Below are descriptions of presenters who will be speaking at the SEMM Forum in Toronto
Additional Presenter Biographies Will be Available Shortly.

 

Ron Byrne

Ron Byrne

Vice President, International & Student Affairs
Mount Allison University

Ron Byrne has more than 25 years of professional experience in Student Affairs across a broad spectrum of institutions in Canada and internationally. In his current position as Vice-President, International & Student Affairs at Mount Allison University he has primary responsibility for recruitment and retention of students and for engaging the campus community in the pan-institutional priority of SEM. Ron has been professionally involved in recruitment and retention efforts for most of his career and actively involved in developing SEM strategies for approximately the last 10 years.

Ron holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Memorial University of Newfoundland and a LL.B. degree from University of New Brunswick. In addition, he has been certified as a trainer with the Institute of Leadership and Management and is a graduate of the Institute for Educational Management at Harvard University. He lectures regularly in Commercial Law at the University level and has been a Research Fellow at the Atlantic Human Rights Centre.

His presentations combine both theory and practice in a blend that provides participants with practical tips and tools that can be applied to their own institutional priorities. Utilizing an interactive style to solicit practical examples and challenges from participants, he points out the advantages and pitfalls inherent in moving institutional cultures to a SEM focus.

Graham Donald

Graham Donald

President
Brainstorm Strategy Group, Inc.

Graham Donald is Canada’s leading expert on campus recruiting and career services management.

Over the past 20 years he has advised dozens of the country’s major employers and developed a national network of university and college clients. In the past several years he has worked with numerous US employers and colleges as well.

As a co-author of the annual From Learning to Work Report, Canada’s benchmark study of student attitudes towards careers and employers, he has developed a unique understanding of tomorrow’s workforce. He uses this expertise and his extensive experience in the campus recruitment marketplace to advise major employers when developing programs to attract, recruit, retain, and manage new student hires.

His primary role as a consultant with career centres and other student services is to facilitate the strategic planning process or external reviews to help support student engagement and success.

He was Executive Director of the Canadian Association of Career Educators and Employers (CACEE) for seven years. In 1996, he conceived and launched Campus WorkLink, which quickly became Canada’s largest job posting site for students and graduates. Campus WorkLink was sold to Workopolis.com in 2001 where he worked as part of the senior management team until starting Brainstorm Strategy Group, Inc. in 2003.

Through Brainstorm Strategy Group, Inc., he has developed a series of Campus Recruiting Forums in cities across North America for employers of post-secondary students and graduates. He also created The Canadian Institute for Career Centre Management – a management training program for campus career centre directors – and the Career Services Summit for leaders of campus career centres. More recently, he launched the Strategic Enrolment Marketing & Management Forum (SEMM Forum).

Earlier in his career, he was owner and president of Turl Street Publications Ltd.; a founding director of the Career Edge National Internship Program; and a founder, past president, and life member of the Young Entrepreneurs Association of Canada. He is also a former owner and director of a children’s canoe tripping camp, Camp Temagami. He received both his BA and MBA from the University of Toronto.

Darren Evans

Darren Evans

Director, Brand and Creative Strategy
Calabash Creative Engagement Inc.

Darren started his career in London, UK where he worked his way up through the ranks in advertising, branding and marketing agencies. After moving to Canada in 1999 he joined TMP Worldwide as National Creative Director and Senior Brand Consultant before taking the helm as Director of RIM Brand at Research In Motion.

Darren’s experience has included developing brand architectures and assets for CMHC, Canon Canada, RIM, RBC, CPP (HSBC), Converse UK, CNT, UK, McGill University and Kinross Gold Corporation.

Darren believes in a holistic approach to building brands – focusing on both the internal and external expressions of a brand. This belief, along with his experience on both the agency and client side of the equation and strong creative thinking gives Darren a unique perspective on what brands need to succeed.

Darren is passionate about branding and has shared these insights with audiences across Canada for the HRPA, IPMA, and Brainstorm Strategy Group.

Gary Fretwell

Gary Fretwell

Senior Vice President and Principal
Noel-Levitz, Inc.

As a senior vice president and a consultant for Noel-Levitz, Gary Fretwell has been a strong catalyst for enrolment success on hundreds of campuses throughout North America. His recommendations and guidance have helped institutions establish strategic and tactical enrolment plans, train staff and faculty in enrolment management practices, and coordinate comprehensive enrolment management initiatives for both graduate and undergraduate programs.

Mr. Fretwell has launched comprehensive enrolment initiatives on more than 350 campuses. He has consulted with institutions such as Wake Forest University (NC), Babcock Graduate School of Business (NC), American University (DC), Carleton University (ON), and many others. In addition to providing consulting services, Mr. Fretwell frequently delivers presentations on such topics as strategic enrolment management, developing a campus-wide retention program, graduate and professional school recruitment, and mobilizing your campus to achieve enrolment success. Mr. Fretwell has conducted hundreds of workshops and presentations at international, national and regional conferences in higher education, including the International Roundtable of Residential Colleges in Oxford, England.

Mr. Fretwell has served as vice president for enrolment and student affairs and dean at Millsaps College (MS) and held a variety of administrative posts at Tulane University (LA) and the University of South Florida. In 1995, his retention program at Millsaps received a Retention Excellence Award from Noel-Levitz in honor of the best-retained class in Millsaps 105-year history. Mr. Fretwell holds an M.A. from Stetson University (FL).

Jim Hundrieser

Jim Hundrieser

Vice President
Noel-Levitz, Inc.

Dr. Jim Hundrieser has 25 years of experience in higher education. His enrollment management expertise covers strategic enrollment planning, student recruitment, student retention, strategic planning, institutional planning and assessment, and student life. He has worked with more than 50 colleges and universities of all sizes throughout North America to create comprehensive strategic enrollment plans, long-range enrollment plans, enrollment models and projections, and retention strategies.  His recommendations and guidance have helped institutions establish strategic and tactical plans and coordinate comprehensive enrollment management initiatives for both graduate and undergraduate programs.enrollment.

Dr. Hundrieser has created strategic enrollment plans or retention plans for institutions such as Texas Tech University, the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Las Vegas, Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, Medaille College, and Georgia College.  His work at Milwaukee Institute saw the campus increase first-to-second year retention by 11 percent in two years.  At the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Hundrieser was a part of a team effort to push retention rates into the mid-90 percent range.

In addition to providing consulting services, Dr. Hundrieser has delivered numerous presentations and conducted numerous campus workshops on topics ranging from building a strong recruitment program to improving the quality of student life and learning, including presenting at the NCAA and the International Higher Education Law and Policy Council annual conference.
Dr. Hundrieser has served as vice president for student development at Lynn University (FL) and vice president for student affairs and enrollment management at Marymount Manhattan College (NY). One initiative while at Marymount Manhattan saw the creation of a peer-facilitated first-year experience program providing dynamic levels of student engagement for both new students and student leaders.

Dr. Hundrieser holds a BS from Northern Michigan University, an MEd from Plymouth State College (now Plymouth State University) in New Hampshire, and a PhD in leadership and education from Barry University (FL).

Michael Mahoney

Talent Formula

Details coming soon…

Chelsea Newton

Chelsea Newton

President
Talent Formula

Chelsea Newton is a dynamic and engaging talent consultant and professional speaker. As an executive coach, passionate speaker, and teacher, Chelsea works with organizations to help them recruit, train, develop, and motivate top talent using cutting edge communication techniques and social media. Chelsea has over ten years of experience in the fields of marketing, talent acquisition, and talent management. Chelsea is the President of Talent Formula, a speaking and consulting company that works with organizations and universities specializing in recruiting and engaging millennials.

Chelsea has worked in a breadth of fields from developing top talent in the oil sands to high volume young adult recruiting within experiential marketing. She has been credited with developing best in class employment branding, recruiting, training, and marketing campaigns.  Her expertise in talent matching includes Fortune 500 companies such as Labatt, DaimlerChrysler, Procter&Gamble, Sony BMG, and Coca-Cola.  Additionally, Chelsea has over six years experience consulting globally with Anheuser-Busch InBev on campus recruiting, new grad hiring and social media employment programs in Canada, the United States, Western Europe, South Korea, China, Russia and Ukraine.  Chelsea has spoken at top tiered universities including the University of Alberta and Carleton University educating young adults on best practices using social media for employment networking and personal branding.

Chelsea is a social media expert and is an active user both personally and professionally. She can be found on twitter at @chelsea_newton and runs a group of over 700 members on LinkedIn called Campus Recruiting & Social Media: Recruiting and Onboarding Millennials.  Chelsea formed Talent Formula to facilitate her passion for consulting and create a hub for guest bloggers to discuss cutting edge information in the ever-changing space of finding and keeping top talent.

Bonnie Neuman

Bonnie Neuman

Vice-President, Student Services
Dalhousie University

Dr Neuman is one of Canada’s most experienced and innovative enrolment managers. As Vice-President, Student Services at Dalhousie University since 2005, she has taken a leadership role to rebuild Dalhousie’s enrolment strategy and campus life experience for students. In a provincial context of stagnant growth and strong regional competition, Dalhousie’s student numbers have grown by 13% since 2005 and the international undergraduate student population has almost tripled. In previous roles as Vice-President, Students at York University, Associate Vice-President, Student Services at Brock University and Director of Admissions and Awards at the University of Alberta, she has consistently achieved enrolment outcomes in an increasingly competitive world wide environment.

Suzanne Tyson

 Suzanne Tyson

President
Studentawards Inc.

Suzanne Tyson has more than 20 years of experience in publishing, mobile communications and loyalty marketing. Suzanne is President of Studentawards Inc., Canada’s leading conduit to the thinking and intentions of students nationwide. Based in Toronto, the company operates www.studentawards.com, www.boursetudes.com and www.uthinkonline.com and for more than 13 years it has developed long term relationships with students, their parents and educators. The Studentawards member community numbers more than 500,000 and is highly responsive to the innovative, digitally-driven marketing, scholarship and grants programs and the market intelligence studies Studentawards develops for clients.

Suzanne received her BA from the University of Western Ontario in 1987 and returned there to do her MBA in 1996. She counts her lucky stars because her graduating MBA class was the first to boast the Ivey name—and the second last to benefit from tuition under $3,000 per year! Since success at college or university is often dependent upon financial factors, it is Suzanne’s mission to help as many people as possible find money for school through studentawards.com.

Additional details for presenters of the Toronto SEMM Forum will be available shortly.