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In accordance with the principles of shared governance, the President is the Chief Operating Officer of the College, working closely with the Senior Leadership Team, and providing consultative leadership for the campus community and the Board of Trustees. The President also convenes the President’s Council, a crosscutting advisory group providing input on topics of campus-wide interest to ensure mission-centric and strategic College administration and informed decision-making, and to foster teamwork and workplace performance.
 

Randall Lavender

Interim President - Randall Lavender

Randall Lavender is a nationally and internationally exhibited artist whose works in oil on panel and sculptural tableaux are included in dozens of public and private collections and have been featured in numerous books, catalogues, articles, and reviews. Having served for eight years as Provost and/or Vice Provost at Otis College before becoming Interim President there, Lavender brings much experience to the President’s office, including with synthetic analysis, writing on all matters of art and design in higher education, strategic planning, budgets and fiscal oversight, space/facilitation needs, accreditation, shared governance, collective bargaining, organizational leadership, and survey research. 

Professor Lavender earned his M.F.A. in Sculpture at Claremont Graduate University and a B.A. in Ceramics at California State University, Fullerton. He joined the Otis College faculty in 1983, following faculty appointments at Vanderbilt University, Claremont Graduate University, and California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. He served as Associate Chair and Professor in Otis’ Foundation program for more than a decade before joining the College's Senior Team and serving as Vice Provost, and later as Provost. He has published original research, essays, and articles on art in higher education, educational psychology, contemporary culture, and best college art/design teaching practices in leading art education journals, including Studies in Art EducationJournal of Aesthetic Education, and Foundations in Art Theory Education (F.A.T.E.) in Review.

Lavender’s artwork and publications can be viewed here.

 
President’s Office Staff

april kullis

April Kullis

Executive Assistant to the Interim President
Ahmanson Hall, 2nd floor

Primary liaison for the campus community to the Interim President, managing the Office calendar, and providing high-level project support on all Office endeavors.

April Kullis joined Otis College in 2002, working in both the Foundation and Liberal Arts and Sciences Program offices. She moved to the Provost’s Office as Executive Assistant in its founding year and supported that office until 2019, when she became Executive Assistant to the Interim President. April completed a certificate in graphic design through Otis’ Extension program in 2012, and is a promising Graphic Designer.

 

 

doniell peters

Doniell Peters

Board Relations Manager
Ahmanson Hall, 2nd floor

The Board Relations Manager focuses on all matters Board-related, supporting both the Board of Trustees and Board of Governors. Such work incudes but is not limited to the Corporate Bylaws, work with the many Board Committees, meeting planning and the productionof official Minutes, and myriad related tasks and responsibilities in support of successful Board operations. 

Doniell first came to Otis in 2008 as a temporary staff member in Student Accounts, and became Student Accounts Manager three years later. In 2016 she accepted the position of Executive Assistant to the President and Vice President of Finance; her role and responsibilities were updated again in 2017 to include management of Board Relations. Doniell brings over 18 years of administrative and leadership experience to her role including work with boards. She has started the Graphic Design certificate program through Otis Extension and aspires to complete it in the near future.

 

 

angila romious

Angila Romious, PhD

Director of Institutional Research and Effectiveness
Ahmanson Hall, 2nd floor

The Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness (IRE) develops, conducts, and coordinates research activities, supports institutional effectiveness, assessment and accreditation, enrollment management, grants, and related data-driven activities. IRE supports quality improvement by working with decision makers across the College to enhance the understanding, collection, and use of data in decision-making. The IRE Director also coordinates the preparation of required state and federal reports.

Angila Romious PhD has 9 years’ teaching and professional experience in institutional research for higher education. In addition to her work as Director of IRE at Otis College, she teaches Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods for the Department of Sociology at Mount Saint Mary’s University. Dr. Romious also brings experience working with regional higher education accreditation agencies, conducting state and federal reporting, as well as analysis examining student success outcomes. She earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in Social Ecology from UC Irvine.

 

 

Mahtem Shiferraw

Mahtem Shiferraw

Executive Director of International Partnerships
Ahmanson Hall, 2nd floor

In consultation with a newly formed advisory International Partnerships Committee, the Executive Director for International Partnerships shares research about and gathers campus-wide input toward the development and deepening of international partnership opportunities that can both bring Otis College into view abroad and provide mission-furthering activities on and off campus with partner organizations.


Mahtem Shiferraw is an award-winning writer, visual artist, activist and arts administrator, with over 10 years of experience working in the industry. Her expertise includes non-profit leadership and management, strategic planning and implementation, programming, project management, communications and marketing, conceptual design, advancement and fundraising, board relations, international affairs, organizational development, and other professional services. She holds a BA from Loyola Marymount University, and an MFA from Vermont College, and teaches creative writing at Pacific University’s low residency program.