Tamy Abernathy Director, Policy Coordination Group, OPE Tamy is the director of the Policy Coordination Group (PCG) in the Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE). Tamy worked in PCG since 2020 as a management and program analyst until her promotion in July 2022. Prior to moving to OPE, she worked as a program specialist on the Policy Liaison and Implementation team for the U.S. Department of Education’s office of Federal Student Aid since 2013. While she works with many aspects of Title IV federal student aid in her role at OPE, her team works with the federal loan programs. Tamy began her career as a work-study student at a private college in Tennessee in 1986 and was hired to work in the financial aid office full time upon graduation in 1990. After moving to South Carolina in 1996, she began working at the South Carolina Student Loan Corporation. She also worked at the University of South Carolina and later worked for one of the largest national federal student loan guaranty agencies, TG, until leaving to join the Department.  With a master’s in management from Southern Wesleyan University and a bachelor’s in communication from Lee College, Tamy has dedicated her career to assisting students, parents, and institutions of higher education with understanding and navigating the federal student aid process and federal student loans.

Laurie Beets is currently the Bursar/Director of Student Loans & Debt Management at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater with 30 years of experience in higher education.  She is a CPA and has a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership Studies with a higher education emphasis.   Laurie is also a Certified Fraud Examiner.

Laurie has previously served as a member of the Board of Directors for the Coalition of Higher Education Assistance Organization (COHEAO). She is a graduate of the SACUBO College of Business Management Institute and is a recipient of the OSU Staff Advisory Distinguished Service Award. 

Prior to joining OSU in 1994, Laurie worked in the banking industry and with the Resolution Trust Corporation.

Brett Cassell is the Bursar at the University of Colorado Boulder. Previously, he was the Bursar at the University of New Orleans and served in various roles at the University of Southern Mississippi in the Alumni Association, Bursar’s Office, and the Office of Contract and Grant Accounting. In total, Brett has worked in Higher Education for over 22 years. Brett currently serves on the board for COHEAO, PacWest SFS, AAU Bursar Group, and the Flywire Advisory Board. In his spare time, Brett likes to ski, hike, and spend time with his 7-year old son.

Kristol Flanigan serves as the Senior Director of Student Accounts at Baylor University, where she manages the responsibilities of the Bursar's office, overseeing its operations and designing strategic processes to enhance effectiveness and efficiency. With a career spanning over a decade in higher education, Flanigan embarked on her journey in 2006 at Wayland Baptist University. She has exhibited versatility and dedication throughout her tenure, holding diverse roles across departments such as Admissions, Financial Aid, Veteran Affairs, and Student Accounts. She holds a BBA in Business Administration, a Master's Degree in Education with a Secondary Education concentration, and a Master of Business Administration with a Management concentration, all from Wayland Baptist University.

David has been with Salt Lake Community College in the Accounts Receivable for 13½ years and is currently the Assistant Bursar over Collections. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications, Media Management and Sales from Brigham Young University and a Master of Public Administration from Brigham Young University. David previously worked for Utah Valley University for one year in collections.

Responsibilities: Michelle has been employed with ConServe since 2009, and is the Vice President of Sales. Michelle is responsible for the planning, implementation and strategy of meeting and exceeding revenue targets, while always leading with the values and mission of the Company at the forefront.  Michelle also oversees the training and management of the Sales Team, by supporting overall objectives and achievements, while maintaining quality Client relationships through consistent meetings, performance reviews, always ensuring we are communicating and exceeding our Client’s expectations.

 Experience: Michelle has worked in the Collection Industry for over 20 years.  Michelle’s past experience, and present opportunities, has built a strong foundation for our Clients, and will bring additional partnerships to ConServe in alignment with the company’s mission statement.

 Achievements: Michelle is a member of all industry National and Regional Organizations.  She has participated and presented at numerous conferences on a number of topics.  She held a past position on the Board of Texas BUC$ which helped facilitate Regional Meetings and the Annual Conference.  Michelle’s exposure and involvement has allowed her to create awareness to Clients and prospective Clients on the value of ROI, and demonstrate this by using historical data, along with her extensive background and experience in Collections and Higher Education.     

 Education: Michelle has her bachelors from University of Missouri-Columbia.

Lori S. Hartung is the Regional Sales Executive for ECSI a technology-based solution provider to the Higher Education community.

Ms. Hartung comes to ECSI with more than 30 years of experience in higher education. Before joining ECSI Lori was the Regional Director of Sales for Todd, Bremer & Lawson, a third-party collection agency, and she was the Senior Manager of Government and Industry Relations for University Accounting Service (UAS). Lori serves as the current President of the Coalition of Higher Education Assistance Organization (COHEAO) and is also a member of the Minnesota Collections Network. She currently participates on the Board of both organizations.

ECSI is happy to have Lori share with you her professional superpower - she can take any dull topic and turn it into an exciting presentation. Her personal superpower is making vegetables taste delicious. (bring on the brussel sprouts!)

Lori is a 1989 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with a Bachelor degree in Political Science. She lives in Dousman, Wisconsin with her husband, two dogs, two cats, and 40,000 honey bees.

Maria Livolsi has been with the State University of New York (SUNY) for 34 years, serving as the Director of the SUNY Student Loan Service Center for the past 29 years. Prior to joining SUNY, Maria worked as an accountant in both public and private industry. Maria has a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from Siena College and a Master of Science degree in accounting from the State University of New York at Albany. Maria oversees several federal financial aid programs for 30 SUNY campuses with annual expenditures in excess of $325 million. The majority of the services provided by the Student Loan Service Center pertain to the $80 million revolving loan funds for the Federal Perkins, Health Professions and Nursing student loan programs, which currently contain more than 30,000 active borrower loans. Maria is currently serving on the COHEAO Board of Directors as the Immediate Past President and has served on the COHEAO Board in various roles for the past 16 years.

Denise Ray is the Assistant Director of Student Account Recovery in the Baylor Student Accounts Office with over 10 years of experience in higher education. She began her career at Baylor University as a Financial Aid Counselor before transitioning to the Bursar’s Office, where she worked her way up to her current position in the Student Accounts Office. She also enjoyed working directly with students as an Adjunct English Instructor at a local Community College. Prior to her work in higher education, she thrived for 23 years as a pharmaceutical representative for Pfizer Inc. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Education and a Master’s degree in Education from the University of North Texas, specializing in secondary education with a major in English and a minor in Biology. Known for her energetic and passionate approach, Denise embraces life and change with a positive attitude, and where her job is concerned, consistently seeks ways to enhance operational systems and work closely with her team to improve processes.

Karen is a graduate of Webster University in St. Louis. She has over 30 years of higher education experience. Karen began her career as an Admissions Officer for seven years with Missouri College, working with all aspects of student services. She has been with National Credit Management, servicing colleges and universities, for 23 years. Karen oversees all marketing and sales for NCM, including writing RFPS, maintaining our client base, site visits, and representing NCM at all industry conferences.

As the Legislative Chair, Karen currently serves on the Board of Directors for COHEAO (Coalition of Higher Education Assistance Organizations). Karen also sits on the Texas Higher Education Business Officers (THEBO) and New York State Organization of Bursar and Business Administrators (NYSOBBA) Board of Directors. Karen presents at regional and national industry conferences on Compliance in Higher Education and Identity Theft and represents COHEAO with Legislative and Washington updates.

Gina Santoro is an accomplished professional with over 28 years of experience in the collection industry, particularly with the higher education sector.  Previously serving as a Director of Client Services at a leading third-party collection agency, Gina excelled in fostering strong client relationships and driving exceptional client service. Currently, Gina has taken on the role of Program Manager at ECSI for RecoverySelect, where she has been able to apply her extensive knowledge to help develop innovative and effective solutions that enhance the recovery of institutional past-due debts.  She is passionate about sharing knowledge and insights and is dedicated to empowering institutions to excel and evolve in the ever-changing landscape in the recovery of past-due receivables.

Chris Selmi, AAP, APRP, serves as Executive Vice President of Regulatory Compliance for Wespay, responsible for developing processes and programs designed to facilitate member compliance with payment regulations and industry standards. Chris also serves as the President of Wespay Advisors, Wespay's subsidiary, offering consulting and risk management services in the areas of payments strategy, compliance, process improvement, and treasury management. Prior to joining Wespay in 2012, Chris spent 16 years in the electronic payments organization at Bank of America, his last position as Senior Vice President, Group Operations Manager, Global Payments Operations Compliance and Control.

Sean Steinmarc is a dynamic leader dedicated to making education more accessible for all students. A Wharton graduate, Sean leverages his financial services expertise to drive operational efficiencies through technology. After venturing into education financing, Sean launched an award-winning startup that combined gamification and cause marketing to enhance consumer engagement. Currently, he serves as Chair of the Institutional Loan Task Force and Legislative Co-Chair at COHEAO. As CEO at TFC Tuition, Sean applies his financing, technology, and customer experience skills to provide innovative student financing solutions, ensuring school sustainability and student success.

Holly Sutton is currently the Assistant Controller at the University of Florida, overseeing the Collections team, Student Loan Accounting team, and Accounting and Reporting team. She has 15 years of higher education experience, with 11 of those handling collections in some capacity. She is a first-generation college graduate, and holds an AA from Florida Gateway College, a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Saint Leo University, and an MBA from Liberty University. Holly served in various leadership roles with the Association of Florida Colleges from 2013-2021 and has served on the Florida Association of Bursars and Student Accounting Administrators board of directors since 2018. 

Outside of her office walls at the University of Florida, Holly is a mom to two teenagers.  When she’s not spending her weekends traveling for her daughter’s cheerleading competitions or her nephew’s travel baseball tournaments, she likes to travel for pleasure or just enjoy the outdoors locally. Family is everything to her, and Holly does almost everything with her tribe of 10. 

Kelli Van Cleave is a leading expert in organizational development and training, boasting over 27 years of experience in the ARM Industry. Currently serving as the Director of Education for ACA International and Owner of Athena Tactical Solutions, Kelli has a proven track record of success in creating agile new-hire training programs, as well as improving employee development, engagement, and company culture. Her specialties include sales, persuasion, leadership, and communications and she utilizes the latest innovations in human performance technology to help individuals and teams reach their fullest potential. Holding a Master Certification in Neuro-Linguistic Programming, Kelli's approach is both scientifically grounded and intuitively driven. In her current role and throughout her career, Kelli has worked with clients ranging from small startups to Fortune 100 companies, delivering engaging training programs, facilitating team-building workshops, and giving dynamic presentations.

Joe Weglarz began his tenure at Marist College over 30 years ago as College Bursar. Accounts. In 1999, he was appointed Director of Financial Aid, and was promoted to Executive Director of Student Financial Services in 2006.

As Executive Director, he implemented a “one stop shop” approach by combining student billing, financial aid, and student employment operations. As Executive Director, he manages these operations for the College.

In 2014 and 2024, Joe was selected to participate in Negotiated Rule making and was engaged in negotiations on the proposed regulatory language for the Department of Education.

He serves on the COHEAO Board of Directors as treasurer. In addition, he served as the Vice President of Finance for the Northeast Association of Student Employment Administrators (NEASEA), and was appointed President in 2014. He also served on the NACUBO Student Financial Services Counsel. He currently serves on NYSFAAA Executive council as treasurer. He was appointed to the PAC West board this past year. He has presented at various national and regional conferences on regulatory issues, and student financial services topics; such as college affordability, financial aid and bursar operations.

Lynette graduated from Texas Tech University in 1996. After graduation, she began working at Texas Tech. She began her career in higher education as cashier and moved into several different positions throughout her time at Texas Tech.

In January 2005, she moved to San Angelo and began working at Angelo State University as the Assistant

Bursar. She was the Hazlewood Administrator and worked with the VETS Center to develop and refine processes ensuring both veteran students and the university received proper credit for VA benefits.

Working with these benefits lead her to learn more about each benefit and how it was processed in the Angelo State VETS Center.

In May 2022, she stepped away from higher education and began working with Saint George Consulting as an Education Compliance Survey Specialist. Saint George holds a contract with the Department of Veterans Affairs to conduct VA educational surveys ensuring veterans receive the educational benefits they are entitled to.

Dave Wilber has been with Williams & Fudge since Feb 2005. He has served on the board for the Florida Association of Bursars and Accounting Administrators and also the Ohio Bursars Association. He is a graduate of North Carolina State University and enjoys spending time with his wife Kelley 11 year old son Knox and their Golden Doodle Myrtle.