2026 WSU Data Summit: Take the Next Step

Rene Eborn
Associate VP for Information Technology, Administrative Services

Rene Weston Eborn is the Chief Information Officer and Associate Vice President of Information Technology at Weber State University, bringing over 30 years of higher education leadership in digital transformation. Previously the AVP of Digital Transformation at Utah State University, Rene has held executive technology roles at Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) and Western Governors University (WGU), where she pioneered data-driven learning models and enterprise architectures/systems. At SNHU, her application of learning data analytics supported scaling online enrollment from 20,000 to over 100,000 students. An active contributor to national dialogue on AI governance and digital strategy, Rene contributed to the EDUCAUSE 2023 Horizon Report - Student Success and frequently presents on AI-infused learning and IT leadership at forums such as ASU-GSV and EDUCAUSE. She holds a Master’s degree from the University of Wyoming alongside executive certifications from Stanford, MIT, and Harvard, and she was the 2025 Salesforce Changemaker Award in Personalization & Engagement.

Maria Bennett
Data Governance Manager, Student Success Analytics

As Data Governance Manager at Weber State, Maria translates complex data initiatives into actionable, cross-campus operations. By partnering with leadership across the university, she drives strategic data governance planning and fosters a collaborative, inter-departmental culture around data. Maria enjoys helping diverse stakeholders find common ground and facilitating communication between technical and non-technical teams. She brings experience from her roles at the University of Utah, University of Washington, and Intermountain Health as well as institutional knowledge from previous roles at Weber State, including Academic Advisor, Early College Co-Lead, and Data Training Support Specialist. Maria proudly "bleeds purple," holding five degrees from the university, including her recent Master of Data Science.

Shawn Berry
Analytic & Tool Support Specialist, Institutional Effectiveness

Shawn joined Weber State University in January 2024, bringing over a decade of experience as an elementary and middle school educator with a specialization in Mathematics. Having grown up in a military family, she has lived in various locations but considers Alaska and Nebraska as her primary roots. She holds a BA in Music, a BS in Elementary Education, and an MA in Mathematics Education. Shawn is passionate about leveraging data to help others identify patterns and make informed decisions. She enjoys using tools like Excel and Tableau to analyze and make sense of both numeric and non-numeric data.

Sari Byerly
Assistant Vice President for Student Pathways

Dr. Sari Byerly brings over two decades of experience in educational leadership. As Assistant Vice President for Student Pathways at Weber State University, she oversees exploratory and general studies advising, new student orientation, career services, and the university’s early alert system, Starfish. She joined Weber State in Spring 2024 after serving as Assistant Vice President for Access and Opportunity Programs at Idaho State University, where she led initiatives that secured over $30 million in federal funding and expanded college access programs across a 250-mile region.

A first-generation college student with a learning disability, Sari’s path through higher education reflects her belief in access for all learners. She earned a B.S. and M.S. in Psychology from the University of Utah and a Ph.D. in Educational Administration and Leadership from the University of Idaho. Guided by her own experiences, she leads with the conviction that true leadership creates opportunities whose impact endures long after one’s tenure ends.

Matt Christiansen
Director, Developmental Mathematics 

Matt Christiansen is the Director of the Developmental Mathematics Program at Weber State. He joined the program in January 2019 as an adjunct instructor and later a full-time instructor. Matt earned both an MA in Mathematics with a Teaching emphasis and a BA in Mathematics from the University of Northern Colorado. His career has spanned K-12 and higher education as well as leadership positions in educational publishing and educational materials organizations. Matt is a believer in the power of data to unlock opportunities for students and instructors to grow and develop.

Heather Chapman
Senior Director of Data & Analytics, Student Success Analytics

Heather Chapman is the Senior Director for Data & Analytics at Weber State University (WSU). She can read a spreadsheet, scatterplot, or line chart and loves finding ways to make complicated data problems easy for everyone to understand. She has a passion for creating visualizations that tell a good story to people who are afraid of or uncomfortable with all that data. Her team is responsible for providing operational reports, creating visualizations that explore student success, and predictive modeling at WSU. Heather is also responsible for teaching visualization best practices across her institution and for helping with the integration of new data sources into WSU’s data warehouse. Prior to joining WSU, Heather earned a Ph.D. in Experimental and Applied Psychological Sciences, with an emphasis in statistics from Utah State University.

Shane Farver
Director of Special Projects, Marketing and Communications, Division of Online and Continuing Education

Shane D. Farver is the director of special projects, marketing and communications for Weber State University’s Division of Online & Continuing Education (DOCE). His team oversees marketing efforts across online education and professional development programs. As director, Shane has transformed his office’s output from simple asset production into strategic partnership by diving into audience analysis, market evaluation, and campaign analytics. Shane brings over 20 years of experience across journalism, public relations, speechwriting, and marketing. He holds a bachelor’s degree in communication from Weber State University and a master’s degree in mass communication from the University of Utah. Shane believes that data-informed decision-making in marketing can remove a lot of guesswork and create a better understanding of our current and future students.

Jenny Frame
Director, Wildcat Advantage Program & HIEE Implementation

Jenny Frame is the Director of Wildcat Advantage and High Impact Educational Experiences (HIEE) Implementation at Weber State University. She has been at Weber State since October 2013, beginning with the Center for Community Engaged Learning (CCEL), where she worked with nonprofit and government organizations to strengthen partnerships between the university and community.

Jenny has administered Weber State's GivePulse platform since its implementation in 2019 and transitioned to Wildcat Advantage in 2021.

When she isn't working with experiential-learning programs, partnerships, or data, Jenny teaches piano, makes upcycled wool mittens, plays tennis, and has recently been spending a statistically significant amount of her free time playing Mahjong.  

Jocelin Gibson
Associate IT Learning & Development Specialist, IT Learning & Engagement

Jocelin is an associate IT Learning and Development Specialist at Weber State University. Her background includes more than a decade of managing marketing campaigns and providing training for one of Utah’s Extension programs. She applies her expertise in training, program development, and project management to create engaging and accessible learning experiences. Jocelin is passionate about leveraging technology to empower staff and ensure their success within the university environment.

Jennifer Gray
Business Applications Manager, Campus Planning and Construction Group

Jennifer Gray is the Business Applications Manager in Facilities Management. She and her team are the custodians of the university's spatial data. They provide CAD work, floor plans, GIS work, utility mapping, work order management, general classrooms management, and spatial data information to Facilities and the rest of campus. One of her major roles is ensuring the university has accurate records of our buildings, rooms, and space usage to aid others in their reporting efforts. 

Teresa Holt
Director, Center for Community Engaged Learning

Teresa Holt (she/her) is the director for the Center for Community Engaged Learning (CCEL). She has been at Weber State for 19 years as a student-athlete and as a staff member in the Center for Multicultural Excellence, the Center for Diversity and Unity, and CCEL. Her focus has been on student leadership development in community engagement and high-impact programs, centering wellness as a pedagogical tool and providing workshops on community engagement, social action, and reimagining applied learning through curiosity, relational care, and socially responsible practices. She is currently working on her Ph.D. in education, culture, and society at the University of Utah. She holds a master's degree in healthcare administration and a bachelor's degree in health promotion. Teresa has also taught courses in first-year experience, public speaking, social issues in higher education, and organizing for social change.

Stephanie Jaramillo
Assistant Director, Internal Audit

Stephanie has 32 years of experience in accounting and auditing, Stephanie is a seasoned professional who has dedicated 21 years to Weber State University. As the Assistant Director of Internal Audit and a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), she brings specialized expertise to the team, further bolstered by her designations as a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) and a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE). Her deep institutional knowledge is reflected in her service on several university committees, where she helps ensure operational excellence across campus. Stephanie holds a B.S. in Accounting from Weber State University. Outside of work, Stephanie enjoys spending time with her family, traveling and reading.

Drake Mendelson
Program Consultant, Online & Continuing Education

Drake Mendelson is a Program Consultant at Weber State Universty, where he specializes in aligning academic programs with workforce needs. Passionate about creating efficient educational pathways for students, he enjoys playing beach volleyball and serving as an assistant swim coach in his free time. 

Abel Mkina
Director, Controller, Accounting Services

Abel Mkina is the Controller at Weber State University, where he has served in various accounting roles since 2023. He is a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and a Master of Accounting (MAcc) both from Weber State University.

Tara Niekamp
Director, Institutional Effectiveness

Tara Niekamp serves as the Director of Institutional Effectiveness at Weber State University, where she supports academic programs in assessment, program review, and continuous improvement. She brings a background in instructional and learning experience design and has worked at the intersection of learning, assessment, and curriculum improvement. Tara is passionate about helping faculty make assessment and data meaningful, manageable, and useful.
 

Gail Niklason
Executive Director, Institutional Effectiveness

Gail has been with Weber State University for 28+ years in a variety of roles; for the last 15 years in the Office of Institutional Effectiveness. Gail has recently taken on the role of Accreditation Liaison Officer for the institution and is having great fun learning the ins and outs of that responsibility.

Leslie Park
Executive Director of Admissions and Recruitment, Student Access and Success

Leslie Park serves as the Executive Director of Admissions and Recruitment at Weber State University, bringing more than 20 years of experience in higher education leadership, strategic enrollment management, and student success. Throughout her career, she has led university-wide initiatives focused on expanding access, improving student retention and completion, and strengthening the student experience. Her work emphasizes the use of data, collaboration, and innovative approaches to align recruitment, admissions, and student success efforts across the institution. She is passionate about removing institutional barriers and creating pathways that help students succeed from their first interaction with the university through graduation.

Kyle Peterson
IT Learning & Development Specialist, IT Learning & Engagement

Kyle Peterson is one of the Learning and Development Specialists for IT at Weber State University. He's been with the university for over 10 years, serving in his current role for the past 7. He is also a proud alumnus, having earned both a marketing degree and MBA here at Weber. Additionally, he enjoys directing camera work for Weber State football games for both the video board and ESPN+ broadcasts.

His main work focuses on creating "A-ha!" moments for faculty and staff and finding ways to improve outcomes for everyone. He provides training and learning support for various software and tools used on campus, including Adobe, Google, and Zoom, and now new AI tools like Google Gemini, Adobe Firefly, and NotebookLM.

Emily Ragan
Program Advisor, New Student Orientation

Emily Ragan serves as a Program Advisor for New Student Orientation at Weber State University, where she has been guiding incoming students through their college transition for the past four years. Her deep connection to WSU spans a decade, having been part of the Wildcat community as an undergraduate student, a student worker, and now a full-time staff member. Her well-rounded experience across campus gives her a unique, firsthand perspective on student success. Outside of her work at Weber State, Emily stays busy keeping up with her three energetic boys and enjoying time with her family. 

Britnee Ramirez
Associate Director, Student Pathways Initiatives

Britnee Ramirez is the associate director for Student Pathways Initiatives, which encompasses the Starfish Student Success Platform, Bounce Back, and Student Pathways Peer Advising. She also serves as the interim associate director for Student Navigation and Success. She has been with Weber State for 6 years including working as Retention Academic Advisor for the College of Social & Behavioral Sciences. Her 20 year career in higher ed includes academic advising, academic peer coaching leadership, and full-time non-tenure track teaching for courses in developmental reading/academic skills, first-year experience, college-level writing, and academic recovery.

Chaz Steimel
Director, Budget & Institutional Research

Chaz Steimel has been employed at Weber State University for over ten years. Serving initially as an Institutional Analyst and now as the Director of the Budget and Institutional Research office, Chaz helps the university report, understand, and leverage various student retention, persistence and graduation measures. Chaz has assisted in developing several campus reports and dashboards detailing WSU student success.

Chris Thomas
Director, Purchasing Office

Chris Thomas is the Director of Purchasing at Weber State University, where he leads procurement operations, strategic sourcing, and vendor relations for the institution. Bringing over 17 years of specialized experience in public sector acquisition and contract management, Chris excels at driving efficiency and navigating complex procurement landscapes. Prior to joining Weber State, he served as a Division Director for the General Services Administration (GSA), where he oversaw comprehensive contract management initiatives across the nation. He built his foundation in federal procurement during a 13-year tenure as a Contracting Officer for the United States Air Force at Hill AFB. 

Sara Triplett
Associate Director, New Student Orientation

With over eight years at Weber State University, Sara currently serves as the Associate Director of New Student Orientation, where she is dedicated to helping incoming students transition successfully into university life. Prior to her career in higher education, she worked as a professional dancer and character performer at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida—an experience that continues to inspire her engaging and student-centered approach. Her diverse background brings a unique energy and creativity to everything she does.

Mitch Whitfield
Marketing & Analytics Coordinator, Marketing & Communications

Mitch Whitfield serves as the Marketing & Analytics Coordinator for Weber State University within the Marketing & Communications department. He focuses on developing digital marketing strategies to engage prospective students and support university growth. His core work includes optimizing Weber State's web presence through technical SEO and Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) strategies to increase visibility across search engines and AI platforms. Additionally, he analyzes online user behavior using Google's marketing stack, tracks key monthly performance metrics, and produces evergreen video content showcasing university programs and student outcomes. In his free time, he enjoys playing video games, going to the gym, and spending time with his wife and two dogs.