Chancellor Search

Dr. Mark Lausch Biography

Educational Highlights

• Dr. Mark Lausch began his personal education at Trinity Christian College, where he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration and market research with a dual minor in philosophy and ethics. At Northern Illinois University he received his Master of Public Health in Public and Community Health Education. He remained with Northern Illinois University while completing his Doctor of Education, with a focus on instructional design and instructional technology.

Work Experience Highlights

• After receiving his bachelor’s degree in 1981, Dr. Lausch started his own business, Kaiser Logic, an artificial intelligence and relational database software development firm specializing in delivering instructional design solutions services for organizations seeking to improve their academic and learning solutions organization wide.
• During this time, he simultaneously accepted a faculty position with Northern Illinois University where he taught general education courses in health and upper-level courses in Drug Education, Health Program Curriculum Development, Educational Research, and Ethics.
• In 2002 he accepted a position as Coordinator of Instructional Development at the College of DuPage, located in Glen Ellyn, IL. During this time, he also taught courses in Instructional Media.
• In 2005 he accepted a position as Associate Vice President of Instructional Technology at Triton College where he remained for the next year before moving into a role of Director of Education for the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork. After one year, he was promoted to Chief Learning Officer/Chief Credentialing Officer while concurrently serving as the Interim Chief Operating Officer through 2008.
• In 2009 he accepted the position of Dean for the School of Health Education at Madison Area Technical College, located in Madison, WI, where he served 9 ½ years in which he simultaneously taught courses in Health Immersion (credit course) and Project Management (non-credit, workforce development).
• In 2017, along with a colleague, he received the League for Innovation in the Community College “Innovation of the Year” Award for their work on micro-credentials and digital badges.
• In 2018 he was promoted to Associate Vice President, Institutional Learning & Effectiveness. While in this role, Dr Lausch served as the Accreditation Liaison Officer to the Higher Learning Commission and was also responsible for the development of the Center for Health and Wellbeing supporting both students and campus staff, as well as the college-wide “Cupboard” food pantry at all seven campuses.
• In 2020 he accepted the position of Vice President for Academic Affairs at SUNY Nassau Community College, located in Garden City, NY. In this role he served as the Chief Academic Officer and Accreditation Liaison Officer to the Middles States Commission on Higher Education and oversaw all operations relative to the strategic plan and its supporting plans. He significantly expanded Guided Pathways operations infusing it into all student facing and student supporting areas of the college.
• Most recently, Dr. Lausch served as the Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs for Ivy Tech Community College-Indianapolis, the nation’s largest singly accredited statewide community college system serving over 100,000 diverse students and 60,000 dual credit students. The Indianapolis campus is the largest of the Ivy Tech campuses serving over 30,000 students.
• Dr. Lausch is highly active within his community, having served as a Senior Advisory Board Member for the Wisconsin Anti-Poverty Transformation Board, as well as President & State Representative and sitting on the Board of Directors for South Central Wisconsin Area Health Education, and served a 3-year, governor-appointed, term on the Wisconsin Council on Mental Health.

Personal Information

• Mark and his wife Debbie have been married for 30 years and have a son in Chicago, IL, a daughter in Fort Mill, SC, and their youngest daughter in Traverse City, MI.

Dr. Angela McLean, Ed. D Biography

Dr. Angela McLean currently serves in the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education as the Director of American Indian and Minority Achievement and K-12 Partnerships for the Montana University System. She Chairs the Montana University System American Indian and Minority Achievement Council, served as Interim Director of Bitterroot College (2022-23), and has a proven track record of moving the needle in student access and success efforts and workforce development.

Dr. McLean began her teaching career in 1994 in the Arlee, Montana, Public Schools and is a veteran Montana educator who has twenty years in the classroom. During her tenure as teacher, Dr. McLean was recognized nationally by winning the prestigious Milken Award for innovations in the classroom. As a classroom teacher she served on the Montana Board of Public Education and later chaired the Montana University System Board of Regents. Dr. McLean left the classroom when she was appointed to serve as Montana’s 31st Lieutenant Governor and was the second woman in Montana’s history to hold that office.

As a classroom teacher and policy maker, Dr. McLean not only taught dual enrollment for Highlands College in Butte, Montana, but also helped craft many of the policies around Montana’s dual enrollment.  As Regent Chair, McLean helped establish a tuition freeze at all Montana University System campuses and helped shape Montana post-secondary education policy.  Given this wealth of experience, Dr. McLean is uniquely qualified and has the expertise to lead in all levels of education and policy. 

Dr. McLean earned her Doctorate in Education from Montana State University in the Fall 2021, and is married to Helena, Montana, attorney Mike McLean. They have two children; Colin who is 23 and a graduate of the University of Montana and Ellen who is 19 and attends Montana State University.

Margaret Sanchez Biography

 Margaret Sanchez is a dedicated, equity-driven leader who has 24 years of experience serving community colleges. 

Sanchez was appointed as Interim Chancellor for Kauai Community College (KCC) in January of 2023. As interim Chancellor, Sanchez is responsible for leading the development of KCC’s six-year strategic plan which defines the overall vision and direction of the college. 

Before her appointment as Interim Chancellor, Sanchez served as the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs at KCC. Her office was responsible for supporting and developing services to provide access and support to students during their educational journey. Sanchez is a passionate advocate for socio-economic mobility and received funding to develop programs to support students with mental health, food security, emergency funds and childcare access. Sanchez worked in a team to develop onboarding processes and pathways for students transitioning from high school to college and enhanced support for students in their first year at KCC. 

Before joining the KCC leadership team in 2017, Sanchez served as Dean of Matriculation and Assessment at City College of San Francisco. During this time, Sanchez wrote for an innovation in education award that allowed for collaboration among the DOE, local governmental agencies and City College of San Francisco to provide support for local students transitioning from high school to college. Sanchez served as a trainer and steering committee member for Leading from the Middle, a professional development leadership program dedicated to supporting and equipping middle leaders from California Community Colleges. 

Sanchez served as both the Learning Center Director and MESA (Math, Engineering, Science Achievement) Director at Mendocino College for 13 years. As the MESA Director, Sanchez oversaw a student center that provided wrap-around support to first generation students so that they may complete degrees and work in STEM fields. 

Sanchez was a bilingual math/science instructor to high school migrant students for the County of Mendocino in California. She served in the U.S. Peace Corps as a middle school science and English instructor and field education officer in the Southern African country of Botswana. 

Sanchez is passionate about serving the community in which she lives and serves on the boards of KEDB, Lihue Business Association, HI Hopes Kauai and Grow your own Teachers on Kauai. 

Sanchez earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Santa Cruz in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and a Master’s Degree in Education from Sonoma State University. 

Dr. Jeffery A. Thomas Biography

Dr. Thomas is a professional with more than 25 years of experience in community and technical colleges, both as faculty and administration. Dr. Thomas works with college faculty, staff, administrators and students to create opportunities for growth and personal attainment.  He believes in the transformational power of the community college, transformative both for the individual and for the community.  After nearly a decade as a college instructor of history and anthropology, Dr. Thomas took what he learned as a professor and applied it to college administration.  That means understanding the needs of students and of the communities in which we find ourselves and finding ways to match the two.

Dr. Thomas has worked for the students, faculty and staff at Central Carolina Technical College, Community College of Allegheny County, Miami Dade College, Northland Community and Technical College and Northland Pioneer College.  He has participated in the Fulbright Community College Administrator’s Program in Russia, the Aspen Institute Wye Dean’s Seminar, and the Complete College America Convenings and the Predominately Black Community College program.

Dr. Thomas holds a doctorate in history from Texas Tech University, a master’s in history from the University of Texas at Austin and bachelor’s degree in American Studies from Eckerd College.