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Behind the Screen:

Digital Leadership Strategies for New Campus Leaders

NASPA Western Regional Conference

Resources from

Behind the Screen:

Digital Leadership Strategies for New Campus Leaders

NASPA Western Regional Conference

NASPA WRC Behind the Screen
NASPA WRC Logo

Session Description

The role and expectations of campus executives continue to evolve. The disruption of COVID-19 forced campuses and executives to embrace digital communication platforms at an accelerated rate. At the same time, a significant amount of career changes are afoot, from planned retirements to resignations. As a result, a new generation of campus leaders and professionals are taking on new executive roles. 

This session will teach how a strategic online presence, starting early on with the intent to communicate, connect and build community, is an asset to a future, new, or even current campus executive. This discovery is actively confirmed directly by the panelist featured in this session, along with seven years of research conducted by the session facilitator, which looked at the digital leadership practices of higher ed leaders (Ahlquist, 2020).

Facilitated by Dr. Josie Ahlquist, a digital engagement and leadership scholar, the session will be composed of a community college president, a senior vice president for student affairs, and a vice president of Vice President, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging. Each comes from different institution types and has a unique use of digital communication. Attendees will have the opportunity to interact with the panelist in a Q&A format and before and after the session via Twitter. Finally, all attendees will be invited to join a digital community called The Connected Exec Community that supports current and aspiring campus executives who want to engage with their campus communities by utilizing social media genuinely.

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Meet the Presenters

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Kawanna Leggett, Senior Vice President for Student Affairs, Loyola Marymount University

Kawanna Leggett

Mike Munoz

Tricia Brand, Vice President, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging, California College of the Arts

Tricia Brand

Dr. Josie Ahlquist

Josie has two decades working in higher education, with the last eight years focused on educating, researching, and writing about building digital communities and the empowerment of digital leadership. Learn more about Josie’s experience and passion, as well as her research, consulting, speaking, publications, and much more!

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Learn more about how Josie supports Student Affairs Marketing and Communications

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Kawanna Leggett

Senior Vice President for Student Affairs, Loyola Marymount University

Kawanna Leggett, Ed.D., senior vice president for Student Affairs, is an accomplished, justice-oriented student development leader whose background as a student advocate resonates with LMU’s mission to elevate the LMU student experience and inspire the community. She oversees Campus Recreation and Student Facilities, Ethnic and Intercultural Services, LMU CARES, Off Campus Student Life, the Office for International Students and Scholars, the Office of Student Conduct and Community Responsibility, the Pam Rector Center for Service and Action, Recovery, Student Employment Services, Student Health Services, Student Housing, Student Leadership and Development, Student Psychological Services, and Student Success.

She is the former associate vice chancellor of Student Affairs at Washington University in St. Louis, where she was responsible for a budget of $54 million, housing for 5,300 students, and management of 41 central staff employees, 70 housekeepers, and over 150 student staff. Prior to that, she served as interim associate vice chancellor for Student Transition and Engagement and dean of students. While SVP Leggett’s background within student affairs is comprehensive, her credentials also reveal her commitments to collaborating with academic colleagues as part of an integrated approach to delivering the student experience.

SVP Leggett earned her Doctor of Education degree from the University of Missouri–St. Louis, her master’s degree in higher education administration from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, and her bachelor’s degree in political science from Clemson University in South Carolina. SVP Leggett embraces collaboration with student development colleagues through her service in regional and national professional organizations. She has also presented on a variety of topics ranging from the first-year student experience to crisis management. 

In a volunteer capacity, SVP Leggett has a wide range of association work. In January 2019, she began a three-year term to the executive board of the Association of College and University Housing Officers – International (ACUHO-I), as the workforce development director. 

Outside of her professional pursuits, SVP Leggett enjoys music, professional and collegiate sports, running, traveling, spending time with family, and coaching youth track.

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Mike Munoz

Long Beach City College Superintendent-President

Dr. Mike Muñoz is the chief executive officer of the district and oversees the Long Beach City College (LBCC) administration. He is an expert in closing racial equity gaps for students of color, creating inclusive campus cultures for LGBTQIA+ students, and efficiently executing innovative change that makes LBCC a destination college for students from all backgrounds.

A first-generation college student, Dr. Muñoz is a product of the California Community College system, attending East Los Angeles College and Fullerton College before transferring to the University of California, Irvine, where he received his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Social Behavior. He received Master of Arts degree in Counseling and his Doctorate of Education with a specialization in Community College Leadership, from California State University, Long Beach.

While attending college, he experienced both food and housing insecurity — all while caring for his daughter as a single father. Dr. Muñoz has extensive experience teaching both at the undergraduate and graduate levels in counseling and higher education.

Dr. Muñoz was recognized as an Outstanding Faculty Member in 2019 by USC’s Rossier Student Organization, and the 2018 Dr. Cynthia S. Johnson Award from CSULB for his contributions to higher education through exceptional student mentoring. The Los Angeles Times honored Dr. Muñoz by including him in their “L.A. Influential” list in 2024, recognizing him as a “College champion of marginalized students.

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Tricia Brand

Vice President, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging, California College of the Arts

Tricia Brand is a higher education, student success, and equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) professional at the executive level. She is the inaugural VP of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging at California College of the Arts.

Brand leads and informs the strategic discussion advancing DEIB activities and values across the institution. She empowers the CCA community to implement meaningful and impactful change while fostering a sense of trust, transparency, and openness. Brand believes in social transformation through narrative change, but also designing for equity. She’s led teams, divisions and initiatives at large flagship research universities, small private liberal arts colleges, and community colleges.

A champion for college access and achievement, inclusion and belonging, Brand has led student retention strategies with a focus on student engagement and student-centered approaches to learning, support services, and leadership development. She’s taken a deeper dive in topics such as higher ed policy and research, social justice in education, community-based research, institutional planning and assessment, digital identity and media literacy.

Brand holds an EdM in educational psychology from Rutgers University and an AB in psychology and educational foundations from Washington University in St. Louis.

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Rebekah Tilley

Assistant Vice President, University of Iowa Center for Advancement

Rebekah Tilley is the assistant vice president of communication and marketing for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement (UICA). In that role she supports fundraising and alumni engagement efforts for the university, including its CASE Gold winning Iowa Magazine, and serves UICA in a variety of strategic communication efforts.

Previously she was the director of strategic communication for the University of Iowa Tippie College of Business, and the director of communication for the University of Kentucky College of Law. She is a Kentucky native and a proud alum of the University of Kentucky.

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