WASC Staff

WASC Staff

The WASC Staff consists of the President and Executive Director, the Executive Associate Director, two Associate Directors, two Assistant Directors, and two Adjunct Associate Directors (part time) who support the Commissioners, staff committees, and serve as institutional liaisons. In addition to the institutional support staff, there are functional support personnel who assist the directors and the Commission with the everyday functions of WASC.

INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT

Ralph A. Wolff, President and Executive Director of WASC, was appointed in 1996, after serving as Associate Executive Director from 1981–1995. Wolff is responsible for setting goals, priorities, and policy for the Senior College Accrediting Commission. As Executive Director, he coordinated the extensive process leading to the 2001 Handbook of Accreditation. Prior to joining WASC, Wolff was the founder and Director of Planning of the Antioch School of Law, Dean of the Graduate School of Education at Antioch, and a law professor at the University of Dayton. A graduate of Tufts University, Wolff received his JD with honors from the National Law Center at George Washington University.

Teri Cannon, Executive Associate Director, joined WASC on April 1, 2006 after serving as Dean of John F. Kennedy University Law School since February 2003. Teri has more than 25 years’ experience in higher education in California, including serving as Dean of several private law schools and serving as Associate Dean at San Francisco State University. She also has extensive experience in accreditation through her involvement with the American Bar Association. Teri has participated in over 60 visits for the ABA, served in the capacity of an ABA Commissioner, and wrote the first and second editions of ABA Approval: A Reference Manual for Paralegal Educators. Teri brings a host of skills in the area of training to WASC. She has developed materials for and conducted training videos, web seminars, and on-site training. Teri graduated from UCLA with a B.A. in Political Science and completed her J.D. at Loyola Law School.

Richard Winn, Associate Director, was appointed to WASC in 2003. Richard joined the staff after serving as the Assistant Dean for Curriculum at Western University’s College of Medicine. Richard holds an EdD in Educational Leadership from the University of La Verne. In addition to supporting a portfolio of institutions, Richard oversees the Annual Meeting, Commission publications, the eligibility process, and WASC reports to the US Department of Education, CHEA, and granting agencies.

Barbara Wright, Associate Director, a well-known and respected national expert on assessment, has extensive experience in accreditation, serving six years as a member of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges Commission on Institutions of Higher Education. She has experience in a variety of higher education administrative positions, and is a frequent consultant on assessment, general education, foreign language instruction, and faculty development.

Michelle Behr, Assistant Director, joined WASC in August 2007 from Western New Mexico University where she served as Professor of Geography, Chair of Social Sciences, and Facilitator for Outcomes Assessment, and Associate Provost for Academic Initiatives. Over her career there, she completed projects focused on general education, student learning and retention, and faculty governance issues. Michelle has served on a number of accreditation teams for the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association. She spent the 2005-06 academic year as an American Council on Education Fellow. Michelle’s undergraduate degree is from UC Santa Cruz; her master’s and doctoral degrees are from Arizona State University, in Anthropology and Geography, respectively.

Ingrid Walker, Assistant Director, came to WASC in 2007 from the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association, where she served as an Assistant Director and liaison to 180 institutions throughout all processes of institutional review and change. In addition to her background in regional accreditation, Ingrid has 12 years’ experience as an Associate Professor and scholar in American Studies. She brings to her work strong experience in curricular and program development as well as institutional learning. Ingrid graduated with a B.A. in English from Saint Mary’s College of California, and holds a Ph.D. in American Literature from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Robert Benedetti, Adjunct Associate Director, joined the WASC staff in 2002. He is the Executive Director of the Jacoby Center for Community and Regional Studies at the University of the Pacific. He served thirteen years as Dean of the College at Pacific and was faculty and member and Provost of New College in Florida. Benedetti has served on the board of the American Conference of Academic Deans and was president of the Northern California and the Florida Political Science Associations. He also chaired the California Council for the Humanities and the Florida Endowment for the Humanities. Benedetti received his baccalaureate from Amherst College and his masters and doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania.

Richard Giardina, joined the WASC staff as an Adjunct Associate Director in October 2005, after 29 years at San Francisco State University, most recently as Associate Vice President for Academic Planning and Assessment. In that role, he was responsible for coordinating the institution’s “A-level” endeavors: assessment, accountability, accreditation, academic planning, and academic program review. Previous responsibilities included oversight of curriculum, undergraduate studies, graduate education, and international programs. He served as Accreditation Liaison Officer to WASC for 25 of his 29 years at SFSU and coordinated the institution's self-studies in 1981, 1991, and 2001. For WASC, Richard has served as an evaluator on numerous team visits and as a Staff Associate. His academic credentials include a B.A. degree from Fordham University and a Ph.D. in International Politics from Princeton University.