Melissa L. Rocco Appointed CAS Member at Large

The Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) is pleased to announce the appointment of Melissa L. Rocco, Ph.D. to serve as Member at Large, effective September 1, 2025. Dr. Rocco currently serves as Senior Lecturer and Program Coordinator for the Higher Education and Student Affairs Administration program at the University of Vermont, where her teaching and scholarship focus on leadership, equity, and transformative pedagogy.

​At the core of Dr. Rocco’s work is her desire to help individuals identify, develop, and engage their capacity for change-making. Her research, teaching, and practice center on transformative and liberatory pedagogy to challenge dominant leadership narratives and elevate identity, equity, and justice in leadership education. She primarily teaches courses on leadership and identity, social action and change, curriculum design, developmental theory, and higher education practica.

Dr. Rocco has made significant professional and scholarly contributions to the field. She has served as Faculty Associate and Director for the National Clearinghouse for Leadership Programs (NCLP), Impact Fellow with The Aspen Institute’s Leadership Development Index, and as a national representative to CAS. She is also co-author of the National Leadership Education Research Agenda 2020-2025, issue editor and author for New Directions for Student Leadership, and a frequent contributor and reviewer for leading texts in leadership education.

Her professional path has also included roles as a higher education administrator in co-curricular leadership programs, student activities, academic advising, and fraternity and sorority life. She received her Ph.D. in Higher Education, Student Affairs, and International Education Policy from the University of Maryland, and both her M.A. in Higher Education and Student Affairs and B.S. in Business Administration from The Ohio State University.

Dr. Rocco’s work has been recognized nationally, including being named a 2024 Diamond Honoree for ACPA: College Student Educators International, honoring her outstanding contributions to the field. She has also received recognition from Kappa Alpha Theta Fraternity & Foundation, the University of Maryland, The Aspen Institute, and The White House Council on Women and Girls.

CAS congratulates Dr. Melissa L. Rocco on her appointment as Member at Large and looks forward to her continued leadership and contributions in advancing the mission and work of the Council.