SYNERGIS EDUCATION - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- VP of Enrollment and Student Services
Alayne Barrett joined Synergis in September of 2022 as the Vice President of Enrollment and Student Services. In this role Alayne has oversight over the Enrollment teams to include Training as well as the Contact Center.
Alayne began her career in higher education over 25 years ago with the Institute for Professional Development (IPD), a subsidiary of the Apollo Group and later acquired by Helix Education. She served 15 years here in several different roles ultimately as a Vice President of Enrollment Management where she held oversight over multiple education centers in 3 states and nationally with the National Online team.
She has served in enrollment leadership roles in OPM organizations and for-profit education to include American InterContinental University, Linkage and Orbis Education. She also served in a Vice President and Enrollment Consulting role with InterLearn where she provided strategic leadership and enrollment consultation for university partners in the areas of enrollment strategy and data-driven marketing segmentation.
Berea, Ohio a western suburb of Cleveland is where Alayne calls "home." She resides there with her 17-year old twins, Nathan and Grace. Alayne enjoys watching her son play baseball and shopping with her daughter. In her free time she enjoys running and completed her 1st ½ marathon at the age of 50. Alayne holds her bachelor's degree from Bowling Green State University in Interpersonal and Public Communication and her Master's degree from the University of Phoenix in Organizational Management
Job Titles:
- Senior VP of Partner Relations
Andrea Lintner joined Synergis in 2022. She brings more than twenty years of experience in Outsourced Program Management to Synergis. In her role, she leads the Partner Vice President Team and supports our university partnerships.
Andrea began her career in Higher Education at the Apollo Group with the Institute for Professional Development (IPD, later acquired by Helix Education). She held many positions beginning with Enrollment Manager to Regional Vice President. She proudly served on the professional development and training team for IPD for many years.
Andrea joined Orbis education in 2016 as the Vice President of Client Services where she focused on partnership management, concentrating on strategic operational planning with the goal of delivering high value outcomes to both university and healthcare partners.
Andrea resides in Zionsville, Indiana, with her husband Scott, and two children, Madeline, and Matthew. When she isn't in the office, she is inseparable from her family as they enjoy traveling, all sports, and outdoor activities. Andrea completed a dual bachelor's degree in political science and Sociology, and a minor in Anthropology at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York.
Job Titles:
- Chief Nursing Officer
- Chief Nursing Officer for Synergis
As chief nursing officer for Synergis, Carole Eldridge oversees the development of key clinical relationships essential to the company's growth.
Prior to joining Synergis, Eldridge served as a vice president at Chamberlain University in Downers Grove, Ill., leading the online degree and certificate programs in nursing and other health professions. Prior to that, she held leadership positions in several campus-based baccalaureate nursing programs, including serving as president of the Chamberlain College of Nursing Houston campus, dean of nursing at West Coast University's Dallas campus, and dean and campus director for St. John's College of Nursing and Health Sciences in Springfield, Mo. In 2007, Eldridge led the online executive nursing leadership program at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, and before that she served as a nursing professor in traditional and online BSN and RN-BSN programs at Texas A&M University in Stephenville, Texas, and Southwest Baptist University in Missouri.
Preceding her career in higher education, Eldridge was CEO of Pacesetter Home Care Group and senior vice president for quality and resident services of Assisted Living Concepts. She has several years of experience leading healthcare consulting and management firms, where she managed clinical staff education programs, developed continuing education materials, and performed quality management audits. Her clinical experience includes 10 years as a critical care nurse, 10 years in primary care, home health care, and hospice, and a year operating a clinic in Lusaka, Zambia.
Eldridge holds a Doctor of Nursing Practice from Rush University College of Nursing in Chicago, Ill; a Master of Science in Nursing from University of Texas at Arlington School of Nursing, Arlington, Texas; a Bachelor of Science in nursing from Evangel College in Springfield, Mo.; and a diploma in nursing from Burge School of Nursing in Springfield, Mo.
Job Titles:
- Executive Vice President and CFO, Brenau University
As chief operating officer, Jamie leads the operating functions for Synergis and partners with the executive leadership team to design, develop and execute strategies that support the company's university and workforce partners and their students.
As an executive devoted to leading mission-focused cultures, Jamie brings an impressive background in and passion for higher education to Synergis. Throughout her career, she has worked in both the nonprofit and for-profit sectors delivering a high level of operational excellence and program growth intelligence.
Prior to joining Synergis, Jamie served as executive vice president at Academic Partnerships responsible for their undergraduate and enterprise markets. For the eight years prior, she was chief student experience officer at Southern New Hampshire University leading online operations. Her other career highlights include ten years in various leadership roles with Career Education Corporation.
Job Titles:
- VP of Partner Relationships
Jason has over 20 years of higher ed experience in both traditional and for-profit institutions. During that time he has worked as a Director of Student Services, Director of Admissions and Campus President. Over the past 4 years, Jason has worked as VP of Partner Relations at Synergis, where he has managed 4 different partnerships. He holds a Bachelors of Arts from the University of Utah and a Masters of Business Administration from National University.
Dr. John Donohue has worked in two- and four-year institutions, both public and private, and has designed, implemented and taught in programs leading to associate's, bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees. With a Ph.D. in anthropology from Stony Brook University, he has served as tenured professor, dean, vice president, provost and acting president. He is an expert on curricular design and program development and brings more than 30 years of experience in these areas to Synergis Education.
Prior to working with Synergis, Dr. Donohue worked at a variety of colleges and universities that were committed to curricular innovation and the design of programs targeted to serve the needs of non-traditional learners. As he witnessed the tremendous impact that access to higher education had for non-traditional learners, he became committed to exploring the ways in which creativity, flexibility and a commitment to academic excellence could be integrated into new approaches to higher education. During his tenure as chief academic officer at three different colleges, he provided academic leadership that led to dynamic program, curricular and institutional development. Dr. Donohue also has served as a consultant for chief executive officers in higher education, providing analyses of program costs and benefits and creating analytic tools that assist institutions to support organizational missions, while simultaneously improving operational return on investment.
Dr. Donohue most recently spent almost six years as Chief Academic Officer at Albertus Magnus College in New Haven Connecticut. Ultimately rising to the position of Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Donohue was responsible for coordinating institutional strategic planning, developing new programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels, leading the development of fully online programs, planning and implementing a switch to a new and improved learning management system, and working successfully with state, regional and disciplinary accreditors to secure program and institutional accreditation.
After beginning his career in higher education at Adelphi University's University College in 1987 as a Coordinator of Services, Director of Academic Affairs and ultimately Associate Dean of the college, Dr. Donohue continued to serve at a variety of institutions throughout his career. He was Dean of the School of Liberal Arts at SUNY Morrisville. He then became Chief Academic Officer of Medaille College and ultimately was selected to serve as that institution's acting President. He also served as Vice President for Academic Affairs at D'Youville College.
In addition to his academic leadership activities, Dr. Donohue has maintained an active research and writing agenda, publishing numerous scholarly books and articles, as well as seven novels.
Job Titles:
- VP of Partner Relationships
Karen has over 15+ years of higher education experience. During that time, she held multiple roles leading enrollment management, marketing, & communication, CRM implementation, student success and institutional retention efforts.
Prior to joining Synergis, she served as an Assistant Vice President at Tarleton State University. For the five years prior, she was the Executive Director of Student Success and Retention for Purdue University Northwest (PNW). As part of the provost's leadership team, she was responsible for retention initiatives and enrollment strategy for academic programs across 2 campuses including 6 colleges and two schools as well as supplemental instruction and support services. Karen also served as the Executive Director of Admissions at PNW.
Additionally, Karen served as the Director of Enrollment at Indiana Wesleyan University, working directly for the university after previously spending 6 years supporting the full-service OPM. She held progressive enrollment management roles during her tenure, building high-performing teams that exceeded enrollment targets and increased revenue in multiple states.
Stachyra earned a bachelor's degree from Purdue University, West Lafayette and a master's degree from Indiana Wesleyan University.
Job Titles:
- Vice President of Business Development
Throughout his career, Kris has worked with private, non-profit colleges and universities, as well as with hospital and health care system administrators, to deliver nursing degree programs that produce practice-ready nurses while building a best-in-class health care workforce. He has also worked with K-12 school districts to establish programs that allow certified educators to complete graduate-level education degrees.
Kris began his career in higher education in 2002 as an enrollment representative for Apollo Education Group's Institute for Professional Development. While with IPD, he progressed into a business development role, ultimately becoming director of business development for the company.
Having joined Synergis Education in 2021, Kris now focuses on the successful development and support of new partnerships. He holds a bachelor's degree in mass communication from Illinois State University and a master's degree in business administration from Olivet Nazarene University.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer and Board of Directors
Norm Allgood has dedicated nearly two decades of his career to expanding access to quality, affordable programs to underserved populations. As CEO of Synergis Education, Norm's focus has been to build an organization with a passionate culture dedicated to creating quality, higher education programs that are valuable, delivered efficiently and accessible to an ever-evolving student base. After serving in the U.S. Army as an active duty noncommissioned officer, Norm earned both his bachelor's and master's degrees in his 30s. It was through his own personal journey that Norm became an advocate for improving higher education and creating a repeatable framework for colleges and universities that expands access to education in high-demand fields.
In 2011, Norm founded Synergis Education, a mission-driven company that partners with colleges and universities to design, launch and grow innovative classrooms from a 3Modality™ approach: online, face-to-face and a blended program format. Norm has led Synergis to become an innovator in overall degree program delivery. This innovation began with a thesis: no longer is an institution or student limited by the imperfect strategy that confines students to a face-to-face classroom environment or the digital barriers of being completely online. Instead, an institution can meet the student in the right setting, offering degree programs fully online, when appropriate, or shift gears to launch the degree program in a face-to-face or blended format.
After the initial capital raise, Norm and his team moved to an EBITDA and cashflow positive position in the 4 th quarter of 2016. This position allows Synergis Education to deploy Smart Capital to support degree programs in education, healthcare and some business degree programs. Since inception, Synergis has built and supported 61-degree programs on behalf of its institutional partners and has enrolled more than 12,000 students.
In his role as CEO, Norm focuses on strategy, leadership and innovation, working closely with Synergis Education's partner institutions. Norm and his team understand that thought leadership, new technologies and an ever-increasing competitive market have led to a dramatic change in the higher education space. Returning to the status quo experienced in the last decade is not an option and the future will demand that colleges and universities across the United States significantly expand their missions with a commitment to continually innovate and improve processes, outcomes and the student experience. The Synergis Education team's deep knowledge of the industry and their ability to form trusted partnerships with colleges and universities is a key driver to maintaining this sharp focus.
Prior to starting Synergis Education, Norm served as Chief Operating Officer at Orbis Education, a leader in nursing education, and as Senior Vice President of Strategic Development at the Institute for Professional Development (IPD), a subsidiary of Apollo Group, where he served for nine years. In his career, Norm has worked and consulted with numerous state and private colleges and universities around the country, becoming well known for cultivating a strong commitment to maximizing retention, student outcomes and advancing new techniques in educational delivery, as well as his powerful track record of turnaround management and leadership development.
Norm earned a Bachelor's Degree in Management and a Master of Business Administration with an international focus from Cornerstone University.
Job Titles:
- President of Workforce Development
As president of workforce development, Tom McNamara connects our higher education partners with health care providers who are essential to the training of the next generation of practice-ready nurses.
As a first-generation college graduate, Tom has experienced the transformative power of higher education and is personally committed to student outcomes. Throughout his career he has founded, nurtured and grown organizations focused on unlocking student potential and was formerly the president of American Career College and chief operating officer of West Coast University, which under his leadership, grew to become the largest nursing schools in California.
Tom brings more than 20 years of experience in the postsecondary education and edtech sectors to Synergis. Prior to joining the company, he was founder and CEO of Nuro Retention, a predictive analytics and student retention software company with the singular mission of improving student graduation rates at U.S. colleges and universities. He currently serves on the boards of ThinkCERCA and Nuro Retention. He has also served on a number of college and community boards, including the Saint Francis Medical Center Foundation in Lynwood, Calif., and the board of trustees for Columbia College Hollywood in Los Angeles, Calif.
The son of a fisherman, Tom grew up on the west coast of Ireland. He holds a Master of Business degree from Dublin City University and is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland. He worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers for several years in Ireland before moving to America in 1998.