Herndon, VA, August 20, 2009 - The National Student Clearinghouse has appointed Dr. Judith R. James as director of National Collegiate Initiatives. The Clearinghouse, a non-profit organization founded in 1993 in cooperation with the higher education community, acts as the agent for more than 3,300 U.S. postsecondary institutions and more than 1,700 high schools providing them with educational verification and research services. Dr. James joined the Clearinghouse on July 13, 2009.

As director of National Collegiate Initiatives, Dr. James is responsible for promoting the Clearinghouse's postsecondary services to colleges and universities nationwide, with an emphasis on increasing participation in its free degree and enrollment verifications services, DegreeVerify and EnrollmentVerify. As part of her outreach efforts, Dr. James will work with state, regional and national education agencies and associations as well as across administrative and academic areas within individual institutions to increase adoption and awareness of Clearinghouse postsecondary services.

Dr. James will also focus on increasing the number of postsecondary institutions that include additional data elements (e.g., class level, current major, etc.) in the enrollment information they report to the Clearinghouse. Expanding the coverage of additional data elements will enable the Clearinghouse to link secondary and postsecondary data. This in turn will provide the foundation for the groundbreaking initiative that the Clearinghouse announced in February of this year: the development of the first national secondary education research and reporting system. Through the Clearinghouse's new system, for the first time, researchers will be able to accurately track high school graduates' access, persistence and completion rates in postsecondary education nationwide.

"Judith will play a pivotal role in helping the nation's colleges reap the many benefits of the Clearinghouse's unique data collection and reporting capabilities," said Dr. Jeffery M. Tanner, vice president of Higher Education Development, "As importantly, the national expansion of our services will serve as the catalyst to help the Clearinghouse provide the first secondary education research and reporting system in the U.S."

"I am excited about this opportunity to share the many benefits of Clearinghouse participation with new audiences within the educational community," said Dr. James, "and, through the Clearinghouse's newest education research tool, establish a partnership with postsecondary education's administrative and academic members."

Prior to joining the National Student Clearinghouse, Dr. James held executive level positions in higher education at the national, state and campus levels. She served as director of the Office of Urban and Metropolitan Programs in a joint appointment for both the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (A-P-L-U). Dr. James also served as the Executive Director for Statewide Access and Success for the Ohio Board of Regents, Ohio's planning and coordinating agency for higher education; vice president of the Kentucky Community and Technical College system Office, and vice chancellor of Student Services and Special Programs for the California Community College Chancellor's Office. Most recently, Dr. James was the executive director of the Prince George's County Board of Education.

Dr. James has a Doctorate of Education in Higher Education Administration from the University of San Francisco, a Master of Arts in Education and a secondary education teaching credential from Holy Names University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Anthropology and Sociology from Mills College.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL STUDENT CLEARINGHOUSE
The National Student Clearinghouse is the most trusted source for enrollment and degree verification in the U.S. A non-profit organization founded in cooperation with the higher education community in 1993, the Clearinghouse serves as a central repository and single point of contact for the collection and timely exchange of accurate, comprehensive enrollment, degree and certificate records on behalf of participating institutions.

More than 3,300 colleges, enrolling 92% of US college students, participate in the Clearinghouse. Student loan providers, employers, student credit issuers, student health insurance providers, the U.S. Department of Education, and others access the Clearinghouse's registry over 100 million times annually to conduct electronic student record verifications. In addition, the Clearinghouse provides educational research services to both secondary and postsecondary institutions that provide insights on student access, transfer, permanence, and graduation rates.

Most Clearinghouse services are provided to colleges and universities at little or no charge, enabling institutions to redistribute limited staff and budget resources to more important student service efforts. Its services are designed to work for institutions of any size, from those with fewer than 500 students to those with enrollments exceeding 35,000.

Cumulatively, institutions have saved millions of dollars by participating in the Clearinghouse. The success of the Clearinghouse's customer-oriented approach was recognized in a fall 2008 survey of its institutional participants wherein 92% said they would recommend the Clearinghouse to other educational institutions.

Posted 08/21/09 to www.NASFAA.org. Posting of press releases is done as a service to Members and does not imply endorsement or support by NASFAA. NASFAA does not review this information for content or accuracy.