Dr. Lori Vermeulen has served as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Stockton University since June of 2016. She brings more than 20 years of experience in higher education to her primary responsibility as chief academic officer. In this role, she oversees the work of Stockton’s seven Schools and numerous offices, centers, and institutes that support Stockton’s academic mission.  Serving as a critical member of the institution’s senior leadership team, Dr. Vermeulen provides vision, leadership and strategic planning for the Division of Academic Affairs.  She plays a key role in planning and supporting academic programming for Stockton, including its offerings at its new campus in Atlantic City that is scheduled to open in Fall of 2018.

Dr. Vermeulen joined the Stockton community after serving nine years as Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at West Chester University of Pennsylvania.  Previously, Dr. Vermeulen was employed at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, where she held several administrative and faculty roles, including Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

Prior to entering the world of higher education, Dr. Vermeulen demonstrated her expertise as an experienced chemist in pharmaceuticals, working for industry giants such as Merck Chemical Manufacturing Division and Merck, Sharpe, & Dohme Research Laboratories. She has received various grants in support of her research, has been awarded three patents, and has authored numerous scholarly publications.

Dr. Vermeulen earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in chemistry from Princeton University and holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Scranton.  She is an alumnus of the Higher Education Resources (HERS) program, the American Council on Education’s Chief Academic Officer training, and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities’ Becoming a Provost Academy.  She has served as a consultant and workshop facilitator providing leadership training in higher education and in mindfulness practice. 

As Associate Provost for Strategic Planning, Academic Programming, and Assessment, Carra Leah Hood oversees academic planning and assessment for the Office of the Provost, providing support to the development of new and existing academic programs from start to finish.  In addition, she supervises the academic directors and supports their efforts to provide vision and leadership in executing their missions and serves as liaison between these individuals, units, and the office of the Provost:  Library, Center for Learning Design; Director of Academic Assessment/Academic Assessment Committee; Globalizing the Curriculum Specialist, University Academic Internship Coordinator, Academic Affairs Liaison for Accessibility and Assistive Technology.  Carra also contributes to faculty review for promotion and tenure, facilitates the post tenure review process and manages procedures for electing faculty to Faculty Fellow and center Director positions.

Carra joined the Writing Program faculty in the School of General Studies in 2005.  In her faculty role, Carra coordinated the Writing Minor for six years, chaired the General Studies Committee of the Faculty Senate for three terms, served as course Convener in the School of General Studies for four terms, served on the Faculty Senate as a representative for the School of General Studies, and was a member of the Research and Professional Development Committee since her first year at Stockton.  Carra contributed to the recent Middle States accreditation process as a team member for Standard 7, Institutional Assessment.  She has also performed in a number of roles with professional organizations, including Chair of the Rewards and Recognitions Committee of the Council of Writing Program Administrators, member of the annual conference organizing committee for the Association for Authentic Experiential and Evidence-Based Learning and the Association of American Colleges and Universities General Studies and Assessment meetings, member of the Advisory Council for the Economic Inequality Initiative of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, and Associate with the Association of American Colleges and Universities.

After receiving her undergraduate degree in Africana and Puerto Rican/Latino Studies from Hunter College, The City University of New York, Carra attended Yale University, receiving an M.A. in African Studies and Ph.D. in Comparative Literature.  She has broad, interdisciplinary interests and has presented at conferences and produced scholarship on a variety of academic and administrative topics.  In addition, she writes creatively.

Michelle Craig McDonald is the Chief Officer for Academic Programming, Atlantic City and Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs at Stockton University.  In this capacity, she coordinates Stockton's off-campus instructional sites, including the University's new Atlantic City Academic Center, to ensure their smooth integration with the main campus.  In addition, she oversees the Offices of Research and Sponsored Programs, Office of Continuing Studies, Center for Community Engagement, and Office of Global Engagement, and is the University's Accreditation Liaison Officer to Middle States Commission on Higher Education and other national, regional, state and local agencies in higher education.

Dr. McDonald is also Associate Professor of History in the School of Arts and Humanities, and her research and scholarship has been supported by grants from the Fulbright Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, and the U.S. Department of Education.  Since joining Stockton in 2006, Dr. McDonald has served in a number of administrative capacities, as History Program Coordinator (2012-14), Vice President of Faculty Senate (2013-15), co-chair of the Faculty Senate Task Force on University Status (2012-14), co-chair of the Pan-College Task Fore on University Status (2014), Faculty Administrative Fellow in the Office of the Provost (2014), and Assistant Provost (2015-17).

Dr. McDonald received her Ph.D. in History from the University of Michigan, an M.A. in Museum and American Studies from George Washington University, an M.A. in Liberal Arts from St. John's College, and a B.A. in History from the University of California (Los Angeles).  She was also the Harvard-Newcomen Post-Doctoral Fellow in Business History at the Harvard Business School in 2005, the year before she came to Stockton University.

Tom Grites has served as Director of Academic Advising, Interim Director of Teacher Education, Interim Dean of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Assistant to the Vice President of Academic Affairs, and currently as Assistant Provost for Academic Support in his 40-plus years at Stockton.  He currently has responsibilities for academic orientation programming, First-Year Experience efforts, transfer student initiatives, liaison with the Division of Student Affairs, and various other projects.  He also teaches regularly, primarily a seminar course for new transfer students.

He was one of the founding members of the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) and served as its President for two terms.  He currently serves as a Senior Editor of the NACADA Journal and regularly provides other services to NACADA.

Dr. Grites has written over 50 journal articles, book chapters, and professional reports; he has delivered more than 120 conference presentations; and he has conducted faculty development workshops and academic advising program reviews on over 100 campuses.  He has served on the Absecon Board of Education for over 30 years.

Tom earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Illinois State University and Ph.D. from the University of Maryland.  Both institutions have awarded him distinguished Alumni Awards, and he was inducted into the College of Education Hall of Fame at Illinois State in October 2007.  He was recognized as a Transfer Champion by the National Institute for the Study of Transfer Students in 2015.

John supports the Provost's academic planning initiatives and office operations.  He is the lead staff administering academic appeals and oversees operations for the Academic Honesty Appeals Board.  John coordinates the ceremonial components of Commencement.  He also oversees publishing the University Bulletin annually, reviews and revises academic policies and procedures, and maintains the Academic Affairs website.  Prior to joining the Provost’s staff team in 2014 John worked in the Division of Student Affairs as Director of Student Affairs Operations, Director of Care & Community Standards and Assistant to the Dean of Students. 

Throughout his career John developed a proficiency in conflict resolution as a trained mediator addressing student conflict and conduct concerns at Stockton.  He was instrumental in launching the Behavioral Intervention Team, an interdisciplinary group assembled to assess and intervene on high risk behavior concerns at the University. 

John earned two Master of Arts degrees from Bowling Green State University in College Student Personnel and Counseling.  He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Miami.

Kelly Oquist serves as the Officer for Budget and Accounting for the Division of Academic Affairs.  In this role, she works with the Deans and Budget Unit Managers to identify annual academic program budgetary needs to be submitted to the Provost for approval.  In addition, she develops and implements appropriate budget control mechanisms and financial models. 

Kelly joined the Office of the Provost in April 2016, bringing 15 years of experience working in the Division of Administration and Finance at Stockton University. 

Kelly earned her B.S. degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting from Stockton University. 

Joe joined the Office of the Provost in July of 2017.

As the Executive Assistant to the Provost, Joe is responsible for overseeing the daily operations of the Office of the Provost as well as position control and all personnel processes (new hire, reappointment, etc.) for the Division of Academic Affairs. He also serves as the liaison to the Board of Trustees for Academic Affairs, works with the new program development process, as well assisting the Provost with her day-to-day activities. Prior to working in the Office of the Provost, Joe served in the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs and in the School of Arts and Humanities.

Joe earned his bachelor’s degree in Vocal Music Performance from Stockton University and is completing his Master’s degree in Choral Conducting at Messiah College.

In her position as a Professional Services Specialist, Gail Tracy provides assistance to students in the academic appeals process and acts as an Academic Affairs liaison for Banner data requests and updates. She worked as a proctor in the Testing and Assessment Center at Atlantic Cape Community College before entering Stockton, where she spent two years as a Program Assistant for the Office of Institutional Research.

As a business owner in Cape May County since 2005, Gail worked from home for years while she raised her two children. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Delaware in 1992.