AIA mission.

Rafael A. Meza serves as Fellow for the University of Arizona and Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Admissions.

Rafael has devoted his career to promoting higher education awareness in Arizona. Over the last 29 years he has facilitated a variety of access opportunities through roles within Enrollment Management, Undergraduate Admissions, Early Academic Outreach, and the Honors College. Most recently he focused on diversity awareness, community development, and fostering connections for parents and families of college students.

Rafael has devoted his career to promoting higher education awareness in Arizona. Over the last 29 years he has facilitated a variety of access opportunities through roles within Enrollment Management, Undergraduate Admissions, Early Academic Outreach, and the Honors College. Most recently he focused on diversity awareness, community development, and fostering connections for parents and families of college students.