Mimi Benjamin

Mimi Benjamin started her learning communities career at Iowa State University while working in the Division of Student Affairs and pursuing her doctorate in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies. Her professional work in residence life at Iowa State led to her long-term research interest in learning communities, resulting in a dissertation study of residential learning community peer mentors; editing/co-authoring articles, book chapters, and books on learning communities; serving as a Resource Faculty Member at the Washington Center for Improving Undergraduate Education’s National Summer Institute on Learning Communities; and co-leading a research seminar for the Elon University Center for Engaged Learning research seminar on Residential Learning Communities as a High-Impact Practice. She is a Professor of Student Affairs in Higher Education at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, having joined the faculty after a 19-year career as a student affairs administrator at Plymouth State University, Iowa State University, and Cornell University. Mimi earned her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies with a focus on Higher Education from Iowa State University, her M.Ed. in College Student Personnel from Ohio University, her M.A. in English from Clarion University of Pennsylvania, and her B.S. in Secondary Education-English from Clarion University of Pennsylvania.

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Janine Graziano

For the past 20 years, Janine Graziano PhD, taught in learning communities and has collaborated with administrators, faculty, and staff at numerous colleges across the country to design learning community programs that maximize opportunities for students to have supportive, integrative educational experiences. In addition, she served as President of the National Learning Communities Association, as an editor of Learning Communities Research and Practice, as Resource Faculty at the National Summer Institute for Learning Communities, and as a member of the National Learning Community Collaborative. Her scholarship has focused on both professional development in learning communities (e.g., A Workbook for Designing, Building, and Sustaining Learning Communities) and in making connections between learning communities and other high-impact practices (e.g., Building Synergy for High-Impact Practices: First Year Seminars and Learning Communities). Though recently retired, her support for and interest in the work of learning communities has not waned, and she is delighted to participate in this year’s NLCC.

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Dr. Toyia Younger

Dr. Toyia Younger assumed the position of senior vice president for student affairs at Iowa State University on August 17, 2020. In this role, she provides strategic leadership to the division, which encompasses a broad and diverse portfolio of units, offices, and teams organized into three units that include the Dean of Students Office, Student Health and Wellness, and Campus Life, each led by an Associate Vice President.

Prior to her arrival at Iowa State University, Dr. Younger served the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) as vice president for leadership development and partnerships, and Minnesota State Colleges and Universities as associate vice chancellor for student affairs. She also held positions as assistant provost for academic affairs at Towson University in Maryland and director of student affairs for the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities.

Younger holds a bachelor’s degree in social relations from Michigan State University; a master’s degree in counseling from Trinity Washington University in Washington, D.C.; and a Ph.D. in education policy from the University of Maryland.