Join us for our 10th Anniversary Celebration!

We are thrilled to invite you to celebrate our 10th annual PA-SARA Conference, taking place in-person on Penn State’s main campus on November 20, 2025, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (with an optional round table and networking opportunity until 5:00 p.m.) This is a fantastic opportunity to gather with your colleagues from higher education institutions across Pennsylvania and engage with experts from NC-SARA, PDE, SAN, and SREB. Lunch, non-alcoholic beverages, and snacks will be included in the registration fee.

We welcome everyone interested in learning more about participation in NC-SARA, state authorization, and regulatory and negotiated rulemaking updates to attend.

Mark your calendars now! Additional details will be shared in the coming months.

Are you new to state authorization or NC-SARA?

We recommend checking out our “New to the Field” resources!

New to the Field Resources

Conference Registration: Registration for 2025 will open soon. Space is limited!

Conference Fees: $85.00

Jared Abdirkin – Jared earned his BS degree in Human Development and MS degree in College Student Personnel from the University of Rhode Island. In his professional career to date, he has worked at American River College (Sacramento, CA), Iona College, and the University of Rhode Island, focused on academic affairs, program and college leadership, and admission and retention efforts. Highlights of his work include: maintaining and expanding a strong partnership between CCRI and URI engineering programs to ensure student readiness and seamless transfer; organizing the movement of URI undergraduate engineering classes from fully in person to combinations of in-person; hybrid and remote in the 2020 and 2021 school years; and the stabilization, re-organization, and growth of the Office of Student Life at American River College and the Academic and Student Affairs division of the College of Engineering at URI. Jared started at the New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) in August 2021, primarily focused on SARA as well as serving with a team of Senior Directors to help manage and guide NEBHE internal processes and policies. Jared’s professional passions are in team development and mentorship, process improvement, and intraorganizational communication.

Dr. Rachel Christeson – Rachel serves as Director for Research and Data Analysis at NC-SARA, where she provides strategic work on policy research and general data efforts, assisting NC-SARA’s annual data reporting and analysis work. Rachel also supports the collection, analysis, and reporting of qualitative and quantitative data efforts on a wide-range of projects in support of NC-SARA activities. She has extensive experience with data systems development and a strong understanding of database design, implementation, and utilization.Previously, Rachel was a research associate at the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS), where she helped coordinate data analysis and analytics projects for various state level agencies, the Aspen Institute, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Complete College America, the Lumina Foundation, NC-SARA, and Strada Education Group. She has also served as a Data Analyst with Aurora Public Schools, Director of Institutional Research for the Colorado Community College System, and Assistant Director of Admissions for Data Management at Metropolitan State College of Denver. Rachel holds a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from the University of Northern Colorado; an M.A. in Higher Education Administration from the University of Denver, and a B.S. in Information Technology from Rochester Institute of Technology. Her areas of expertise include qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, program evaluation, college and career readiness policies, community colleges, and P-20 pipeline issues.

Cheryl Dowd – Cheryl directs the activities of State Authorization Network (SAN), including coordination of staff addressing interstate policy and compliance as well as other ancillary compliance issues. Additionally, she serves the overall WCET membership in addressing emerging and special regulatory issues related to digital learning in postsecondary education. Cheryl is a contributing author for a guide book for understanding the legal basis for State and Federal compliance for activities of post-secondary institutions, State Authorization of Colleges and Universities. Cheryl earned her Juris Doctorate from the University of Richmond, master’s degree in Criminal Justice from Bowling Green State University, and bachelor’s degree in Political Science from James Madison University.

Elisa Jaden – Elisa leads SREB’s regional tuition reciprocity programs: the Academic Common Market and the Regional Contract Program. She also leads SREB’s HBCU-MSI Course-Sharing Consortium and serves as director for the SREB region to the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA), for which she follows state and federal higher education regulations and policy related to state authorization and program approval. Elisa works with the SREB SARA Regional Steering Committee to inform and clarify policy changes made at the national level. Elisa joined SREB in 2017, bringing more than 15 years experience in student affairs for multiple sectors of postsecondary education, including at Lincoln College of Technology and the Technical College System of Georgia. Elisa holds a bachelor of arts in communications from the University of Alabama, a master of science in management and leadership from Western Governors University, and an education specialist degree in higher education administration with a concentration in student affairs from Liberty University.

Lynette Kuhn – Lynette most recently served as the Chief for the Division of Higher Education, Access, and Equity at PDE, where she used her 18 years of experience in higher education administration in the oversight of state authorization processes for degree-granting institutions. Previously, Lynette worked as a career school administrator, overseeing the compliance and accreditation of six institutions in three different states. Lynette holds a Master of Education in Higher Education and Bachelor of Arts in Law and Society with an emphasis in labor employment relations, both from Penn State University. She is currently in the process of completing her Doctor of Education degree in Leadership and Administration from Point Park University. Lynette enjoys working with school leaders and regulators to ensure learners have access to and receive quality education.

Jennifer Stone – Jennifer is a Higher Education Associate II with the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE). Jennifer oversees the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA) and is one of the SARA State Portal Entity contacts for PA. Jennifer came to PDE with more than 15 years in higher education and has a diverse background. She began her career as an Instructor and Program Coordinator. Throughout her years in serving students, she has led teams of faculty and staff as a Director of Education, Director of Curriculum and Faculty Development, and Director of Professional Development. Jennifer holds a bachelor’s degree in business with a concentration in management. She lives in Lancaster, PA with her two children where she enjoys watching her daughter play volleyball and her son play baseball.