Three New HLC Trustees Elected

May 2026

Three New HLC Trustees Elected

May 2026

Three new trustees have been elected to the HLC governing board by HLC member institutions.

The three who will join HLC on September 1 bring a wide range of knowledge and experience to the board that leads HLC’s work in serving institutions, sets and implements accreditation policy and takes actions related to institutions’ accreditation status.

The new members are:

Laura Borgelt, executive vice chancellor of academic and student affairs, provost and chief academic officer at University of Colorado Anchutz, where she leads fostering of academic mission, works to shape academic strategy and oversees faculty and the student experience. A faculty member, researcher and leader in the university’s School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Borgelt also is an HLC peer reviewer.

Timothy Letzring, senior vice provost for academic affairs and professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Higher Education at the University of Central Florida. Formerly a dean at East Texas A&M University and department chair at University of Mississippi, Letzring is a lawyer, former Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) trustee and member of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation board of directors.

Mautra Staley Jones, president of Oklahoma City Community College. A 2025 Oklahoma Hall of Fame inductee, she serves on the HLC’s Credential Lab Leadership Advisory Board, National Science Foundation’s Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering, and Association of Community College Trustees’ Presidents Advisory Committee. She also is a presidential mentor for the Rutgers University Minority Serving Institutions Aspiring Leaders Program.

The three were elected to four-year terms by HLC member institutions by electronic ballot in April. Three others who had initially been appointed to vacancies – Maj. Gen. Patricia M. Anslow, Eric W. Bolger and Eddie L. Koen – also received four-year terms in the balloting.

The three newcomers will come on board as long-time trustees Jo Blondin, Don Elliman and Noah Finkelstein depart.

“We look forward to welcoming our newest trustees to the board, and would like to thank our departing trustees for all of their time, dedication and commitment,” said HLC President Barbara Gellman-Danley.

With the changes, the HLC Board of Trustees will include 19 members.