Baker welcomes four new administrators to support enrollment, marketing and communications, and academics. Each brings valuable skills and leadership experience in higher education.
Kylie Williamson
Director of Admissions for the College of Arts and Sciences
In May 2021, Kylie Williamson began her role leading the Office of Admissions in recruiting students to the Baldwin City campus. She comes to Baker from Colorado School of Mines, where she served as the assistant director of admissions for marketing and communications. Before that, she was the assistant director of admissions for operations at the University of Central Missouri.
Williamson has served in multiple roles within enrollment management, including financial aid and admissions. For the past 12 years, she has worked at both public and private nonprofit universities and two-year and four-year institutions. Her experience spans recruitment, operations, data analysis, relationship building across campus and outside of campus, and how to manage teams to help them meet their goals. Within admissions she has managed the implementation of a new customer relationship management system; built university-wide communication plans; and actively recruited first-time freshmen, transfer students, international students, and graduate students. She is well versed in enrollment management theories and best practices and believes in the importance of making data-driven decisions. Williamson earned a bachelor’s in liberal arts from the University of Missouri – Kansas City and a master’s in education from the University of Kansas.
Courtney Haller
Executive Director of Marketing and Communications
Courtney Haller, who began her role at Baker in October, leads the Office of Marketing and Communications in their support of student recruiting for all four schools, fundraising, alumni relations, and public relations. Haller is a passionate marketer with 12 years’ experience in marketing, communications, public relations, and journalism. She believes storytelling is at the heart of marketing and has been a storyteller her entire career. For the past seven years, Haller was instrumental in growing enrollment and driving brand awareness for Maryville University in St. Louis. As director of marketing and public relations, she led the client services team and was responsible for the strategy behind multichannel marketing campaigns. She spearheaded an institutional rebranding initiative and also secured media placement in local and national publications, including the Chronicle of Higher Education, CNN, and Forbes.
Before her shift to higher education, Haller worked in broadcast news, with a short stint in the nonprofit sector. As a trained journalist, she began working at KMBC-TV in Kansas City right out of college. Haller earned a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from the University of Kansas and a Master of Arts in Strategic Communication and Leadership from Maryville University.
Dr. Shaine Marsden
Director of Enrollment for Graduate Studies and Adult Education
Shaine Marsden, who came to Baker in December, leads the recruiting and enrollment teams for the School of Education graduate programs and the School of Professional and Graduate Studies. Her doctoral dissertation focused on recruitment strategies. With more than eight years of experience in the enrollment management field, she strives to use her experience and knowledge to foster an environment where students can be successful academically, professionally, and socially.
Marsden comes to Baker from the School of Engineering at the University of Kansas, where she served as the program coordinator for graduate recruitment and research. In this role she developed a strategic plan for graduate program recruitment, oversaw admission services, supervised graduate engineering ambassadors, and generated and analyzed research data and reports. Before that, she held a variety of enrollment positions at Texas A&M University in Commerce and in College Station, where she created a university-wide communication plan for recruitment and enrollment and traveled to national conferences and universities to recruit prospective graduate students. Marsden earned a Doctor of Education in Higher Education Administration from Texas A&M University – Commerce, a Master of Science in Higher Education Student Affairs from Florida State University, and a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Leadership and Development from Texas A&M University.
Dr. Matthew R. Bice
Dean of the School of Professional and Graduate Studies
Matthew R. Bice will serve as the dean of the School of Professional and Graduate Studies beginning Feb. 1, 2022. Bice currently serves as the associate dean of graduate studies and academic outreach at the University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK).
As a faculty member, he has been recognized for his excellence in teaching and mentoring and for his student-focused philosophy. Bice has published over 40 peer-reviewed articles and given more than 40 presentations at national and international conferences.
Since arriving at UNK in 2013, Bice has taken on advanced roles as a faculty member and campus administrator. As a campus-level administrator in both graduate studies and academic outreach, he has led strategic academic initiatives, including building new academic programs, designed the ONE Loper online program to better serve students during the novel coronavirus pandemic, and led all efforts at College Park, which is an off-campus educational unit offering courses to complete undergraduate and graduate degrees.
Bice holds a PhD from Southern Illinois University – Carbondale and an MS and BS from the University of Texas Permian Basin.
