Academic and Student Affairs
Mission
The mission of Academic and Student Affairs at Minnesota State is to be a national leader in transforming higher education systems and practices to improve student outcomes and eliminate disparities.
- We will be known nationally as a system that is continually evolving and one that embraces and thrives on creating new and more effective ways to educate and serve students, our communities, and our state.
- We will pursue intentional, equity-focused, and evidence-based solutions to address the problems of today and tomorrow.
- We will sustain rigor in our work – holding high standards and expectations of our students, our partners, and ourselves.
- We will approach our work with intentionality and compassion – working with integrity, humility, and caring, accepting people where they are and moving them forward without sacrificing standards or expectations.
Key Principles
To achieve these ends, we will re-envision and re-structure our work around three key principles:
Innovation and Evolution
Re-envisioning higher education as a collective and collaborative enterprise where innovation and evolution are integral to our culture.
Strategic Enrollment Management
Re-envisioning and enhancing the entire student experience to improve student success and effectively manage enrollment.
Minnesota State Guided Learning Pathways
Re-envisioning learning pathways to create multiple and equitable paths to development and credentials for lifelong success.
ASA/OEI Spring Conference
Date: May 22-24, 2023
St. Cloud State University
Equity in Action: Activating Change
Contact: Nate Hallanger
Learn MoreASA Fall Conference
Date: October 25-27, 2023
A leadership conference held each fall.
Contact: Nate Hallanger
Learn More
Accreditation and Assessment Conference
Date: Fall 2023
In collaboration with the Higher Learning Commission, this annual conference provides updates from the commission, best practices, and highlights of our Minnesota member institutions, and discussions about emerging trends related to accreditation and assessment.
Contact: Latrice Eggleston Williams
Learn MoreBoard of Trustees Awards
Date: Spring 2024
The Board of Trustees Awards for Excellence acknowledge and provide system-wide recognition for consistently superior professional achievement of our college and university teaching and service faculty. Nominations due November 1 each year.
Contact: Catherine Ford
Learn More
Student Success and Planning Conference
Date: October 11-12, 2023
This annual conference brings together staff from Minnesota State, University of Minnesota, and private Minnesota and Wisconsin institutions. The conference exists to provide the opportunity to share best practices and learn about emerging trends in degree planning and transfer.
Contact: Cassandra Levesque
Learn MoreNetwork for Educational Development
Date: Ongoing
The Network for Educational Development Events Calendar provides educational development opportunities for Minnesota State faculty and staff, helping to build awareness, develop knowledge, skills, and abilities, and provide space for reflecting and revising.
Contact: Catherine Ford
Learn More
ASA Events and Meetings
Minnesota State faculty and staff can find more information about ASA events and meetings on the ASA Connect Calendar. Sign in with StarID@MinnState.edu.
Satasha Green-Stephen
Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs
651-201-1498
Dr. Green-Stephen has over 20 years’ experience in higher education and brings a deep and broad record of accomplishment in academic and student affairs leadership at both the campus level as well as at large, complex systems.
Prior to joining Minnesota State in 2018, she served as the Associate Provost for Academic Affairs at Chicago State University (CSU), Dean of the College of Education at CSU, Dean of the Graduate School of Education at New York Institute of Technology and Associate Dean of Student and Curriculum Affairs and Associate Professor for the College of Education at The University of Alaska Anchorage.
She holds a Juris Doctor from The University of Illinois at Chicago School of Law, PhD in Special Education from The University of Texas at Austin, a Master’s degree in Sociology and a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Anthropology, from Texas A&M University-Kingsville.
Nate Hallanger
Special Assistant to the Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs
651-201-1473
Nathan.Hallanger@MinnState.edu
Nate Hallanger serves as Special Assistant to the Senior Vice Chancellor of Academic and Student Affairs. Prior to joining the Minnesota State, he worked for eleven years in academic affairs at Augsburg University in Minneapolis, and served as the program director for a non-profit research center in Berkeley, California.
He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Augustana University before earning a master’s degree at Harvard Divinity School and a doctorate at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California.
Paul Shepherd
Interim Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management
651-605-0834
Dr. Paul Shepherd has over 20 years of professional experience in higher education serving in a variety of leadership roles in different functional areas within student affairs and enrollment management at campuses in the University of Wisconsin system and the Minnesota State system office. Prior to serving in this role, Paul served as the system director for student development and success at the Minnesota State system office where he led efforts to comprehensively address basic needs insecurity, supported campus based functional area leaders and senior leaders in student affairs and enrollment management, and provided leadership for other student success focused initiatives. Paul is passionate about working collaboratively to build student-ready campus communities focused on equity, inclusion, and student success.
Paul holds a Doctorate degree (EdD) in Education Leadership from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota where he researched the relationship between college student engagement, socioeconomic status, and persistence to degree completion. Paul also holds a Master’s degree in college student development and administration from the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse and a Bachelor’s degree in organizational communication from the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater.
Jesse Mason
Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
651-201-1496
Dr. Jesse Mason has over 18 years’ experience in higher education. As a first-generation high school and college graduate, he understands the power of how education changes lives. His personal mission “is to create transformative experiences for students, the community, and employees that will lead to success and a better quality of life.”
Prior to joining the system office, Dr. Mason has served as Provost and Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs at North Hennepin Community College, Academic Dean at Century College, Department Chair of Psychology at Clark Atlanta University, and has served as faculty at both community colleges and universities.
He holds a PhD in Psychology (Cognitive and Biological [Brain] Sciences) from the University of Minnesota and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Morris Brown College.
Kim Lynch
Senior System Director for Educational Development and Technology
651-201-1655
Kim has served as Senior System Director for Educational Development and Technology since 2014, overseeing enterprise technology services and resources. Kim has been in the Minnesota State system since 1994 and came to her current role with broad and deep experience in academic affairs and academic technology, having served as a faculty member, active learning advocate, center for instructional technology coordinator, dean of innovative teaching and learning, interim chief information officer, and dean of STEM and computer networking.
Kim holds a BA in English and psychology from Hamline University and both an MA and PhD in English from the University of Minnesota.
Nancy D. Floyd
Senior System Director for Research
651-201-1817
Nancy Floyd joined Minnesota State as Senior System Director for Research in March 2020. In that role she oversees production of system submissions to the state Office of Higher Education, reports to the State Legislature on behalf of the system, and IPEDS submissions for seven universities and thirty colleges, as well as a number of systemwide data applications and long-range reporting projects. In this role she also serves on the Minnesota P-20 Education Partnership and specifically on the Learner Lifespan workgroup.
Nancy’s prior roles were as Director of Institutional Analytics at NC State University, system DIR/IPEDS Coordinator at the University of South Carolina flagship campus in Columbia, in institutional effectiveness for Midlands Technical College, and as manager of the test bank for the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy. She has held several offices with state and regional AIR affiliated organizations and with the Southern Universities Group (SUG). Nancy has given presentations on the use of basic statistics in IR, effective reporting in HR, and how to apply user feedback and cognitive psychology to improve data visualizations.
Additionally she is versed on the use of risk assessment in higher education leadership. She is an IPEDS Educator and current member (for public systems) of the National Postsecondary Education Cooperative (NPEC).
Directories for Senior Academic Officers, Senior Student Affairs Officers, and Academic Deans across Minnesota State campuses.
- Senior Vice Chancellor Speaking Request Form
- Senior Academic Affairs Officer List (systemwide)
- Senior Student Affairs Officer List (systemwide)
- Minnesota State Deans List (systemwide)
- Other System Directories (Board of Trustees roster, college and university presidents, Minnesota State Legislature directories, and higher education affiliates of the system)
The Academic and Student Affairs division prepares a variety of reports including many that are produced for the Minnesota Legislature. Find recent reports and initiative updates below.
Digital Learning Transformation
Initiative Update
Mental Health Services and Resources
Initiative Update
Program Review and Quality Assurance
Initiative Update
Strategic Enrollment Management
Initiative Update
ASA Connect
Employees can access the internal ASA Connect using your StarID@MinnState.edu and password.
ASA Newsletter
The ASA Newsletter is used as the primary communication tool delivering ASA news to Minnesota State faculty and staff, Senior Academic and Student Affairs Officers, Deans, Quality Matters Coordinators, system office staff, and others. Information is posted about current projects, upcoming events, meetings, conferences, division news, and deadline alerts. Subscribe to receive email notifications.
