Dr. McComis serves as the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer for ACCSC, managing the day-to-day operation of the Commission’s Arlington, Virginia office and staff, and overseeing the accreditation process for over 730 institutions. Michale is also responsible for the Commission’s legislative and policy activities and is the liaison with the higher education community.

Michale’s tenure with ACCSC began in 1994 and during that time he has conducted hundreds of on-site evaluations to ACCSC member institutions. He is a frequent speaker at state and national conferences on accreditation and higher education issues as well as accreditation workshops and training seminars.

Michale earned his Bachelor of Arts in History, Master of Education, and Doctor of Education degrees from the University of Virginia, where he serves as an adjunct faculty member teaching graduate courses in education policy. Before attending college and joining ACCSC, Michale earned experience in the trades by working as an electrician’s apprentice and HVAC technician and through his service in the United States Marine Corps.

Robert Johnson has been the Executive Director of the California Association of Private Postsecondary Schools (CAPPS) since 1998. Robert’s responsibilities include representing the CAPPS membership specifically, and generally, the private higher education sector in working with the Governor, State Legislature, and various regulatory bodies such as the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA). He administers the Independent Coalition of Educators Political Action Committee (ICEPAC) and supervises the contract lobbyist employed by CAPPS. He is the principal CAPPS liaison to such agencies as EdFund and the Student Aid Commission. Robert is also responsible for implementing sector capacity building programs, and spends much of his time advising member schools on business, regulatory, accrediting, and legal matters that may affect their institutional readiness.

Before assuming his position as Executive Director of CAPPS, Robert managed public sector economic development and job training programs in California. He worked extensively with local, state, and federal officials on crafting the Job Training Partnership Act and its successor legislation.

Robert has been an active member of the California State Bar Association since 1980 and has practiced law in a number of areas.

Kate is Special Counsel with the Higher Education Practice Group of Cooley LLP. She has been working in higher education for nearly 15 years in operational, legal, regulatory, compliance and governmental affairs capacities. She has developed expertise in accreditation, state licensing, federal Title IV and other relevant state and federal higher education statutes and regulations. Her role also includes assessing and operationalizing new and changing laws and regulations; developing compliance structures, including analysis of existing operations; conducting compliance auditing; and reviewing and developing legislative and other governmental policy.

Kate has served as an institutional representative with the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education Advisory Committee since 2010.

Captain Dean Viana has been in the fire service for over 25 years and currently holds the position of Fire Captain/Paramedic for the Beverly Hills Fire Department.

Captain Dean also has certifications as Fire Chief Officer, Fire Officer, State and County Licensed Paramedic, Urban Search and Rescue, American Heart Association Instructor, and Hazardous Materials expert.

He has been assigned to presidential details for President Obama, President Clinton, President Ford, and Vice President Biden.

As a professional Fire Captain/Paramedic, he responds to emergency medical and fire alarms, trained in fire suppression, fire prevention, public education, participates in community service, and is certified to teach and educate paramedics, emergency medical technicians, firefighters, and educators in fire/medical/disaster emergencies.

Captain Dean started Celebrity CPR in 2004 when he saw the need of educating the public in life saving skills. “After responding to thousands of people during emergency calls and seeing many times that nobody is rendering aid to save a life, I knew that offering private education to families and organizations was extremely important”.

Dr. William Hoover is the Chairperson of Anatomy and Physiology at Bunker Hill Community College in Boston, Massachusetts. He is also the CEO of 529 LLC and co-founder of Tuatara Corporation, educational learning technology companies in Cambridge, MA. In addition, he is an author of digital learning assets, and also authors Adaptive Learning Technologies and Learning Lab Simulators.

For the past 7 years, he has conducted digital pedagogical research under a nationally funded STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) grant. The research focuses on how students most effectively learn, and faculty teach with emerging digital tools. The results of his research have been published in e-Campus News and e-School News.

Dr. Hoover is recognized nationally and internationally for his contributions to Educational Technology. He has been selected to speak on the behalf of administrations at several U.S. Universities and State Board of Regents.

In 2010, he was chosen as one of the 50 individuals across the world to speak in Oxford, England at their annual round-table, discussing the impact of technology in higher education. And, in 2009 he received the Private Industry Council’s “PJ.C. Achiever Award” for helping Boston Inner City High School’s digitally align their curriculum to those of Boston area Colleges, so students could make a successful academic transition.

Michele Deck presents nationally and internationally on innovative teaching methods in the field of health care education and training. She is the recipient of many honors and awards for her creativity, innovation, productivity and exemplary leadership qualities. Honors include ANPD’s prestigious Belinda E. Puetz Award, election to Sigma Theta Tau National Nursing Honor Society, Business Woman of the Year by the National Business Council, and Best Over All Trainer by Creative Training Techniques Companies. She is co-founder and chief executive officer of G.A.M.E.S., a company that specializes in seminars on adult learning and interactive training methods, and Tool Thyme for Trainers, a company which supplies innovative and creative presentation tools for educators worldwide. She has authored twelve books on creative and involving ways to train adults. She is a past president of Lamaze International. She serves on ANPD’s Education committee and was a member of the Editorial board of the Journal for 8 years.

Danielle has over 23 years experience in private sector education and is currently the Vice-President and co-owner of the AMCA. She has a vast array of experience in the Post-Secondary area acting as School Director, Marketing Agent, and Director of Marketing for a certification agency, and is presently a board member for two allied health institutions in New Jersey. She has been published several times, including authoring articles published in September’s CTE magazine and the HealthCareer Connect publication. Danielle has presented at numerous conferences on Digital Badging, and the 21st Century Classroom and is extremely passionate about marketing and branding and the concept of Digital Badging.

I graduated from Cal Poly, Pomona University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Aerospace Engineering. I am a Linux Certified Administrator with experience in software implementations. I am also a licensed Pharmacy Technician.

I have over 18 years of experience in Vocational Education. My experience range from Pharmacy Instructor, Pharmacy Tech Program Director, Director of Education, Director of Career Services, Director of Student Services and now, the Executive Director for the West Covina Campus.

I have 15 years of experience working in the Retail, Inpatient and Home Health Pharmacies. In addition, I was the Project Manager to implement hospital pharmacy software for Creative Computer Applications.

Beylor Meza has over 15 years of experience in private post-secondary education. He started his career in this sector as a faculty member teaching in allied health care programs. Prior to joining SEC, he held various leadership roles in our sector, such as: Program Director, Director of Education, Campus Director, and Campus President. For almost 6 years, Beylor has served as SEC’s Chief Operating Officer and a member of SEC’s Executive Committee. Beylor’s rare mix of business and healthcare training experience have had a important impact on student outcomes, as well as operational effectiveness and efficiency at SEC.

Diane has been an Admissions professional since February 2000, starting off as an Admissions Representative for the first 10 years of her career, then climbed the ladder, being promoted several times.

Diane joined the SEC family in 2016 and is serving the organization as our Regional Director of Admissions!

Nancy Aguillon has over 19 years of experience working in the private post-secondary education sector. She earned her Associate’s Degree in Fashion Merchandise from Brooks College and began her professional journey working in the sector as an Admissions Representative.

Since that time, she has been promoted to lead admissions teams and departments for various college systems. In June of 2015, Nancy joined the SEC family as a Regional Director of Admissions supporting five campuses. In July of 2016, Nancy was then promoted to become SEC’s Corporate Director of Admissions supporting the Admissions vertical and helped Glendale Career College launch SEC’s very first RN program, among other accomplishments.

Brenden has been a Team Member with SEC for over 3 years. His primary role is Technology Integration Specialist, which means he works with staff and faculty on a one-on-one basis to help integrate technology into the classroom! Brenden also works on special projects for SEC, usually IT related, such as OCO training, which is SEC’s clinical management platform for our linear programs. He also trains on StarBoard, (the smart boards installed in every classroom), as well as managing our new Facebook Live initiative. Brenden is also SEC’s Social Media Manager, handling content management on all of our social media channels such as Facebook, Yelp, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Brenden shared this with us recently: “I really enjoy being a part of the SEC family and working together with the staff and faculty in helping to grow this great organization, where we Educate Students for Success!”

Juan Tellez has been with SEC for the two years. He started his career in private sector education, moving up through the ranks in the Admissions vertical. During his tenure with SEC, he has been the Campus Director for North-West College, Long Beach (NWC LB). This campus has been experiencing Quality Growth under Juan’s leadership, highlighted by the 5-Star Yelp rating his campus enjoys! Also, NWC LB is one SEC’s campuses, that continues to get ‘A’ grades, every quarter, during our quarterly benchmarking!