Executive Board Members

Jen Sweet, Ph.D.

DePaul University : Chicago, IL

Dr. Sweet is the Director of Assessment, Center for Teaching & Learning at DePaul University.  Jen has worked in the field of higher education assessment for 15 years.  Jen has a BS in Biology from the University of Wisconsin at River Falls, an MS in Counseling and Student Personnel from Oklahoma State University, and a PhD in Educational Psychology, with a concentration in Measurement, Evaluation, Statistics, and Assessment from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Keith Werosh, Ph.D.

Governors State University : University Park, IL

Dr. Werosh is currently the Director of Assessment and Program Evaluation within the College of Health and Human Services at Governors State University. Keith serves as a pivotal figure in enhancing the quality and effectiveness of academic programs. In this role, he spearheads the assessment and evaluation initiatives across departments and programs within the College. In turn, Keith facilitates the collection, analysis, and interpretation of student data, offering insights that drive continuous improvement. 

Keith previously served City Colleges of Chicago (CCC) as District Director of Assessment and Accreditation. Prior to his post at CCC, Dr. Werosh served as Dean of Accreditation and Institutional Effectiveness at National University of Health Sciences. In this capacity, he helped develop a culture of data-driven decision-making leading to actionable university-wide planning. He regularly presents locally and nationally and consults on topics related to learning science and assessment in higher education.

Keith has served on the Board of the Chicago Area Assessment group first as Co-Chair for Meeting Communications and now Chair, Professional Development since 2016. In 2018, Keith accepted an appointment to serve on the events committee for the Association for the Assessment of Learning in Higher Education (AALHE) working alongside assessment professionals across the country to promote engagement in topical interest groups. Dr. Werosh's research interests include assessment culture and the intersection of organizational psychology and assessment practice in higher education.

D. Scott Tharp, Ph.D.

University of Illinois Chicago : Chicago, IL

Dr. Tharp is a scholar practitioner with over ten years of experience related to diversity and social justice education and assessment and evaluation. Scott currently serves the University of Illinois at Chicago community as Associate Director, Academic Program Review and Assessment within the Office of Programs and Academic Assessment. In this role, he provides strategic oversight for all assessment and evaluation processes within the division and coordinates a university-wide initiative to establish a co-curricular culture of assessment to enhance student learning on campus. He previously served DePaul University as the Assessment Coordinator in Student Affairs, Director for the Center for Intercultural Programs, and Associate Director for the Office of Diversity Education. Prior to working at DePaul, Scott also served Columbia College Chicago as the Program Coordinator in the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs.

Dr. Tharp’s professional passions center on developing and assessing social justice education curriculum. Scott has published scholarly articles in the Journal of Transformative Education, Multicultural Education, Multicultural Perspectives, and the Journal for Critical Thought and Praxis. He has also presented nationally at the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) Conference and the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in American Higher Education (NCORE). Scott also previously served on the National Advisory Board for NCORE from 2014-2017.

Dr. Tharp has a BA in Sociology and Philosophy from Elmhurst College, an MSW in Community Organization from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and a PhD in Curriculum Studies from the University of Illinois at Chicago. 

PAST Board Members

Shannon Milligan, Ph.D.

Dave Naze, Ph.D.

Michael Sukowski

Yanelet Delgado

Kathleen Gorski, Ed.D.

Lena Phelps, Ed.D.

Rebecca Gibbons, Ph.D.

Glenn Hoyle

Jonathan Keiser, Ph.D.

Carol Scheidenhelm, Ph.D.

Paul Trotto, Ph.D.

Steve Damarjian