Our Team
Guided by passionate and experienced leaders, we focus on elevating teaching and enhancing student success.
Leadership
Advisory Council
ACUE + Complete College America (CCA) announce a partnership to advance student success and college completion. Read more
Guided by passionate and experienced leaders, we focus on elevating teaching and enhancing student success.
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Essential courses that create engaging and impactful learning environments from day one.
Our nationally recognized certification that leads to measurable gains in student learning, retention, and completion.
1-hour, self-paced courses that keep faculty ahead of the curve on trends and emerging instructional topics.
A vibrant teaching & learning community with curated content, resources, events, and networking.
Faculty engagement reports and student surveys that provide data on improved teaching and learning.
Co-authored research that demonstrates student, faculty, and institutional outcomes.
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| Effective Teaching Practices |
| Creating a Productive Learning Environment Transform your classroom into a dynamic learning community and drive lasting academic success with proven strategies focused on engagement, motivation, and meaningful feedback. |
| Promoting Active Learning Master teaching methods that deliver engaging lectures, effective note-taking, collaborative group work, and dynamic discussions to transform students into active participants and critical thinkers. |
| Inspiring Inquiry and Preparing Lifelong Learners Transform your teaching practice with strategies that inspire deeper learning, increase transparency, and empower students to take ownership of their learning. |
| Designing Learner-Centered Courses Design cohesive, student-centered courses where learning outcomes, assessments, and activities align seamlessly and your syllabus and grading policies empower students to achieve success. |
| Effective Online Teaching Practices |
| Creating a Productive Online Learning Environment Create welcoming online learning environments where students feel connected and supported. Build engagement through clear communication, meaningful connections, and timely feedback that foster persistence and boost learning in virtual spaces. |
| Promoting Active Learning Online Master online teaching strategies that transform digital courses into active learning experiences with organized content, collaborative discussions, and ways for students to build connections and apply their new knowledge. |
| Inspiring Inquiry and Lifelong Learning in Your Online Course Boost student motivation, clarify complex ideas, and cultivate independent learners who actively engage with course material and take ownership of their success. |
| Designing Learner-Centered Courses Design cohesive, student-centered courses where learning outcomes, assessments, and activities align seamlessly and your syllabus and grading policies empower students to achieve success. |
Transform your classroom into a dynamic learning community and drive lasting academic success with proven strategies focused on engagement, motivation, and meaningful feedback.
Master teaching methods that deliver engaging lectures, effective note-taking, collaborative group work, and dynamic discussions to transform students into active participants and critical thinkers.
Transform your teaching practice with strategies that inspire deeper learning, increase transparency, and empower students to take ownership of their learning.
Design cohesive, student-centered courses where learning outcomes, assessments, and activities align seamlessly and your syllabus and grading policies empower students to achieve success. Learn more
Create welcoming online learning environments where students feel connected and supported. Build engagement through clear communication, meaningful connections, and timely feedback that foster persistence and boost learning in virtual spaces.
Master online teaching strategies that transform digital courses into active learning experiences with organized content, collaborative discussions, and ways for students to build connections and apply their new knowledge.
Boost student motivation, clarify complex ideas, and cultivate independent learners who actively engage with course material and take ownership of their success.
Design cohesive, student-centered courses where learning outcomes, assessments, and activities align seamlessly and your syllabus and grading policies empower students to achieve success.
Other Courses
A self-paced course focused on setting expectations, engaging students, and assessing learning.
Equips faculty with evidence-based practices to foster belonging in learning environments.
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Meghan Snow, EdD
Chief Learning Officer
Dr. Meghan Snow serves as the Chief Learning Officer (CLO) at ACUE, where she leads the design and delivery of learning experiences that are engaging, evidence-based, and seamlessly integrated with technology. Her work ensures that ACUE continues to drive meaningful impact for faculty, students, and institutional partners across the country.
Since joining ACUE in 2015, Meghan has played a pivotal role in shaping the organization's content, product innovation, and research strategy. Under her leadership, ACUE has developed a robust research and evaluation function, with more than a dozen published studies demonstrating improved faculty confidence and student outcomes following ACUE certification. Meghan began her career in education as a classroom teacher through Teach For America and has held a variety of leadership and policy roles across the education sector.
She holds an Ed.D. in Leadership and Organizational Learning from Vanderbilt University's Peabody College, an Ed.M. in Education Policy and Management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and an M.Ed. in Educational Leadership from Sam Houston State University. Meghan graduated cum laude from Villanova University with a B.S. in Biology and Honors, and a B.A. in Philosophy with a concentration in Ethics.
Elena Agibalova
VP, Product + Technology
Elena Agibalova is VP, Product + Technology, bringing 20 years of expertise developing successful products from concept to delivery. Her experience as an IT instructor combined with her passion for blending cutting-edge technologies with industry best practices drew her to ACUE's mission, where she plays a key role in planning, designing, implementing and scaling ACUE's full technical product infrastructure. Elena leads all aspects of the product development process, with a focus on continuously improving the user experience for ACUE faculty course-takers.
Prior to ACUE, Elena was a Project Manager and Solution Designer at DataArt Solutions, a global software engineering firm. There she led the creation of custom software products for multiple clients, focusing on solution design, product and project management, and executing roadmaps by working across multiple teams.
Elena holds a BS in Information Technologies from Tashkent University of Information Technologies in Uzbekistan, and earned an MS in Applied Mathematics and Informatics from Voronezh State University in Russia.
Julie Candio Sekel, EdD
VP, Content + Marketing
Dr. Julie Candio Sekel serves as the Vice President of Content + Marketing at ACUE, where she leads the strategy, creation, and positioning of high-impact instructional content and marketing initiatives. Her work ensures that ACUE’s mission and evidence-based programs effectively reach and resonate with faculty and institutional partners.
Over her decade-long tenure at ACUE, Julie has played a key role in aligning content design with dynamic marketing strategies to drive engagement and communicate the transformative impact of ACUE’s certification and entire learning ecosystem. She brings deep expertise in educational leadership, instructional strategy, and strategic communications to advance the organization’s reach and outcomes. As a former instructor at Ramapo College of New Jersey and Montclair State University, she draws directly on her teaching experience to inform her work. She was also named an honorary member of Alpha Lambda Delta, a student-nominated distinction recognizing her outstanding mentorship of first-year students.
Julie holds an Ed.D. in Leadership and Innovation with a concentration in Higher Education Change Leadership from Arizona State University's Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, an M.A. in English from Montclair State University, and a B.A. in Communication Arts from Ramapo College of New Jersey.
Laurie Pendleton, EdD
VP, Faculty Success
Dr. Laurie Pendleton is the Vice President, Faculty Success at ACUE. She has over 25 years of experience in education as a classroom teacher, building leader, and professional development specialist. For the last 18 years, she has supported schools throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, and the United Arab Emirates in the implementation of school reform efforts. Through this work, she has witnessed the impact of effective professional development on the improvement of teaching and learning and, ultimately, on teacher satisfaction and student achievement.
For five years, Pendleton has served as a Professional Development Associate for the Leadership and Learning Center, a subsidiary of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Prior to that, she worked with Leeds Global Partners to create and deliver Professional Development for effective teaching practices in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. She also held a variety of positions in the Education department of Edison Learning, a national educational management organization.
Pendleton received her undergraduate degree from the University of Maine at Farmington, was a member of the first cohort in the Educational Leadership Program at the University of Maine at Orono, and holds an MS in Curriculum and Instruction through Capella University.
Penny MacCormack, EdD
Chief Academic Officer
Dr. Penny MacCormack is currently serving as ACUE’s Chief Academic Officer. Joining in early 2015 as the organization was just getting off the ground, she led the creation of ACUE's Effective Practice Framework, a research-based and independently validated statement of the teaching skills and knowledge that every college educator should possess. She also led the development of the ACUE course learning design, informed by higher-education instructors and the learning sciences, and shown to inspire the use of evidence-based teaching practices ultimately resulting in improved student outcomes. Faculty who engage in these offerings are awarded the only nationally recognized teaching credential endorsed by the American Council on Education.
Under MacCormack's direction, ACUE has published numerous studies finding statistically significant improvements in outcomes, including the narrowing and closing of equity gaps, among students taught by ACUE-credentialed faculty. These peer-reviewed studies have been commended for their range, depth, and rigor of analysis.
MacCormack brings over 25 years of education experience to this work, as a teacher, professor, and district and state educational leader. Her focus, regardless of role, has been on the power of evidence-based teaching practices to move the needle in closing equity gaps and improving student engagement and achievement. Prior to ACUE, she served as Chief Academic Officer for Hartford Public Schools, New Haven Public Schools, and the State of New Jersey where she co-led the state's College and Career-Ready Task. She taught at Southern Connecticut State University and Montclair State University and holds an EdD in Educational Leadership from the University of Hartford.
Tricia Russ
VP, Partnerships
Tricia works nationally with colleges, universities, and higher education systems to scale faculty development in support of effective teaching and student success outcomes. She partners with institutional leaders on faculty development initiatives that support institutional strategic goals and student and faculty success and retention priorities. Tricia has spent much of her career building practical, collaborative partnerships in higher education that help create meaningful impact for faculty, students, and institutions.
Doug Saidenberg
Chief Financial Officer
Doug Saidenberg is the Chief Financial Officer at ACUE. Prior to joining ACUE, Doug spent four years in private equity focused on the education, training, and software industries, where he evaluated hundreds of companies as prospective investments and worked closely with a portfolio company focused on improving institutional outcomes across higher education. In these capacities, he saw firsthand the impact and reach great products and services can have. The opportunity to develop an idea into a company striving to improve student and institutional outcomes by improving the quality of instruction is what drew him to ACUE.
Saidenberg graduated from Tulane University's A.B. Freeman School of Business where he earned a BS in Management and an MS in Finance.
Andrew Hermalyn
Chairman and CEO
Andrew Hermalyn is Chairman and CEO of ACUE (Association of College and University Educators) and Operating Partner at Leeds Equity Partners.
Andrew joined ACUE and Leeds Equity in March 2025. He spent 17 years with 2U, having joined the company at its inception, and was instrumental in transforming the business from a start-up into one of the world’s leading online education companies. Andrew held several executive positions, focused on growing and nurturing the company’s relationships with its 250 university and corporate partners. He most recently served as president of the degree program segment, leading the company’s core business with hundreds of millions in revenue and over 1000 employees.
Andrew is a member of the Board of Directors of Mantra Health and a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council for Lehigh University’s College of Education. Andrew graduated from Lehigh University and lives in Manhattan with his wife and two daughters.