An-all female cohort of deans is still relatively rare in higher education
By Stefan Yablonski
While specific, real-time data for all New York state colleges combined isn’t always publicly reported, research on U.S. university leadership suggests that women comprise roughly 39% to 40% of all academic deans and provosts, according to American Association of University Women. This aligns with broader, national findings on female representation in higher education leadership.
At SUNY Oswego, all of the deans are female.
“Much of that foundation was built under the 25 year presidency of Deborah F. Stanley, whose leadership helped establish women’s voices at decision making tables across the institution,” said interim provost and vice president for academic affairs, dean of graduate studies and interim dean of the College of Business and Entrepreneurship Kristen Eichhorn. “Her tenure made it clear that women belonged in these roles and that their leadership strengthened the university. That legacy continues to shape SUNY Oswego today.”
Business school leadership is becoming more diverse and reflective. The number of women leading business schools is on the rise, according to an Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business survey. The number of deans identifying as female rose to 30% in 2023-24, up from 26% in 2020-21, according to the AACSB Deans Survey.
Women are increasingly leading academic institutions, with about 30% of business school deanships held by women in 2024, particularly in accredited programs.
“Having an all-female cohort of deans is still relatively rare in higher education — but here it feels like a natural extension of who we are as an institution. Each dean brings a distinct set of strengths, from research and creative activity to community engagement, program development and student advocacy and together we model a collaborative, equity driven approach to academic leadership,” Eichhorn said. “Our collective presence reflects SUNY Oswego’s long standing commitment to cultivating diverse leadership and creating pathways for women to advance. It also sends an important message to our students: that leadership can take many forms and that women’s expertise and perspectives are essential to shaping the future of higher education. I’m proud to serve alongside these exceptional colleagues and I’m grateful for the opportunity to highlight the work we are doing to support our faculty, students and the broader community.”
“I’m not sure how rare it is to have all women as deans at a university, but what I’ll say is that it’s a pleasure to work alongside a team of dean’s who are so dedicated, innovative, student-centered and collaborative,” added Christy Huynh, dean of students.
Huynh graduated from SUNY Oswego in 1998 and was drawn back to SUNY Oswego “because of the transformative impact it had on my life.”
Huynh began her career at SUNY Oswego in 2002 supporting students in connecting with the local, national and global communities through service.
She was co-author of two successful applications that awarded SUNY Oswego the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification.
“I was working on my master’s degree when I had the opportunity to do a research project in one of my classes on how to best support undeclared students,” she said. “This opportunity led me to a new position in the Student Advisement Center in 2007 which evolved into a role in Career Services where I worked for many years providing academic advisement and career coaching for students exploring majors and careers.”
In February 2021, she received an invitation from the vice president for student affairs, to take on the role of dean of students on an interim basis. She officially became the dean of students in November 2021 and assistant vice president in 2023.
“As a two-time alumna of SUNY Oswego, earning my Master of Science in counseling services and Bachelor of Arts in psychology, I am honored and humbled every day to serve in this role and to be able to collaborate with students, faculty, staff and administration to create an environment where every single student can thrive. I see my role as an advocate, a listener and a catalyst for holistically supporting student well-being and responding to the diverse needs of all our students,” she said.
She earned the President’s Award for Excellence in Professional Staff Service in 2012; the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Professional Service in 2017; and the Oswego Alumni Association’s Community Service Award in 2019.
is dean of the College of Education, Health and Human Services.
A school psychologist, she joined the counseling and psychological services department in the College of Education, Health and Human Services (then School of Education), as an assistant professor in 2012.
“In that position, I had the unique opportunity to work exclusively with graduate students pursing degrees in school psychology, school counseling and mental health counseling. As was my experience as a graduate student, I recognized that campus policies weren’t always aligned to the needs of adult learners,” she said. “As I moved through the tenure and promotion process, an internal call for an associate dean for graduate studies landed in my inbox and changed my professional work in ways I couldn’t have imagined.
“Working with Graduate Dean Kristen Eichhorn from 2018-21, I was able to broaden my understanding of institutional policies and decision-making, grow my connections in the community of graduate leaders and launch meaningful changes to improve the quality of the student experience for SUNY Oswego graduate students.”
When the previous School of Education Dean Pamela Michel retired in the summer of 2021, she encouraged Laura Spenceley to step into the role as interim dean while a national search was conducted.
“Though I hadn’t previously aspired to tackle such an important role, the chance to return home to the college that had been so instrumental in my development as a faculty and leader was one I couldn’t pass on,” she said. “I said yes, rolled up my sleeves and invested in learning all that I could about the work of our faculty, staff and partners to execute our mission while also working to solve the challenges in preparing future educators, helping professionals and community leaders in technology and health management. I was named dean following a national search in June 2022.”
In this role, she supports the recruitment, development and evaluation of faculty and staff in the College of Education, Health and Human Services; oversees the implementation of programs within the School of Education; and works with department chairs, faculty and staff to develop new programs and improve existing programs.
Higher education, like any sector, isn’t a monolith; each campus brings its own unique culture, climate and workforce to tackle the challenges and opportunities of their community, according to Spenceley.
“That said, there are absolutely patterns that support the idea that those of us who identify as women may not be represented in leadership positions in a way that’s consistent with the enrollment of our institution. For example, women tend to be represented in deanships that focus on nursing, the helping professions, education and student affairs, while there tend to be fewer of us representing the sciences, business, engineering and technology,” she said. “On campus where our female dean team represents each of the areas mentioned above, SUNY Oswego is absolutely setting the stage toward a more representative and inclusive community in which students see themselves represented in the spaces in which we are historically underrepresented.”
She has also served as a member of the faculty, teaching as an assistant professor and associate professor in the counseling and psychological services department.
Spenceley’s research interests include mechanisms to improve the validity of psychoeducational evaluations and academic accommodations for students with disabilities. She received a Doctor of Philosophy in school psychology from Syracuse University, a Master of Arts in clinical psychology from Ball State University and her Bachelor of Science degree in psychologys from Western Michigan University.
In 2015 Jennifer L. Knapp became associate dean for the then-School of Communication, Media and the Arts after having served as department chair for Communication Studies. Her primary job duties have revolved around the creation, maintenance and adherence to academic policy.
She has nearly 20 years of administrative experience at SUNY Oswego and has led and participated in key initiatives for the university since her arrival in 2008. In 2013, she was named chair of the department of communication studies and has twice served as the interim department chair of theater.
“I served as associate dean under Dr. Julie Pretzat for seven years until the summer of 2022 when Julie returned to faculty and I was appointed interim dean,” she said. “I became the permanent dean in March 2023.
“Serving as an academic dean isn’t something I thought much about as a young faculty member. In fact, when Julie reached out in the spring of 2015 after having been appointed the new dean for School of Communication, Media and the Arts, I thought we were having coffee just so she could get to know me a little bit better since I was a department chair and we would be working much more closely. Turns out it was a job interview and more than 10 years later I’m still in the deans’ office.”
“I’m sure there are national data about the number of women serving in administrative roles in higher education, but it’s not something I know off hand,” she said. “What I can say with certainty, however, is that since I arrived in 2008, Oswego has always had women in significant leadership positions. With [former college president] Deborah Stanley leading the way, that doesn’t surprise me.”
Knapp graduated from Canisius College in 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts in communication studies; West Virginia University in 2001 with an Master of Arts in communication theory and research; and West Virginia University in 2004 with a Doctor of Education in educational psychology with a concentration in instructional communication.
“I had an amazing comm professor at Canisius. She was my inspiration to attend graduate school and become a professor. It wasn’t until I changed my major to communication studies that I found my people and my purpose and that professor [Melissa Wanzer] had everything to do with my decision,” she said. “I loved applying what I was learning inside the classroom to my life outside the classroom and so my goal when teaching is to ignite that same passion in my students. Even as an administrator who spends little time in the classroom these days, it’s still my guiding principle.”
Kristin Croyle serves as the dean of the College of Liberal Arts, Sciences and Engineering where she oversees 16 academic departments that offer more than 50 degrees and certificates. Her focus is ensuring that SUNY Oswego students and faculty are supported and challenged in a learning and working environment that is focused on inclusive excellence.
“I’m a clinical psychologist. I served in Texas as a faculty member and leader at the University of Texas – Rio Grande Valley for 17 years, teaching, working closely with students and faculty, conducting research and developing programs to support students,” she said. “My Texas university had a name change-merger in 2015. It was previously known as the University of Texas-Pan American. Since I was there so long, I worked there under both names.”
When she was ready to move to another university, she looked at universities all across the country that really prioritized serving their communities with a great educational experience.
“SUNY Oswego stands out for our commitment to an excellent education for all of our students and for our commitment to serving the students, families and communities of Central New York,” she said. “It has been an honor to serve as dean at SUNY Oswego since 2019. And it has been a pleasure to join the Oswego community.
“In the many different combinations of institutional leadership that I’ve served with, I’ve never served with a leadership team that is all women. Our deans at SUNY Oswego are a particularly strong and collaborative group. This benefits all of our students and helps us to push the institution forward. It’s a pleasure to serve with these excellent women!”
Jill Pippin leads SUNY Oswego’s Division of Extended Learning and oversees 30 staff that offer a portfolio of undergraduate credit and noncredit programs, a branch campus in Syracuse and professional development. She works collaboratively to extend the university’s academic, workforce development and microcredential programs.
She earned a Bachelor of Arts in communication studies from SUNY Oswego in 1995, a Master of Business Administration from Franklin University in 2001 and a doctorate in executive leadership at St. John Fisher University in 2023, with dissertation research focused on higher education designed for adult learners.
“I came to my position 12 years ago [January 2014]. I had been a dean of continuing education at SUNY Jefferson Community College in Watertown for the preceding nine years. I initially participated in the work of higher education as a student at SUNY Oswego as a volunteer peer advisor in the COMM-In office in the communication studies department. I entered the workforce and held positions in private industry such as estimating coordinator, continuing medical education coordinator, major accounts manager and director of operations — but found my love of higher education for adults and nontraditional students when I began work at Franklin University, an institution that provides only bachelor’s completion and graduate programs for adults. I was director of graduate admissions and enrollment there and eventually I was able to meld my private sector and higher education work as a dean of continuing education at SUNY Jefferson Community College. Experience in these roles and as an adult student instilled in me a passion for granting access to higher education to all levels of the educational ecosystem.”
Pippin is active in professional and community organizations and has established innovative programs for adult and nontraditional students across her career.
“For example, I helped to convert the MBA to an accelerated cohort model at Franklin University, developed the Jefferson Higher Education Center and facilitated significant growth of Jefferson Community College’s expanding military services on Fort Drum. There, I had worked closely with my SUNY Oswego predecessor, Yvonne Petrella, for years in leading the efforts of the SUNY Colleges of the North Country. At SUNY Oswego, I led the creation of the Integrative Professional Studies program, currently SUNY Oswego’s 10th largest undergraduate degree, which was intentionally designed for adults with some college credits but no degree, the expansion of credit awarded for prior learning, the establishment of microcredentials and the expansion of SUNY Oswego’s Syracuse campus — all in the effort to help adults access higher education,” she said. “In 2013, I earned the Continuing Education Association of New York’s Outstanding Continuing Educator Award.
“This is the first institution of higher education that I’ve worked for where the academic leadership team is all female. This is not common in the field. Day to day, our collaborative interaction among the deans, built on trust and respect, has galvanized the creation of great partnerships and program development. We’re lifting each other up and are a powerhouse of action for the betterment of SUNY Oswego’s students, faculty and staff.”
