AACC Senior Staff 

Dr. Walter G. Bumphus is President and CEO of the American Association of Community Colleges. From 2007 to January 1, 2011, Dr. Bumphus served as a professor in the Community College Leadership Program and as chair of the Department of Educational Administration at the University of Texas at Austin. He also held the A. M. Aikin Regents Endowed Chair in Junior and Community College Education Leadership. He previously served as president of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System (LCTCS) from 2001 to 2007. LCTCS later conferred upon him the title of President Emeritus of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System. From November 2000 to September 2001 he was chancellor of Baton Rouge Community College (BRCC). Prior to joining BRCC, Dr. Bumphus worked in the corporate world serving as President of the Higher Education Division of Voyager Expanded Learning. Six years prior, he served as president of Brookhaven College in Dallas County Community
College District.

Dr. Bumphus holds a B.A. degree in speech communications and a M.A. degree in guidance and counseling from Murray State University, and a Ph.D. in higher education administration from the Community College Leadership Program at The University of Texas at Austin. In 1992, Dr. Bumphus was recognized as a distinguished graduate from both Murray State University and The University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Bumphus holds the distinction of being one of the few leaders in the field of education to receive the National CEO of the Year Award, to chair the AACC Board of Directors, and to receive the AACC National Leadership Award.

Donald Brown is the chief operations and financial officer for the American Association of Community Colleges. He is responsible for all financial and operations support areas. He also staffs the Audit & Finance and Executive Committees of the Board. Brown joined the association in early 2007. His career in accounting and financial management spans more than 35 years. In addition to his public accounting experience, Brown was a vice president in a commercial bank and a savings and loan association in Rochester, NY, both with assets exceeding $5 billion and more than 250 responsibility units. He has also been a controller for a manufacturing and distribution company and was a CFO for a large professional engineering firm.

Prior to accepting his current position, Brown held similar positions in the non-profit sector for more than ten years at the Partnership for New York City in Manhattan and with the EastWest Institute, also headquartered in New York.

David Baime serves as senior vice president for government relations and research for the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC). In this role, he directs the national advocacy efforts for the nation’s close to 1,200 community colleges and their students. Prior to joining AACC, he served as director of education funding for the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. He has also worked as assistant director of government relations for the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Baime has made a number of radio, television, and Web appearances, including on CNN, MSNBC, C-SPAN, and National Public Radio, and is frequently quoted in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Education, and other education publications.

Baime holds a bachelor’s degree from Haverford College and a master’s degree in economics from the London School of Economics.

Norma Kent is senior vice president of communications and advancement for the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), the leading advocacy organization for the nation’s close to 1,200 community colleges and their more than 12 million students. She supervises the association’s news media relations, publications, marketing, corporate program, meetings and advancement/development programs. She works regularly with national news outlets including CNN, PBS (NewsHour with Jim Lehrer), the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, the Associated Press and education trade publications such as The Chronicle of Higher Education and Inside Higher Ed. She routinely provides background information for press coverage about community colleges to both national and regional news media. She interacts regularly via monthly meetings with peers in the six largest presidentially based higher education associations and is the staff liaison for the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations (NCMPR), an AACC affiliated council whose members are public information officers in community colleges throughout the nation. She also has supervisory responsibility for AACC’s Plus 50 Initiative to help community colleges develop or expand programs to serve the 50+ learner in the areas of learning, training or re-training, volunteer, civic or service activities.

In addition to her more than 15 years of service to AACC, Ms. Kent was an executive and principal in marketing/PR agencies in San Diego, Calif., and Jacksonville, Fla. She also worked as a development manager for the San Diego Zoo, where she supervised priority fund-raising campaigns. Immediately prior to joining AACC, she was media relations manager for the seven-college Dallas County Community College District, Texas’ largest undergraduate institution.

Dr. Gail Schwartz is senior vice president for academic, innovation and student success for the American Association of Community Colleges. Schwartz comes to AACC from the U.S. Department of Education, where she has served as senior advisor for community colleges since 2006 within the Office of Vocational and Adult Education. She crafted a vision for the department’s community college outreach and led efforts on student access, completion and retention issues.

She also served as director of the Division of Academic and Technical Education at the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Vocational and Adult Education. She administered the $1.1 billion Carl D. Perkins Career & Technical Education State Grant Program. She also served as the director of the Discretionary Programs and Innovation Group, as director of the New American High Schools Initiative and director of the Office of Correctional Education.

From 1983-1990, Schwartz served as project director and faculty at George Washington University, where she designed graduate-level teacher training curriculum, taught graduate level courses, coordinated interdisciplinary programs and managed federal grants.

She worked as the training and staff development coordinator for the District of Columbia Department of Human Services Youth Services Administration and as diagnostic team coordinator and instructor. She also worked as vocational development coordinator for Prince George’s County Maryland Public Schools.

Schwartz earned a doctorate in education in 1989 and a master of arts degree in special education in 1983 from George Washington University. She earned her bachelor of science degree at Ohio State University.

Dr. James F. McKenney is the vice president of economic development and international programs of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC). He is the primary point of interface between AACC and other public/private organizations, agencies and trade associations that focus on economic and workforce development. Also, he oversees the development of partnerships and collaborative projects with international organizations/agencies as well as U.S.-based organizations. In this capacity, he has guided the development of Memorandum of Understandings (MOU) with community college representative organizations in Denmark, the Netherlands, the UK, Germany, Canada, China, and FAS, the Training & Employment Authority of Ireland. He serves on the board of the American Youth Policy Forum and the board of Higher Education Development, and he serves on numerous ad hoc advisory committees. Additionally, he staffs the AACC Workforce Commission and serves as staff liaison to the following AACC affiliated councils: National Coalition of Advanced Technology Centers, the National Council for Continuing Education and Training, and the National Council for Workforce Education.

McKenney began his involvement with AACC in the Office of College Employer Relations, and soon after served as the assistant vice president for Federal Relations with responsibilities covering the reauthorization of the Carl Perkins Vocational Education Act and the Job Training Partnership Act. During this timeframe, both the Advanced Technological Education program of the National Science Foundation and the Tech-Prep Education Act were authorized and funded.

He received his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland.

Charisse Bazin Ash serves as associate vice president of human resources for the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC). She oversees talent and staffing management, benefits administration, staff development, employee relations, total compensation, performance management, wellness programs, and the development and implementation of human resources policies and procedures. She also serves as the staff liaison to the board’s Committee on Directors. Ash joined the AACC staff in 2001 with 16 years of non-profit human resources management experience.

Ash is designated as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and a Certified Compensation Professional (CCP), and is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management and the Human Resource Association of the National Capital Area. She holds a B.A. in psychology and an M.S. in administration with a human resources concentration.

Kent Phillippe serves as the associate vice president for research and student success where he oversees the association research efforts of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC). These responsibilities include overseeing association surveys, data collection and analysis, and providing formatted data to both internal and external audiences. In addition, he oversees the association’s efforts on the Voluntary Framework of Accountability and the data tool development for the Achieving the Dream initiative. He joined the AACC staff in 1994.

Phillippe serves on many national research advisory boards, including technical review panels that oversee Federal Postsecondary data collection for IPEDS, NPSAS, BPS, and B&B. He serves as the staff liaison for the Commission on Research, Technology, and Emerging trends, as well as liaison for two AACC affiliated councils: the Council for Study of Community Colleges, and the National Community College Council for Research and Planning.

Phillippe earned a master’s degree in clinical and family counseling from Southern Methodist University, a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Hamline University, and earned doctoral credits in the Child and Family Clinical Psychology program at Michigan State University.

Mary E. Heiss is associate vice president of strategic initiatives for the American Association of Community Colleges where she is responsible for developing and implementing efforts related to strategic planning, innovation, partnerships, and revenue-generating activities that support the Association’s mission and priorities.  In this role, she works closely with business, industry, foundations, and common-cause organizations to advance the interests of the nation’s community colleges. 

Prior to joining AACC, Heiss led resource development and communications efforts for two nonprofit organizations.  In addition, she has over 15 years of experience in the corporate sector in roles including management, marketing, sales, and merchandising.          

Alice Blayne-Allard is associate vice president of international programs and services for the American Association of Community Colleges. She is responsible for promoting global awareness and advancing the community college role in global education among key constituencies, nationally and internationally. 

Prior to joining AACC, Blayne-Allard was a foreign affairs officer with the U.S. Department of State for over ten years.  She was coordinator for the U.S. in the G8-Broader Middle East and North Africa Initiative, a multilateral partnership between governments and civil society to advance the progress and development of the Middle East region in the areas of political and economic reform and human development.  She has also served as deputy spokesperson and principal advisor on public affairs for State’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs with responsibility for engaging the press on U.S. foreign policy.   In 2009, she was appointed to the National Security Council as Assistant Press Secretary and Director of Public Affairs where she spearheaded strategic communication efforts across the federal government on specific issues.  She has worked on education reform efforts for the Middle East Partnership Initiative and on public diplomacy and academic exchange activities, including managing the prestigious Fulbright Program, to enhance mutual understanding in the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs.  In 2006, Blayne-Allard was designated a special advisor for international affairs to the U.S. Secretary of Education and worked closely with the U.S. Mission to UNESCO on Education for All goals.  

Prior to joining the State Department in 2000, Blayne-Allard was Assistant Director for International Studies at Goucher College where she was part of the team that launched the college’s strategic plan to become a nationally-recognized international liberal arts college. 

Blayne-Allard holds a Master of Arts degree from American University and has done doctoral work at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Dr. Angel M. Royal is associate vice president of leadership development and board relations for the American Association of Community Colleges. Royal has held professional positions at the community college and university levels, at a system office, with a state coordinating board for higher education, and in private industry. 

Ramsay R. Johnson Jr., CPA serves as associate vice president of finance for the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC). He is responsible for direction, oversight and leadership over the financial support functions including developing the annual operating budget, financial analysis, payroll administration, and compliance reporting with various government agencies. He also staffs the Audit & Finance Committee of the Board. Johnson joined AACC in 2010 with over 15 years of experience in Accounting, Audit and financial reporting.

Johnson is a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA), and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). He holds a B.S. in Business Administration with an Accounting concentration from Bowie State University.

Tavia Cummings is the director of meetings and council relations for the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC). She is responsible for all aspects of the association’s annual convention and several other meetings throughout the year, including AACC Board of Directors meetings. Each year, the annual meeting attracts more than 2,000 attendees with a budget of nearly $1.5 million. She also serves as association secretary to the board. Cummings also manages all aspects of the AACC Presidents Academy Summer Institute, the association’s premier professional development institute for member presidents. She joined AACC in 1994 as the as the board coordinator and served briefly as a meeting planner prior to her current position.

She is a member of the American Society of Association Executives and the Professional Management Convention Association. Cummings holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in advertising from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.