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Front row: Nicholas Warcholak, Ellen George, Louise Sandmeyer, Barbara Sherlock
Second row: Joan Pecht, Michael Dooris, Nittany Lion, Ginny Hosterman, Marianne Guidos, Daniel Nugent

Louise Sandmeyer, Executive Director

Louise Sandmeyer is the Executive Director of the Office of Planning and Institutional Assessment at Penn State University. The Office facilitates the University's planning, improvement, and assessment initiatives by using quality principles to help administrative and academic units develop strategic plans, improve key processes, and assess performance. The Pennsylvania State University has one of higher education's longest continuous experiences with strategic planning and continuous quality improvement.

Ms. Sandmeyer was appointed by the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standard and Technology, to serve as an evaluator on the Education and Health Care Pilot Evaluation team of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. She is a member of the Juran Center for Leadership Operating Committee and a founding member and past president of the National Consortium for Continuous Improvement. She was the coordinator for the CIC Academic Leadership Program and was a co-convener for the Kellogg Leadership for Institutional Change Initiative at Penn State.

Ms. Sandmeyer is frequently called upon to consult with colleges and universities about the institutional effectiveness and the integration of improvement, planning and assessment.

She has a B. A. in English from Penn State and an M. A. in higher education administration from the University of Denver.

Michael Dooris, Director of Planning Research and Assessment

Michael Dooris provides research and analysis support for university-level planning and decision making. Responsibilities include institutional research on a variety of topics such as strategic performance indicators, factors affecting undergraduate degree completion, instructional workload, faculty tenure flow, and part-time/full-time faculty demographics. He has been at Penn State since 1981 in a variety of positions, including in the university budget office and in academic affairs. Earlier professional experience includes information systems consultant at Arthur Andersen & Co. in Hartford, CT, and survey statistician at the U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, D.C.

He is an affiliate associate professor in Penn State's higher education graduate program, in which he teaches and serves on masters and doctoral committees. Publications have appeared in The Review of Higher Education, Assessment Update, NACUBO Business Officer, Proceedings of the American Economic Association, Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, Planning for Higher Education, New Directions for Institutional Research, and a variety of other edited volumes, and have earned professional society and journal awards. He has consulted on strategic planning and institutional research in Europe and Africa, with numerous U.S. presentations and workshops.

He has a Ph.D. in higher education from Penn State, an M.B.A from the University of Rhode Island, and a B.S. in economics from Penn State. He was a CIC Academic Leadership Fellow in 1997-98.

Marianne Guidos, Quality and Planning Research Associate

Marianne Guidos is the Quality and Planning Research Associate in the Office of Planning and Institutional Assessment. In this position, she consults with academic and academic support units on projects to enhance organizational effectiveness and provides analysis of outcomes and other data for selected projects.

Ms. Guidos has worked in research and program evaluation for over fifteen years. She has conducted performance auditing for a joint legislative committee of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, program evaluation at the Penn State Hershey Medical Center, institutional research at Harrisburg Area Community College, and market research for the Penn State Alumni Association. In the academic environment, she has much experience in research methodology, institutional assessment, survey design and administration, and data analysis.

Ms. Guidos is a graduate of Penn State three times over with an A. Eng. in solar heating and cooling technology, a B.S. in sociology, and an M.A. in sociology/demography.

Daniel Nugent, Management Information Associate

Daniel P. Nugent is the Management Information Associate in the Office of Planning and Institutional Assessment. He is responsible for generating a variety of reports such as an analysis of the University's First Year Seminar requirement for the Office of Undergraduate Education, an analysis of the Faculty Exit Interview for the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and the University's "Strategic Indicators" report, a companion to the University's strategic plan that gauges Penn State's progress towards the goals outlined in the strategic plan.

Prior to his current appointment, Mr. Nugent spent two years as staff assistant in the Center for Quality and Planning supporting the University's Continuous Quality Improvement and strategic planning initiatives. Before joining Penn State, Mr. Nugent worked as a program development specialist with Counseling & Care Services, a private foster care agency in Pennsylvania, and then for Recruitment Management, Inc., a foster care consulting firm, as a professional recruiter and business manager.

Mr. Nugent is a graduate of Penn State with a B.S. in health policy and administration.

Barbara Sherlock, Planning and Improvement Associate

Barbara J. Sherlock is the Planning and Improvement Associate in the Office of Planning and Institutional Assessment. She provides consulting and facilitation services to University teams and work units addressing planning, innovation and improvement initiatives, and coordinates, and presents quality improvement and planning programs for University faculty and staff.

Prior to her appointment to her present position Ms. Sherlock served 23 years in the United States Navy, attaining the rank of Commander. Among her assignments were Commanding Officer, Military Sealift Command Office, Guam, and both Executive Officer and senior year instructor at the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps Unit, Penn State. While an instructor at the NROTC Unit, she revised the curriculum and co-edited a book of readings used nationally for the NROTC Leadership and Management course. She also served as a consultant in the Navy's Organizational Development program, and had several assignments in information systems, including management of the worldwide computer network used in joint logistics planning.

Ms. Sherlock served as a 1995 Pennsylvania Quality Examiner. She has a B.A. in psychology from Wellesley College, an M.B.A. from Pepperdine University, and an M.S. (with distinction) in computer science from the Naval Postgraduate School.

Nicholas Warcholak, Analysis and Planning Associate

Nicholas Warcholak is the Analysis and Planning Associate. He is responsible for providing analytical support, and conducting institutional research using both quantitative and qualitative information relevant to strategic planning, institutional assessment, and improvement.

Prior to his current appointment, Mr. Warcholak served as a research assistant to various faculty members in the University while working on large-scale assessment projects for government agencies such as Pennsylvania's Department of Public Welfare and the National Center for Education Statistics. In the academic environment, he has significant experience researching assessment and methodology issues.

Mr. Warcholak has an M.S. in educational psychology from Penn State. He also has an M.S. in health education and a B.S. in psychology from East Stroudsburg University. He is a doctoral candidate in educational psychology at Penn State.

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