U.S. Department of Education 

Gainful Employment Negotiating Committee 

Meeting Summary 

November 18-20, 2013 

Welcome 

Mr. Jeff Appel, Deputy Under Secretary of the Department, welcomed back the members of the Gainful 

Employment Negotiating Committee and discussed the negotiated rulemaking process for developing 

proposed regulations to address gainful employment issues. 

Review and Adopt Meeting Summary 

The Committee members reviewed and approved the draft meeting summary for its September session. 

Review and Adopt Meeting Agenda 

The members approved the draft agenda for the November session after slightly revising the order of 

discussion of the topics listed. 

Membership 

The following Primary and Alternate members were present. 

Federal Negotiator 

U.S. Department of 

Education 

John Kolotos 

U.S. Department of Education 

Non-Federal Negotiators 

Community of Interest Primary Alternate 

Students Rory O’Sullivan, Policy and 

Research Director, Young Invincibles 

Kalwis Lo, Legislative Director, 

United States Student Association 

Legal assistance 

organizations that 

represent students 

Eileen Connor, Senior Staff Attorney, 

Special Litigation Unit, New York 

Legal Assistance Group 

Consumer advocacy 

organizations 

Margaret Reiter Tom Tarantino, Chief Policy Officer, 

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of 

America 
Financial aid 

administrators 

Kevin Jensen, Financial Aid Director, 

College of Western Idaho 

Rhonda Mohr, Student Financial Aid 

Specialist, California Community 

Colleges Chancellor’s Office 

State higher education 

executive officers 

Sandra Kinney, Vice President of 

Institutional Research and Planning, 

Louisiana Community and Technical 

College System 

State attorneys general 

and other appropriate 

State officials 

Della Justice, Special Assistant 

Attorney General, Kentucky Attorney 

General 

Libby DeBlasio, Assistant Attorney 

General, Colorado Department of 

Law, Consumer Protection Section, 

Consumer Fraud Unit 

Business and industry Ted Daywalt, CEO and President, 

VetJobs 

Thomas Kriger, Research Director, 

Building and Construction Trades 

Department, AFL-CIO, Director, 

Standing Committee on 

Apprenticeship and Training 

Minority serving 

institutions 

Helga Greenfield, Associate Vice 

President for College Relations and 

Director of Title III and Government 

Relations, Spelman College 

Ronnie Higgs, Vice President, 

Student Affairs and Enrollment 

Services at California State 

University, Monterey Bay 

Two-year public 

institutions 

Richard Heath, Financial Aid 

Director, Anne Arundel Community 

College 

Glen Gabert, President, Hudson 

County Community College 

Four-year public 

institutions 

Barmak Nassirian, Director of 

Federal Policy Analysis, American 

Association of State Colleges and 

Universities

Barbara Hoblitzell, Associate 

Director, Student Financial Support, 

University of California Office of the 

President

Private, non-profit 

institutions 

Jenny Rickard, Vice President for 

Enrollment, University of Puget 

Sound 

Thomas Dalton, Assistant Vice 

President for Enrollment 

Management, Excelsior College 

Private, for-profit 

institutions—publicly 

traded 

Brian Jones, General Counsel, 

Strayer University 

Raymond Testa, Vice President of 

Government Affairs & Compliance, 

Empire Education Group 
Private, for-profit 

institutions—not 

publicly traded 

Marc Jerome, Board Member, 

Association of Proprietary Colleges 

in New York and Executive Vice 

President, Monroe College 

Justin Berkowitz, Vice President of 

Operations, Daytona College 

 

Accrediting agencies Belle Wheelan, President, Southern 

Association of Colleges and Schools 

Commission on Colleges 

Neil Harvison, Chair, Association of 

Specialized and Professional 

Accreditors, Chief Academic and 

Scientific Affairs Officer of the 

American Occupational Therapy 

Association 

Public Comment 

Opportunities were provided each day for the public to provide comment. Comments from the public 

were received at the end of the first and second day of the meeting.

Logistics 

Committee members agreed to schedule a third session. This session will be held between December 9th

and 20th, 2013 at the U.S. Department of Education in the 8th Floor Conference Center located at 1990 K 

St. NW in Washington, D.C.