Our Staff

Leadership

Rebecca Schendel
Rebecca Schendel
Managing Director
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Rebecca Schendel

Rebecca Schendel

Managing Director

Rebecca Schendel studies the impact of higher education on human development in resource-poor contexts, with an emphasis on sub-Saharan Africa. She is particularly interested in teaching and learning within universities, including the role of faculty development initiatives and the links between curricular and pedagogical choices and student success. Rebecca serves as Managing Director of the Center for International Higher Education and is Faculty Coordinator of the MA, dual degree and Certificate programs in International Higher Education.

Prior to her arrival at Boston College, Rebecca was Lecturer in Education and International Development at the UCL Institute of Education (UK). Rebecca has also worked at Orphans of Rwanda (a university scholarship program based in Kigali, Rwanda), in the Study Abroad Office at the University of Maryland-College Park and at the Institute of International Education in Washington, DC.

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Gerardo L. Blanco
Gerardo L. Blanco
Academic Director
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Gerardo L. Blanco

Gerardo L. Blanco

Academic Director

Gerardo L. Blanco is associate professor of Higher Education and academic director of the Center for International Higher Education. His research explores explores the intersections of quality and internationalization in higher education with a focus on accreditation, rankings and international assessments.

His research has been published in leading journals, such as Higher Education, Studies in Higher Education, the Comparative Education Review, and the Review of Higher Education. Gerardo has held leadership roles in the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES), and the Association for the Study of Higher Education's Council for International Higher Education and serves on several advisory and editorial boards. In 2017, he received the "Best Research Article Award" from the Comparative & International Education Society's Higher Education SIG. In 2014 and 2020, his work received honorable mentions from the same organization.


Affiliated Faculty

Chris Glass
Chris Glass
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Chris Glass

Chris Glass

Chris R. Glass, Ph.D. is a Professor of the Practice in the Department of Educational Leadership and Higher Education at Boston College where he leads the Executive Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Higher Education program and serves as an affiliated faculty member in the Center for International Higher Education (CIHE). His research and writing focus on global student mobility, virtual mobility and exchange, as well as equity, inclusion, and sustainability in international higher education.

Faculty Bio

Ellen Hazelkorn
Ellen Hazelkorn
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Ellen Hazelkorn

Ellen Hazelkorn

Ellen Hazelkorn is Joint Managing Partner, BH Associates, and Professor Emeritus, Technological University Dublin (Ireland). Ellen is also a member of the Quality Board for Icelandic Higher Education (2017-), the Commission of the College of the Future (UK, 2019-), the Advisory Board for U-Multirank (EU), and the Advisory Group on Higher Education for Smart Specialisation (EU) and is Joint Editor of Policy Reviews in Higher Education. She is also International Co-Investigator, and member of the Advisory Board and Management Committee, at the Centre for Global Higher Education (CGHE), London.

Ellen worked for almost 20 years experience as Vice President Research and Enterprise, and Founding Dean of the Graduate Research School, (2008-2014), and Vice President and Founding Dean, Faculty of Applied Arts, Dublin Institute of Technology (nowÌý) (1995-2008). During her time at TU Dublin, she founded the Higher Education Policy Research Unit (HEPRU) ().ÌýOver this period, as a member of the Senior Executive Team, she had responsibility for strategic leadership, financial and performance oversight, student affairs, internationalisation, and all aspects of the university. As Dean of the Faculty of Applied Arts, and as Dean of the Graduate Research School, she was responsible for, oversaw and led the development of education and research programmes, and internal quality assurance processes for all apprenticeship, undergraduate, masters and doctoral programmes for all students within the Faculty of Applied Arts and the Graduate Research School.ÌýIn the latter role, Ellen oversaw the development of policies, practices and quality assurance concerning research degrees, evaluation, assessment, supervision, etc.ÌýShe was also actively involved in developing and promoting commercialization, share and promotion of research, knowledge transfer and entrepreneurship training especially for SMEs.

Ellen also served as Policy Advisor to, and board member of, the Higher Education Authority (Ireland)Ìý–Ìý2011-2017, and President of EAIR – the European Society for Higher Education – 2013-2016. She has worked as a higher education policy consultant and specialist with international organisations and governments for over 20 years and regularly undertakes strategic and research evaluations for European and national research/scientific councils and universities.

Ariane de Gayardon
Ariane de Gayardon
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Ariane de Gayardon

Ariane de Gayardon

Ariane de Gayardon is an assistant professor of higher education at the Center for Higher Education Policy Studies (CHEPS) at the University of Twente (Netherlands). Her research focuses on the financing of higher education internationally and its interaction with equity, including topics such as free higher education and student debt. She also works on topics related to internationalization and is the Assistant Editor for the Journal of Studies in International Education.

Prior to her appointment at CHEPS, Ariane was a Senior Research Associate at the Centre for Global Higher Education (CGHE), based at the UCL Institute of Education. She holds a Ph.D. in higher education from Boston College, where she worked at the Center for International Higher Education (CIHE).

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Team

Salina Kopellas
Salina Kopellas
Staff Assistant
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Salina Kopellas

Salina Kopellas

Staff Assistant

Salina KopellasÌýhas been with the Center since its founding. She manages the Center’s grants and database, and facilitates the editing and dissemination ofÌýInternational Higher Education.ÌýPrior to joining the Center, she worked as the administrative secretary to the dean of the Lynch School of Education and Human Development.

Eglis Chacon
Eglis Chacon
Research Assistant
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Eglis Chacon

Eglis Chacon

Research Assistant

Eglis Chacon is a doctoral candidate in the Higher Education program at Boston College. Her research interests include forcibly displaced people and refugees in higher education, international higher education, student mobility and international aid in higher education. Prior to her studies at Boston College, Eglis worked as policy analyst at the UNESCO International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean and as a consultant for the Interamerican Development Bank (BID).

Eglis received her B.Sc. in Economics from Universidad Central de Venezuela (Venezuela) and graduated from the M.Sc. program in Social and Public Policy in Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Spain), and from the M.Sc. in Economic Policy from the University of Birmingham (UK).

Maia Gelashvili
Maia Gelashvili
Research Assistant
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Maia Gelashvili

Maia Gelashvili

Research Assistant

Maia Gelashvili is a doctoral student and research assistant in the Boston College Higher Education program. Her research interests include international higher education focusing on college teaching, assessing student learning, and improving the quality of teaching and learning at universities.

Maia received a master's degree in Higher Education from Columbia University, Teachers College, and her B.A. and M.A. in American Studies at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University.

Siro Pina Cardona
Siro Pina Cardona
Research Assistant
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Siro Pina Cardona

Siro Pina Cardona

Research Assistant

Siro B. Pina Cardona is a doctoral student in the Higher Education program at Boston College. His research interests include international higher education and training, focusing on traditional (physical) and virtual student mobility, the impact of innovative teaching & learning modes, and the role of education and training policies in fostering positive social change for all.

Before his doctoral studies, Siro interned as a student-researcher and data analyst for the International Association of Universities (IAU), the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), and the OECD Center for Skills.

Originally from Spain, Siro received a B.S. in Psychology and a B.S. in Exercise Science with a Minor in Health Education from High Point University, and earned an M.A. in Educational Studies from the University of Cincinnati, while being a student-athlete. He also completed the Erasmus Mundus Double Joint Masters in Research and Innovation in Higher Education (MARIHE).

Ekaterina Minaeva
Ekaterina Minaeva
Research Assistant
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Ekaterina Minaeva

Ekaterina Minaeva

Research Assistant

Ekaterina Minaeva is a doctoral student in the Boston College Higher Education program. Her research interests include international higher education with a focus on international student experiences, student mobility, and virtual internationalization. Prior to her studies at Boston College, Ekaterina worked as an analyst at the Laboratory for University Development, Higher School of Economics, Russia.ÌýÌý

Ekaterina received her B.Sc. in Environmental Engineering from Far Eastern Federal University (Russia), Graduate Diploma in International Development from University College Dublin (Ireland), and graduated from Erasmus MARIHE program (Master in Research and Innovation in Higher Education).ÌýÌý

Bingran Zeng
Bingran Zeng
Research Assistant
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Bingran Zeng

Bingran Zeng

Research Assistant

Bingran Zeng is a doctoral student in the Higher Education program at Boston College. Her research interests are international and comparative higher education, higher education in the global south, and international higher education partnership.

Bingran grew up in Shenzhen, China. She received a B.S. in Human and Organizational Development and a B.S. in Second Language Studies from Vanderbilt University. She also completed an Ed.M. in International Education Policy at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.Ìý

Nathaniel Annor-Gyimah
Nathaniel Annor-Gyimah
Graduate Assistant
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Nathaniel Annor-Gyimah

Nathaniel Annor-Gyimah

Graduate Assistant

Nathaniel Annor-Gyimah is a second-year master’s student in International Higher Education at Boston College. In addition to his role at CIHE, Nathaniel has worked as a graduate assistant in the Office of Off-Campus Student Living at Boston College and a graduate intern with the Pre-Collegiate Outreach Programs at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Nathaniel holds a Bachelor of Education in Social Studies from the University of Cape Coast in Ghana. Before his master's studies, he gained valuable experience as a research assistant at the Institute of Education, University of Cape Coast.

Father Chinh Tran
Father Chinh Tran
Graduate Assistant
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Father Chinh Tran

Father Chinh Tran

Graduate Assistant

Father Chinh Tran is a first-year master's student in Higher Education at Boston College. He is also an ordained Jesuit priest in his native Vietnam, where he has taught and worked with university students through the St. Joseph Jesuit Scholasticate. Chinh holds a B.A. in InternationalÌýRelations from the Hochiminh City University of Foreign Languages and Information Technology, a B.A. in Sacred Theology from the Loyola School of Theology and an M.A. in Theological Studies from the Ateneo de Manila University.