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Leo West
Executive Officer
The Executive Officer is the principal representative of The Scholar Ship on board the vessel during its semester-long voyages, and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the academic and onboard program as well as the field programs while the vessel is in port. The equivalent position in a land-based university would probably be the Provost or Vice-President or Deputy (or Pro-) Vice Chancellor, depending on the country in which the university is based.
Leo West was originally a chemist, but after completing a Ph.D. in Education in 1975, became a research professor in the area of improving teaching and student learning in higher education. His field of research thereafter changed towards research in the administration and management of higher education, both at the university level and at the system or country level. He has spent periods of time as a visiting research fellow or visiting professor at Cornell University, the University of Maine (both in the USA), the University of Leicester (UK), Khon Kaen University (Thailand), Gothenburg University (Sweden), and the UHA-the Higher Education Board (Sweden). In the late 1980s he was the Counsellor at the National Board of Employment Education and Training (Australia) with special responsibility for Higher Education. He has been involved in projects in higher education in Indonesia, Thailand, Burma, the Philippines, Laos, and Malaysia.
In 1990, Dr. West became part of the Senior Management team at Monash University (Australia) as ProVice Chancellor with, among other things, responsibility for all international operations and the Halls of Residences (dorms). Monash had at that time 50,000 students on five Australian campuses, campuses in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong, and colleges (offering some undergraduate courses, but not full degrees) in Indonesia and Laos. In 1999, Monash had nearly 8000 foreign students of whom 4800 were in Australia and the remainder off-shore. Amoung many other aspects of his role was the task of “internationalizing” the university. It would generally be agreed in Australia that Monash was the most internationalised Australian University in the 1990s. Dr. West also spent significant periods as Deputy Vice Chancellor at Central Queensland University, and as a consultant on higher education reforms in Thailand. His other significant interest has been in Quality Assurance/Accreditation. He has recently resigned from being a Quality Auditor, since its inception, with the Australian Universities' Quality Agency, and has, in recent years, been part of Quality Audit teams in the U.S., Russia, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Dr. West is an inveterate traveller. He has travelled in all the Asian countries from Sri Lanka to China (except North Korea), travelled extensively in North America, including camping trips from New York to Vancouver and from Maine to Miami (twice hiking the Grand Canyon), in Central America, in a number of Middle Eastern countries, and throughout Europe. A goal is Bali to Beijing- overland and sea, but not airplanes. Within Australia, he is lured by the outback and off-the-beaten tracks.
Susan Nickens, Ph.D.
Academic Dean
Susan Nickens has worked in higher education for many years since she began her career at the University of Maryland as an English instructor. After joining University of Maryland University College, she served as head of the English Department, Assistant Dean, Communication, Arts and Humanities and Associate Dean, Academic Affairs, before joining the University of Maryland University College’s program for the U.S. military stationed in Europe and the Middle East. Dr. Nickens held a number of positions within UMUC-Europe including Director of Administration, Academic Director, and Director of Faculty Debelopment.
Returning from Germany in 2002 to accept the position of Associate Dean at Villa Julie College’s School of Graduate and Professional Studies, Dr. Nickens managed curriculum development, faculty development, and the advising office for adult students. Thereafter she served as Director of Academic Services at Mount St. Mary’s Division of Continuing Studies.
Dr. Nickens has received a number of grants for curriculum development, innovative program delivery, and academic support services for students, including an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation grant awarded to University of Maryland University College for development of an online baccalaureate accounting curriculum for which she served as principal investigator. She served as a columnist on higher education for the Frederick News Post, and consulted on instructional design for the FIPSE-sponsored MarylandOnline Quality Matters grant project. and academic program reviews, including the American Council on Education’s Military Installation Voluntary Education Review (MIVER). Dr. Nickens also served as a volunteer teacher at the Frederick County Adult Detention Center.
Dr. Nickens holds a B.A. in English with honors from North Carolina Wesleyan College; M.A. and Ph.D. in English Literature and Language from University of Maryland.
Elizabeth Trousdell, Ph.D.
Administrative Dean
Elizabeth was born in New York, has earned an A.B. in psychology (1975), an MPA in public administration (1979) and an M.A. and Ph.D. (1988) in political science from Indiana University. Dr. Trousdell's dissertation analyzed how Sweden and the United States dealt with industrial restructuring in steel industries; she focused on two case studies exploring steel mill shutdowns in Fagersta, Sweden, and Duquesne, U.S. While at Indiana University, she also designed undergraduate courses for the Independent Studies Center and the political science department.
In August 1988, Dr. Trousdell joined the graduate faculty of Troy University (formerly Troy State University) to teach master's-level courses in public administration in Europe. Troy University had won contracts with the U.S. government to offer graduate courses to U.S. military personnel, their families, and U.S. government employees. Dr. Trousdell taught courses in England, Germany, Spain, Portugal (the Azores), Turkey, and Netherlands. In August 1993, she joined the faculty at University of Maryland University College - Europe. After teaching courses in Italy, England and Germany for 18 months, Dr. Trousdell moved into administration and served in several positions, including: program coordinator for the graduate public administration program, regional director for an increasing number of UMUC-Europe programs in England, Iceland, Belgium, Netherlands, and Germany. She also served as director of undergraduate studies, and director of special projects. The last included responsibilities as primary writer and editor for UMUC-Europe academic publications (Catalogs and military accreditation reports [MIVER]). Dr. Trousdell also worked on the accreditation subcommittee for assessment, which was a chapter in UMUC's Self Study for its recent re-accreditation.
Jennifer Ewald
Director, Port Programs
Ms. Ewald has served in the field of international education for the past 15 years, with an emphasis in project development and management. Beginning her career in international education, Ms. Ewald worked as the Cross-Cultural Trainer at the Centro Cultural Costarricense in Costa Rica. Following her service in Costa Rica, Ms. Ewald worked with Partners for International Education and Training supervising academic and technical training programming for trainees and students from throughout Latin America and the Caribbean region. In 1996 she transitioned from the nonprofit sector to academia, working in both international student services and study abroad programming.
Ms. Ewald served most recently as the Director of the International Center at Saint Louis University. As Director she was responsible for the development and marketing of international initiatives including, study abroad and exchange programming, international recruitment and admissions, as well as the Cyprus Masters program in Special Education.
Her work, both domestically and abroad, has allowed Ms. Ewald to develop international marketing strategies and manage training programs throughout Latin America, Middle East, Southeast Asia and Europe.
Ms. Ewald earned a B.A. in General Studies, cum laude, from the University of Arizona and holds the Masters in Intercultural Management from the School for International Training. Ms. Ewald has presented nationally and internationally at NAFSA and SIETAR; she is a member of the NAFSA trainer corps and is fluent in Spanish.
Alfred Flores, Jr.
Director, Onboard Life
Mr. Flores has spent the last 22 years serving in a variety of capacities with the Division of Student Affairs at Colorado State University located in Fort Collins, Colorado. Since 1990, he has served as the Director of Apartment Life which provides living and learning communities to over 3,000 residents representing more than 80 nations. During his tenure, he conceived and orchestrated the construction of the International House at Colorado State University, which houses 200 international students and serves as the hub for facilitating interactions among those throughout CSU and Fort Collins that want to engage socially in the global corridor.
In his position as the Director of Apartment Life, he was the catalyst in the Division of Student Affairs for programs and services that internationalize the outside-of-classroom experiences for students, faculty and staff. During the last four years of serving in this position, the residents of Apartment Life ranked Apartment Life in the top 1% of University Apartment programs.
Mr. Flores served at CSU as an Equal Opportunity Coordinator for national searches, served as Co-Chair for ACCION to support Latino students, staff and faculty issues, and served as advisor to many student organizations including the Third Culture Diversity Group, Muslim Student Association and the Hispanic Business Student’s Association. Prior to this, he has also served in a wide range of positions including the Assistant Director of Apartment Life, Coordinator of Renter’s Information (a tenant advocacy and education program at CSU), a Soil Conservationist with the USDA, Hall Director and a Resident Assistant at New Mexico State University.
During his formative years, he led a very mobile life, moving every year, with the exception of a four-year stay in Misawa, Japan and two years in Taipei, Taiwan. He has two daughters, Alexa, 13 and Kyra, 7 and is life partner Trina works in medical administration. He has earned a B.S. in Environmental and Resource Economics from New Mexico State University and has completed graduate course work in Student Affairs in Higher Education and Business Administration.
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