WICHE Staff Directory

Joanne Brothers is the Budget Coordinator at the WICHE Mental Health Program in Boulder, CO.  Joanne earned an MBA from the University of Colorado, in Finance and a BS in Psychology from the University of Colorado.  She has a background in budget analysis, finance and project management.  Joanne coordinates, analyzes, monitors, reports and forecasts the Mental Health budgets. 

Margo Colalancia directs the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education’s three Student Exchange Programs – the Professional Student Exchange Program, the Western Regional Graduate Program, and the Western Undergraduate Exchange – which provide a broad range of higher education options for more than 30,600 students. She joined WICHE in 1994; and prior to her current position, she served as the associate project director of CONAHEC, a trinational consortium of Mexican, Canadian, and U.S. universities and colleges. She received her bachelor's degree in business French from the University of Colorado and the Université de Bordeaux III and a master's degree in international policy studies with an emphasis in intercultural communication from the Monterey Institute of International Studies. Prior to her graduate studies, Colalancia spent seven years in Gabon in Central Africa, teaching English as a foreign language with the Peace Corps and on private contract with the Gabonese Ministry of Education.

Beth Davis, Business Strategist for WCET. Beth is Partner and Managing Director of Sage Road Solutions. She is responsible for company oversight, as well as for the company's market development services and solutions practice. She has been providing business consulting services to technology companies since 2005. As Vice President and General Manager of Macromedia, Inc. Beth had responsibilities for managing all products, including Flash, Dreamweaver, Flash Communication Server, Contribute, Director and Authorware, as well as vertical-specific roles managing Higher Education, Students and the Non-Profit markets. She was actively involved in M&A activities at Macromedia including the acquisition of Presidia, (the creators of Macromedia Breeze/Adobe Connect), Allaire, and eHelp Corporation, [the developers of Adobe Captivate]). She was a major contributor in the efforts associated with Macromedia's acquisition by Adobe Systems, Inc. Beth's early career in marketing and technology includes product management and marketing roles at Sega, Knowledge Adventure, Mattel, and the Walt Disney Company where she was responsible for managing product lines that include licenses from Barbie, Hot Wheels, Marvel Comics, DC Comic, and properties from Steven Spielberg. She is a graduate of Rutgers University and holds an MBA from the Anderson School of business at UCLA.

Sherri Artz Gilbert, Manager, Operations, has been with WCET since 1999. Her principal responsibilities include preparing and managing the budget, coordinating the membership effort, and database maintenance. Prior to joining WCET, she worked for the Reading Musical Foundation, a non-profit that promotes and facilitates music education and appreciation in order to preserve and develop musical experience and culture in Berks County, Pennsylvania. There she was responsible for donor management and administrator of the Blues in the Schools program. She received a B.S.B.A from Kutztown University in Pennsylvania with a major in Management and Marketing. Originally from Pennsylvania Dutch country, Sherri currently resides above 9200 feet in the Colorado Mountains with her husband and four dogs.

Cheryl Graves is an administrative assistant in the Policy Analysis and Research unit at WICHE. She works closely with the two unit directors as well as provides administrative support for three unit project coordinators. Cheryl has over fifteen years experience in administrative support as well as ten years experience in Information Technology support, networks, and project management. She is currently pursuing her bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems from Colorado Christian University.

David A. Longanecker is the president of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education in Boulder, Colorado.

Previously he served for six years as the assistant secretary for postsecondary education at the U.S. Department of Education, developing and implementing national policy and programs that provided more than $40 billion annually in student aid and $1 billion to institutions. Prior to that he was the state higher education executive officer (SHEEO) in Colorado and Minnesota.

He was also the principal analyst for higher education for the Congressional Budget Office. Dr. Longanecker has served on numerous boards and commissions and has written extensively on a range of higher education issues.

His primary interests in higher education are: access and equity; promoting student and institutional performance; finance; the efficient use of educational technologies; and internationalizing American higher education. He holds an Ed.D. from Stanford University, an M.A. in student personnel work from the George Washington University, and a B.A. in sociology from Washington State University.

Chuck McGee is a Senior Research and Technical Assistance Associate at the WICHE Mental Health Program in Boulder, Colorado.  Developing outcome measures with State Divisions of Behavioral Health is his major focus.  He works with program evaluators in the fifteen western States to prepare for health care reform.  Chuck had experience as a planner in City government, a quality assurance director in CMHC, and a program evaluator in two State Departments of Mental Health prior to his fifteen years with WICHE. 

Demarée K. Michelau is the director of policy analysis at the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. In this role, she co-manages WICHE’s Policy Analysis and Research unit and directs externally-funded projects related to adult learners, articulation and transfer, and college access and success. The author of numerous reports and policy briefs, she also has experience in a variety of higher education policy issues, including accelerated learning options, college affordability, and K-16 reform. Previously, she worked for the National Conference of State Legislatures as a policy specialist. Michelau received her bachelor's degree in public law from Northern Illinois University and her master's degree and Ph.D. in political science from the University of Colorado - Boulder.

Dennis Mohatt is the Vice President for Behavioral Health at the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE), he directs the WICHE Mental Health Program and the WICHE Center for Rural Mental Health Research.  Dennis has over 30 years of public mental health services.  His work has included direct clinical care, clinical supervision, and CEO tenure in a rural CMHC serving Michigan's Upper Peninsula.  Additionally, he led an effort in the early 1990s, funded by HRSA, to successfully integrate mental health and primary care in multiple rural family practice settings.  During the late 1990s, Dennis served as the Deputy Director for the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, a position where he also served as the state's commissioner of mental health.  His duties included executive management of multiple state HHS divisions including:  child welfare, juvenile justice, public health, mental health, developmental disabilities, substance use, services for the older adults, public assistance, Medicaid, services for the visually impaired, and public institutions.  Since 2001, Dennis has led WICHE's efforts in behavioral health.  He has served as a member of the National Rural Health Advisory Committee, and led many national efforts relating to rural mental health including his role as the Chief Consultant to the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health.  He is actively engaged in efforts focused on improving services to Veterans, Guard, and Reserve as well as their families; rural mental health policy; workforce development, and increasing adoption of integrated approaches to behavioral and primary care practice.  His graduate training was supported by a NIMH Fellowship and focused on rural community-clinical psychology. 

Brian T. Prescott is the director of policy research in the Policy Analysis and Research unit at the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE). In this role, he has primary responsibility for obtaining and analyzing quantitative data with public policy relevance. He is the author of the 7th edition of Knocking at the College Door, WICHE’s widely-used projections of high school graduates by state and race/ethnicity. Additionally, he oversees an annual report on tuition and fees charges at public higher education institutions in the West, annually prepares a regional benchmarks report, maintains a web-based statistical fact book, and authors occasional policy briefs and chapters. Prescott also has experience working with states on issues of access, success, affordability, accountability, workforce development, and accelerated learning options. Prior to joining WICHE in August 2004, Prescott worked in the Office of State Governmental Relations at the University of Virginia, where he also earned a Ph.D. in higher education. He also holds degrees from the University of Iowa and the College of William and Mary.

Patricia (Pat) Shea is the director of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education Internet Course Exchange (WICHE ICE), a consortium of regionally accredited institutions of higher education exchanging high quality e-learning courses and programs in response to student, state, and workforce needs.  Shea also directs WICHE's Western Academic Leadership Forum (the Forum), providing academic leaders at master’s level and doctoral institutions in WICHE’s 15 member states with the opportunities to exchange ideas and information, share resources and expertise, and collaborate on regional initiatives.

Prior to these positions, Shea was assistant director of WCET, a WICHE initiative consisting of member colleges and universities working together to advance the effective use of technology in higher education.  For WCET, Shea headed its research efforts in best practices in student services online including its FIPSE-funded project to design model web services. She also provided oversight for WCET’s annual conference.  Before coming to WICHE in 1996, Shea managed special projects for the technology division of the National School Boards Association, directed information services for the Association of Telemessaging Services International, and was the executive director of the Alexandria Bar Association (VA).

Peggy Stevens, Coordinator, Web Services for WCET and Accounts Payable Specialist for WICHE is involved with creation of and data input for WCET's wikis, and is responsible for web editing and page formation for the WCET website. Peggy is tasked with information organizing, meeting arranging, and communications for the WOW Awards. She edits and proofs announcements including the news digest and newsletter. For WICHE, Peggy is responsible for all Accounts Payable functions including proofing and coding check requests, writing and monitoring checks, and tracking all staff credit card charges. Peggy has an Associate of Applied Science Degree in Secretarial Technology with Administrative Emphasis and has over 20 years experience in the secretarial and accounting field for diverse Colorado and Nebraska companies. She enjoys participating on volleyball and softball teams.

Jessica Tomasko is a Research & Technical Assistance Associate for the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) Mental Health Program at Boulder, CO.  She is a licensed clinical social worker, and recently earned a Graduate Certificate in Children's Mental Health with an emphasis in Systems of Care (SOC) from the University of South Florida.  She is trained in the provision of evidence-based practices in rural areas, including community resource assessments, wraparound, crisis intervention, and the provision of recovery-focused services for children, youth, and families.  Jessica has led and coached clinicians through the process of person-centered planning sessions and has effectively facilitated numerous strength-based Youth and Family Team Meetings.  Jessica is currently the lead Technical Assistance Specialist working on behalf of WICHE and SOC Initiative in South Dakota.  Over the past four years, Jessica has helped several of the key systems (Division of Community Behavioral Health, Child Protective Services, Unified Judicial System, and the Department of Corrections) make great strides in building state and local quality improvement partnerships.  In addition, Jessica has developed a System of Care 101 Training with one of SD's former family advocates, Amanda Lautenschlager, MS.  Together, they train Master's and Bachelor's level Social Work students at the University of South Dakota about various components of SOC, including family and person-centered practice. 

Ellen Wagner, Executive Director for WCET. She continues in her role as Partner and Founder of Sage Road Solutions, LLC, providing advisory oversight for industry intelligence and enablement services and solutions practices.

Ellen is the former senior director of worldwide e-learning, Adobe Systems, Inc. and was senior director of worldwide education solutions for Macromedia, Inc. Prior to working in software solutions marketing and product development, Ellen was Chief Learning Officer and Director of Education for Viviance New Education, a Swiss-based elearning company with offices in 10 North American and European countries. She was Chief Learning Officer and Vice President of Consulting Services for Informania, Inc., prior to its acquisition by Viviance.

Before joining the private sector, Ellen was a tenured Professor and Chair of the Educational Technology program at the University of Northern Colorado, and held a number of administrative posts, including Director of the Western Institute for Distance Education and Coordinator of Campus Instructional and Research Technologies, Academic Affairs. She was a Visiting Scholar with WCET while on sabbatical leave from UNC. Her Ph.D. in learning psychology comes from the University of Colorado - Boulder. Her M.S. and B.A. degrees were earned at the University of Wisconsin - Madison.