Staff Liaisons

HLC assigns each member college or university a staff liaison, who serves as the institution‘s primary contact. Staff liaisons advise institutions about HLC’s policies and procedures and help coordinate the peer review and decision-making process.

An institution’s Accreditation Liaison Officer should contact the staff liaison with questions related to the institution’s status with HLC and any accreditation process. Staff liaisons are available by email or phone, and institutions may invite their liaison to visit their campus to discuss more substantive issues related to accreditation.

Tom Bordenkircher

Tom Bordenkircher

Vice President of Accreditation Relations

Tom Bordenkircher, vice president of accreditation relations, has experience in P–12 public education, higher education, county and state government policy and leadership, national foundation leadership, and specialized accreditation. Prior to coming to HLC, Tom was senior consultant and state director for the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation’s STEM Teaching Fellowship Program. In Ohio, he was the Associate Vice Chancellor for the state Board of Regents, where he oversaw higher education program approval and the development of a statewide accountability system for educator preparation programs.

His higher education experience also includes roles as professor of education, chair, director, and associate and interim dean. Prior to his work in higher education, Tom began his career as a teacher of young children with severe disabilities. His professional interests continue to center around research and policy work for young children, especially those experiencing learning and reading difficulties. Dr. Bordenkircher holds B.S., M.Ed. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Pittsburgh.

Stephanie Brzuzy

Stephanie Brzuzy

Vice President of Accreditation Relations

Stephanie Brzuzy joined HLC as vice president of accreditation relations in 2013. Dr. Brzuzy is active in projects to better understand how non-financial indicators impact institutions of higher education.

Before joining HLC, Dr. Brzuzy was professor of social work at Aurora University. She has served in numerous administrative capacities, most recently as director of the School of Social Work at Aurora University. She also served as chair of the Department of Social Work at Xavier University and associate director of the School of Social Work at Arizona State University.

Dr. Brzuzy earned a Ph.D. from The Ohio State University and has published works on vulnerable populations in the social welfare state, gender identity and teaching in social work. She continues to do research on transgender identities and social policy activism in the United States.

Andrew Lootens-White

Andrew Lootens-White

Vice President of Accreditation Relations

Andrew Lootens-White joined HLC in 2007 and has served in several capacities, including as HLC’s chief operating officer from 2013 to 2020. Today as vice president for accreditation relations, Dr. Lootens-White is the HLC staff liaison to over 100 colleges and universities and co-leads HLC’s support of institutions seeking accreditation through Eligibility, Candidacy, and the Accelerated Process for Seeking Accreditation. In addition, he is significantly involved in work related to HLC’s policy development, strategic plan, online Assurance System, and Annual Conference program. In his work, he encourages colleges and universities to mobilize the efforts of faculty, staff, and students to accomplish collectively valued goals—a vital concept in both higher education and accreditation spheres.

Dr. Lootens-White previously worked as the director of academic technology and a writing-across-the-curriculum faculty liaison at the University of Missouri. He also has served in a state-wide academic affairs role at the Missouri Department of Higher Education. He earned a B.S. in Secondary Education, English Education, a M.Ed. in Secondary Education, Language Arts, and a Ph.D. in Instructional Theory and Practice from the University of Missouri.

John Marr

John Marr

Vice President of Accreditation Relations

John Marr joined HLC as vice president of accreditation relations in 2018. Dr. Marr brings over 30 years of administration, teaching, consulting and board governance experience from a broad cross-section of higher education institutions.

Dr. Marr has held student development and academic administrative positions at Clark State and Columbus State Community Colleges. He served as secretary of the university and executive assistant to the president at Wittenberg University, and dean of academic affairs for the Eastern Campus of Cuyahoga Community College. Dr. Marr has served on the boards of Trinity Lutheran Seminary and Kendall College and has extensive adjunct teaching experience with The Ohio State University, Antioch University Midwest and Ferris State University. Dr. Marr is also an experienced former HLC peer review team chair and a former member of the Institutional Actions Council. Dr. Marr holds a B.A. from Wittenberg University, an M.S. from Wright State University, and a Ph.D. in Educational Administration from The Ohio State University.

Karen J. Solomon

Karen J. Solomon

Vice President and Chief Transformation Officer

Karen J. Solomon joined HLC in 2003. Since 2016, she has been leading HLC’s future-focused grant initiatives on innovation and student success.

Dr. Solomon serves as a public representative for the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) and is a past chair of the WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies (WCET) Executive Council. She served as a reviewer of good practices for INQAAHE and has been a consultant, presenter and peer reviewer for developing international accrediting agencies.

Previously, Dr. Solomon was the founding Executive Director of Illinois Campus Compact and served in various roles at ACT, Inc., Benedictine University, and Northern Illinois University. She holds an Ed.D. in Adult and Continuing Education from Northern Illinois University with a focus on adult learners and educational technology, a M.B.A. from Benedictine University and a B.A. from North Central College.

Jamie Stanesa

Jamie Stanesa

Vice President of Accreditation Relations

Jamie Stanesa has served at HLC since 2013. As the Peer Corps director and then vice president of member education and Peer Corps service, Stanesa oversaw recruitment, training, and evaluation for HLC’s peer reviewers as well as educational programs for institutional members. She began serving as an HLC staff liaison in 2020 and was named vice president of accreditation relations in 2022.

Stanesa has more than 30 years’ experience in higher education and nonprofit management. Prior to joining HLC, Stanesa held multiple positions at the University of Chicago, including associate dean in continuing education, where she developed master’s degrees and professional certificates across many disciplines, and associate dean at the School of Social Service Administration, where she led various university and community partnerships. Stanesa’s past experience also includes several years on the executive team at the Greater Chicago Food Depository, where she led the agency’s community development and capacity-building efforts with more than 600 food pantries and soup kitchens in Cook County, and as an independent consultant, providing services to nonprofit organizations in strategic planning, board development, program development and capacity building. Her faculty experience includes several years as an assistant professor at Iowa State University, where her research and teaching focused on 19th-Century American literature and culture.

Stanesa holds a Ph.D. in English from Emory University, an M.A. from Wayne State University, and an A.B. from the University of Michigan.

Linnea A. Stenson

Linnea A. Stenson

Vice President of Accreditation Relations

Linnea A. Stenson joined HLC as vice president of accreditation relations in December 2013 and served as director of the AQIP Pathway from 2015 to 2021. Dr. Stenson brings more than 30 years of higher education experience at a wide range of institutions, affording a broad understanding of higher education. Dr. Stenson was the founding program director of Steven J. Schochet Center for GLBT Studies at the University of Minnesota. From there and for 10 years, Dr. Stenson served as academic dean for liberal arts departments and career programs at Minneapolis Community and Technical College; for five years during this same tenure, Dr. Stenson served as the associate vice president for academic affairs.

A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Augustana College in Rock Island, Dr. Stenson received an M.A. and Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota. She has published a number of articles and presented papers at national conferences, most recently on creative partnerships between community colleges and small liberal arts colleges to support world language learning, and on programs designed for college readiness and retention.

Anthea M. Sweeney

Anthea M. Sweeney

Vice President of Accreditation Relations

Anthea Sweeney joined HLC in 2013 as a Vice President of Accreditation Relations serving a portfolio of institutions. She was promoted in March 2018, served on HLC’s Executive Leadership Team and led the Legal and Regulatory Affairs team until June 2023 before returning to her role as a staff liaison.

Dr. Sweeney previously worked as Assistant Dean for Academics at a law school in North Carolina, where she founded the Academic Success department and worked directly with at-risk students. She spent five years in private law practice in New York, specializing in banking and finance before transitioning to legal education.

Dr. Sweeney holds a B.A., magna cum laude, in Comparative Modern Languages and Political Science and an M.A. in Political Science, both from Long Island University, a J.D., magna cum laude, from Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center and an Ed.D. in Higher Education Leadership and Policy from Peabody College of Education and Human Development at Vanderbilt University.