Utica College Adds to Senior Leadership Team

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Utica College Adds to Senior Leadership Team

President Laura Casamento announces several additions to college senior leadership.

Laura Casamento, president of Utica College, has announced a number of additions to the college’s senior leadership team: Anthony Baird, vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion; Karen Ferrer-Muniz, associate vice president for enrollment management; Musco Millner III, director of Campus Safety; Stephanie Nesbitt, dean of the School of Business and Justice Studies; and Sharon Wise, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences.

Baird, who earned his bachelor’s degree from UC in 1993, joined the college this past May. He earned his doctorate in higher education leadership from Johnson and Wales University, and retired recently from UMass Dartmouth, Charlton College of Business, Business Innovation Research Center, where he was the director of Corporate Programs Development and Career Management and Coaching. He is principle consultant of I Am EPPIC Enterprises LLC, an educational, personal and professional coaching enterprise.

Ferrer-Muniz has more than 25 years of experience as an educational administrator, faculty and academic advisor, specializing in student life development, developmental education, academic support services and programming. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the Inter-American University of Puerto Rico with majors in political science and social sciences, and a master’s degree from SUNY Albany in social sciences and Latin American studies. She is currently an ABD doctoral candidate at the University of Albany. Prior to joining UC, she was the associate dean of students and director of Minority Student Affairs and HEOP at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy.

Nesbitt, associate professor and director of the MBA program, has served as associate dean of the School of Business and Justice Studies for several years. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Ithaca College, an MBA from Syracuse University and her juris doctorate degree from the University at Buffalo. Her research is in the development and effective teaching of business education programs and legal issues in cybersecurity, and she is a former Wiley Faculty Fellow. A licensed attorney, she was risk manager and associate counsel for Faxton-St. Luke’s Healthcare before joining UC.

Millner, retired captain and 26-year veteran of the New York State Police, joined UC last August. Born and raised on what was formerly Griffiss Air Force Base, he earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from SUNY Albany and a master’s degree in mathematics education from SUNY Empire State College. A longtime adjunct professor in mathematics, Millner received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award last year for Excellence in Adjunct Teaching.

Wise earned her master’s and Ph.D. in environmental and evolutionary biology from the University of Louisiana, Lafayette. A professor of biology, she returns to the position of dean of the School of Arts and Sciences following her recent sabbatical. Recipient of the Virgil Crisafulli Distinguished Teaching Award in 2011, Wise has done a great deal of research and published in the area of territorial behavior and the effects of artificial night lighting on the activity and growth of amphibians, often involving students in her research.