Oklahoma GEAR UP Advisory Board
The Oklahoma GEAR UP Advisory Board is designed to build a bridge of communication, as well as create a forum for innovation and advocacy among higher education, public education, the business community, civic organizations and students. The select education, business and community leaders from across the state on the inaugural advisory board will have an influential role in helping prepare students for college.
Susie Brown
Susie Brown is the director of public information at Tulsa Community College (TCC). For more than 25 years, she has been involved in public relations for nonprofit organizations, of which 17 have been in the higher education community. Brown earned a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from The University of Tulsa and a master's of liberal studies degree from the University of Oklahoma. Brown is past chairperson of the Oklahoma Communicators Council, an advisory board that serves the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, and past president of the Oklahoma College Public Relations Association (OCPRA). In 2007, Brown was named Communicator of the Year by OCPRA.
David Castillo
David Castillo is the executive director of the Greater Oklahoma City Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Along with his position with the Chamber, Castillo is also an elected official on the Oklahoma City Public School Board and is the chair of Learning for Life. He was recently appointed to the Citizens Advisory Board for the Oklahoma City Police Department. Castillo also serves on the Advancement of Hispanic Students in Higher Education Task Force, Integris Southwest Medical Center Board, Schools for Healthy Lifestyles, the Christmas Connection, Vehicles for Families and the State Board of Advisors for the Career Technology Evaluation Department.
A graduate of Classen High School, Castillo attended the University of Central Oklahoma and received his bachelor’s of science degree in education. He was a teacher for 14 years and has been a business owner in Oklahoma City for the past 20 years.
Jered Davidson
Jered Davidson is a freshman at Oklahoma State University (OSU) majoring in agricultural economics. He was recently named to the President’s Honor Roll and is involved in Ag Student Council, President’s Leadership Council, OSU Homecoming, Collegiate 4-H and the Oklahoma 4-H program, where he holds the position of state president and state ambassador. Davidson is also a member of the Oklahoma 4-H Foundation Board and is active with the community of Stillwater through youth tutoring and mentoring programs.
Dr. Jeff Hale
Jeff Hale is currently serving as the associate vice chancellor for administration for the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education. Previously, Hale served as the vice president for enrollment management and marketing, and intercollegiate athletics at Southeastern Oklahoma State University (SOSU). As the senior officer in charge of enrollment management and marketing, Hale led the initiative to open the Academic Advising and Outreach Center, which is designed to provide centralized academic advising for all newly admitted students. Additionally, he initiated the Freshmen Programs office that develops and delivers the programs and services targeted for first-time freshmen. As the athletic director, Hale managed and directed SOSU's sports program, which includes 10 intercollegiate sports under the guidelines of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, Lone Star Conference. Prior to his service at SOSU, Hale served as an administrator in the division of student affairs at the University of Oklahoma from 1991-2000.
Hale has served in public education, both at the K-12 and university level, since 1983 and has been recognized with numerous awards for his service. He is very active in civic projects and previously served as chairperson of the Durant Community Facilities Authority, which is overseeing the design, planning and construction of athletic facilities totaling $20 million in Durant.
Dr. Robert Howard
Currently a chemistry professor with The University of Tulsa (TU), Robert Howard has served in various capacities with TU, including associate graduate dean and associate director of research and chairman of the chemistry department. He received his bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and physics from Cornell College in Iowa in 1969 and his doctorate in chemical physics from Indiana University in 1975. Howard also earned a National Science Foundation Energy-Related Postdoctoral Fellow from the University of California, Berkeley.
Howard has voluntarily committed his time as the principal investigator of the Oklahoma Teacher Education Collaborative, a program funded by the National Science Foundation to improve education of science and mathematics teachers. For his professional service and accomplishment, he was given the Champion for Student Success Award from the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education in 2003 and recognized as the Oklahoma Chemist of the Year in 2000 by the five Oklahoma sections of the American Chemical Society in recognition of professional service and accomplishment.
Dr. Phyllis Hudecki
Phyllis Hudecki is executive director of the Oklahoma Business and Education Coalition (OBEC). A native of Morris, Hudecki has more than 30 years of experience in many facets of education. She currently directs the work of OBEC, a large business-led coalition established in June of 2000. The coalition, supported by CEOs from 27 of the state’s leading businesses, has developed an agenda to improve and strengthen education in Oklahoma. This includes work on benchmarking state curriculum standards against the best international and best among the states, reviewing the alignment of state tests, cross walking of high school curriculum standards with ACT Standards of Transition, and evaluating the state’s education accountability policy.
Prior to assuming her role with OBEC, Hudecki spent nine years at the University of California, Berkeley where she was associate director of the National Center for Research in Vocational Education. During this time, she also served as a co-chair of a teaching standards development committee and a field consultant to the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Hudecki’s background includes positions with the Iowa, Missouri and Massachusetts state departments of education and the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C. She started her career as a teacher in Norwich, Conn., and gained experience in school administration as an assistant principal at a technical high school in Kansas City, Miss.
J.P. Johnson
J.P. Johnson is the former director of early college awareness at Oklahoma City Community College (OCCC). She has also served as director of the International Science and Engineering Oklahoma City Regional Science Fair, Oklahoma Tournament of Academic Champions, and Oklahoma City History Day competitions. She acted as liaison for Pathways Middle College High School, supervised America Counts/Reads and GEAR UP coordinators, and co-sponsored the Hispanic Organization to Promote Education (HOPE) club for OCCC students. She has provided leadership for concurrent enrollment programming in eight area high schools. Johnson teaches OCCC college-level English courses to qualified concurrent enrollment students in the Oklahoma City Public Schools.
Kim Sims Kohler
Kim Sims Kohler is the special projects director for the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association (OIPA). At OIPA, Kohler coordinates the Oilfield Workers’ Initiative, commonly known as www.oilfieldjobsok.com, which helps link workers with employers in the oil and gas industry through job fairs, a Web site and media efforts. She also implements and organizes the OIPA safety program, which offers free safety trainings to the industry and coordinates the Mid-Continent Coalbed Methane Forum luncheons and events. Prior to joining OIPA, Kohler worked as corporate relations representative for International Distribution Systems to secure corporate donations for nonprofit organizations working both in the United States as well as abroad.
Rick Loggins
Rick Loggins is currently serving as the superintendent of Barnsdall Public Schools. Prior to pursing his dream of becoming a teacher, Loggins was employed full time with Phillips Petroleum while working to earn an associate degree from Rogers State University and a bachelor’s degree in management from Langston University. In 2001, Loggins received a master’s degree in educational leadership from Southern Nazarene University and holds teaching certification in vocational business education as well as certification for secondary principal and superintendent.
Dr. Belinda McCharen
Belinda McCharen is the Francis Tuttle Endowed Chair for Occupational Education Studies at Oklahoma State University. She is an educator, researcher and grant writer in the fields of career and technical education, career development and workforce education.
McCharen was formerly the associate state director for Career and Support Services at the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education. She is a member of the Governor’s Workforce and Economic Development Council, and as such is active on the Workforce Solutions Staff Committee, Career Management System and the Industry Clusters Implementation Team. McCharen has received the Outstanding Educator award from the Association for Career and Technical Education, the President’s Award from the Oklahoma Association for Minorities in Career and Technical Education and the Arch Alexander Award for outstanding career contributions to Oklahoma career and technology education.
Her research interests include female success in pre-engineering, career development, the role of career and technology education in motivating students to pursue higher education and integration of academics in career and technology education.
Tina Peña
Lima, Peru native Tina Peña is the host of "Temas en Tulsa," a television program produced in Spanish that covers current events and topics of importance to Spanish-speaking viewers. She is also the coordinator of the metro campus Tulsa Community College Spanish program where she leads a Spanish interpreting program and a Spanish service-learning class to reach out to the Hispanic community through her Spanish-language students. Along with the GEAR UP Advisory Board, Peña also serves on the Advancement of Hispanic Students in Higher Education Task Force.
Rick Peters
Rick Peters is superintendent of the Springer School District. He received a bachelor’s degree from Oral Roberts University and later a master’s degree in educational administration from Oklahoma State University. Peters previously served Poteau Public Schools as deputy superintendent for five years and as building principal in Pawhuska for 11 years. Peters has written and implemented many grants, including character education and GEAR UP grants for Pawhuska, Poteau and Springer schools.
Randy Talley
Randy Talley is the director of media and community relations at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (USAO). For 25 years, he has worked in news and public affairs, the last 21 of them in Chickasha at USAO. Talley earned his bachelor's degree in journalism at Oklahoma State University and has served twice as president of the Oklahoma College Public Relations Association. In 2006, he was named Communicator of the Year by a joint conference of OCPRA and the Oklahoma Communicators Council, an advisory board that serves the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education. When he’s not promoting higher education, Randy and his spouse enjoy aerial photography, Boy Scout events with their three sons and watching their daughter perform ballet.
Elizabeth Wallace
Elizabeth Wallace is a chemistry professor at Western Oklahoma State College (WOSC). She serves as principal investigator for several programs, including the Summer Academy in Plant Genomics and the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology (OCAST) supported Agricultural Internship WOSC/OSU. She has served as consultant for the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education and was named 2007 Oklahoma Innovator of the Year. She has taught chemistry for 30 years and is active in science education research and cotton production research.