This is season seven, public policy in action, where we will explore public policy issues impacting higher education today and how this will impact the work that you do on a daily basis. This week on SA Voices From the Field we interviewed Dr. Brent Marsh and Dr. Jeanna Mastrodicasa, the current and past chair of NASPA's Public Policy Division. We explore public policy and important topics that are currently impacting all of our work!
Brent arrived at the University of Mississippi in August 2019, being honored to join the UM community as Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Dean of Students. Prior to his arrival at UM, Dr. Marsh served for five years as Vice President for Student Affairs at Rogers State University, overseeing numerous programs and services that promoted student engagement and success. Before his time at RSU, Marsh served for 10 years at Howard Payne University in central Texas in three successive student affairs leadership roles, culminating his time there as Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students. Marsh earned bachelors and masters degrees at Kansas State University and a doctorate in higher education administration from Bowling Green State University. His earliest professional experiences were in student housing at two universities in Abilene, Texas, serving there between academic stints at K-State and BGSU.
Dr. Marsh is actively involved in NASPA where he recently served as Director of the Public Policy Division from 2019-2021, and currently serves as member-at-large. Prior to this role, Brent served as Coordinator of Region Finances for the IV-West region from 2017-2019, while simultaneously sitting on the Small Colleges & Universities Division advisory board as Public Policy Liaison, which also placed him on the Public Policy Division’s leadership team. From 2015 to 2017, Marsh served a two-year term as the Student-Athlete Knowledge Community chair.
Dr. Jeanna Mastrodicasa is the Associate Vice President for Operations at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS), where she manages budget, facilities, business operations, conferences and institutes, and compliance for the land-grant mission of the university. UF/IFAS has more than 4,000 employees across Florida, $450 million in annual expenditures, and more than 4 million built gross square feet of facilities.
Dr. Mastrodicasa is currently the national chair for NASPA’s Public Policy Division, serving a term on the national NASPA board from March 2021-2023 supporting higher education administration. In summer 2022, she will be participating in the HERS Summer Institute, which is an intensive leadership program for women in higher education.
She is also on several local boards in the community, including the Girl Scouts of Gateway Council, Family Promise of Gainesville, the Gainesville Police Advisory Council, Friends of Susan B. Anthony, and the Alachua County ½ Cent Sales Tax Oversight Board.