UCO-Based Educators’ Leadership Academy Celebrates 2025-26 Academic Leadership Fellows Class
March 30, 2026
The University of Central Oklahoma-based Educators’ Leadership Academy (ELA) celebrated 14 higher education professionals from across the state as part of the 2025-26 Academic Leadership Fellows Academy.
Established in 2016, the Academic Leadership Fellows Academy, referred to as the Fellows Academy, provides opportunities for professional growth, mentoring and the building of collaborative networks among educators. The Fellows Academy is facilitated by established leaders in higher education who impart their knowledge based on years of professional experience.
Participants must complete a white paper, an authoritative report focusing on a problem and solution, based on the academy’s core learning concepts: mission and institutional culture, new programs and continuous improvement, institutional effectiveness, accountability and strategic planning and budget. The papers focus on how the participant’s institution might improve its culture, planning and programs, with ideas and/or recommendations for implementing the concept.
Those participating in the 2025-26 Academic Leadership Fellows Academy include:
- Joshua Burns, Ph.D., Arkansas Colleges of Health Education
- Don Crall, Tulsa Community College (TCC)
- Bryan Fulton, Ed.D., Oklahoma City Community College (OCCC)
- Benjamin A. Jimenez, Ph.D., UCO
- Tina Kirk, UCO
- Nina Michalikova, Ph.D., UCO
- David L. Paige, Ph.D., TCC
- William R. Pratt, Ph.D., UCO
- Manoshi Samaraweera, Ph.D., UCO
- Drew Stephenson, UCO
- Arely Vera-Sanchez, Ed.D., OCCC
- Elizabeth F. Waring, Ph.D., Northeastern State University
- Alicia M. Welch, Ph.D., UCO
- Ruth Wilcox Wallace, Ph.D., TCC
The ELA Fellows Academy faculty include:
- Lee Johnson, Ph.D., CPA, University of Toledo, retired
- David Lowry, Ph.D., Oklahoma Christian University
- Luis Montes, Ph.D., UCO
- Lee Anne Paris, Ph.D., UCO
- Janet Smith, Ph.D., Pittsburg State University, retired
The ELA Transformative Leadership Academy advisors and their institutions include:
- Kristi Archuleta, Ed.D., UCO
- Juanita Ortiz, Ph.D., University of Oklahoma
For more information, contact Mary Howard, director of the ELA, at 405-974-5561 or mhoward28@uco.edu.
For more information about ELA’s Academic Leadership Fellows Academy, visit go.uco.edu/ELA-Fellows.
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Cutline: The University of Central Oklahoma-based Educators’ Leadership Academy (ELA) celebrated 14 higher education professionals from across the state as part of the 2025-26 Academic Leadership Fellows Academy. Pictured, front row, left to right, Elizabeth F. Waring, Ph.D., Northeastern State University; Juanita Ortiz, Ph.D., The University of Oklahoma; Kristi Archuleta, Ed.D., UCO; Manoshi Samaraweera, Ph.D., UCO; Arely Vera-Sanchez, Ed.D., Oklahoma City Community College; Joshua Burns, Ph.D., Arkansas Colleges of Health Education; Alicia M. Welch, Ph.D., UCO; Ruth Wilcox Wallace, Ph.D., Tulsa Community College (TCC); back row, left to right, Don Crall, TCC; David L. Paige, Ph.D., TCC; Benjamin A. Jimenez, Ph.D., UCO; Bryan Fulton, Ed.D., OCCC; David Lowry, Ph.D. Oklahoma Christian University; Luis Montes, Ph.D., UCO; William R. Pratt, Ph.D., UCO; Drew Stephenson, UCO; and, Tina Kirk, UCO.
