CONTACT US

Rachel Boenigk (they/she) attended Texas A&M University where they obtained both a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and History as well as a Master of Public Service Administration with a concentration in Economic and Commerce Policy, all in 4 years. During the fall semester of their fourth year, they helped to manage their mother’s (Rebecca Boenigk’s) campaign for state house.

Also, while at Texas A&M, Boenigk co-founded Pride Community Center-the region's only LGBTQIA+ community center. Since its inception, Pride CC has grown into an organization of more than 300 active participants.

After graduating with honors from Texas A&M, Boenigk went on to work as a Research Assistant at the Board of Governors for the Federal Reserve System. At the Federal Reserve, they worked on both CCAR and DFAST analysis and modeling. Boenigk also helped to found the LGBTQIA+ employee group at the Federal Reserve.

In 2013, they were recruited back to the family business, Neutral Posture, Inc., by their mother and grandmother, Jaye Congleton. During their tenure, Boenigk helped oversee a division acquisition and a product line relaunch. Their efforts in this division helped to bolster sales over 300% from year 1 to year 2. After their stint as Project and Product Manager respectively, Boenigk served as a Territory Sales Manager, the Sales Manager for the Systems division, the National Sales Manager, finally ending as the Vice President of Sales when they departed in July 2020.

Boenigk left the family business to pursue a career at Iowa State University. They currently serve as the Director of Administrative Services for Student Affairs. In this role, they serve on the Institutional Budget Management Team (IBMT), oversee budgets, provide financial analysis, and consult on strategic initiatives for all of the units within the Division of Student Affairs.

Boenigk is on the board of Aggie Pride, Texas A&M's only LGBTQIA+ Former Student Constituent Network. During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Boenigk became slightly obsessed with fitness and nutrition (#CovidHobby) and has come to terms with the label Gym Rat. They married their wife, Elizabeth, in 2015 (before it was legal in their home state). Both Boenigks enjoy being outdoors--especially in State & National Parks. They are currently foster parents to two amazing, resilient kiddos.

Dr. Matthew Pistilli, PhD, is the Director of Student Affairs Assessment and Research in the Division of Student Affairs, as well as the Institutional Liaison to the University Innovation Alliance, both at Iowa State University. For over 20 years, Matt has focused on creating and assessing conditions and environments that positively affect college student success. Over his career, he has worked with summer bridge programs, residence life, learning communities, orientation programming, supplemental instruction, learning analytics, strategic planning processes, and low-income student scholarship and support programming.

His current and previous roles have also focused on creating, revising, and assessing divisional- and university-wide strategic plans. He facilitates trainings on learning analytics, assessment and evaluation, mission and vision building, and strategic planning and has served on the review and editorial teams several journals. His research interests include determining the components necessary for campuses to successfully implement learning analytics, the intersection of technology and student success, and the extent to which the co-curricular environment positively affects student learning.

A recognized expert in learning analytics, Dr. Pistilli has published and presented internationally on the implementation of learning analytics in higher education. He was the principal investigator for a $1.23M initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to build and scale analytics capacity to increase student success at ten institutions across the United States.

Dr. Pistilli also serves as a Fellow for the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education where he works with institutions of higher education on the use of data to enhance student success programming, retention efforts, analytics, and curricular transformation.

Matt holds a BA in psychology and Spanish from Southwest Minnesota State University, an MSEd in counseling and college student affairs from Purdue University, and a PhD in higher education administration, also from Purdue.

Katy Cran (she/her/hers) serves as Strategic Communications Advisor for the Division of Student Affairs. In this role, Katy oversees communications on behalf of the division and Senior Vice President for Student Affairs, Dr. Younger. Additionally, Katy partners across campus representing the division and creates opportunities to share exciting initiatives within the division.

Katy has been a staff member at ISU since 2011. Prior to joining the Division of Student Affairs Central Office, Katy served as the inaugural Coordinator of Communications and Strategic Initiatives for the Dean of Students Office where she established the DSO branding, student ambassador program, and streamlined or created new communications and social media platforms for the unit. Before transitioning into communications, Katy was the Assistant Director in the Office of Greek Affairs (now Office of Sorority and Fraternity Engagement) where she led all recruitment and marketing initiatives for the sorority and fraternity community. She also did a brief stint in the Office of Admissions traveling upper Iowa and Wisconsin as a recruiter. Before she joined the Cyclone family as a graduate student in 2009, Katy traveled throughout the United States and Canada as a Collegiate Development Consultant for Delta Gamma Fraternity.

Katy has a Master of Education in Higher Education from Iowa State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies from the University of Iowa.

In her free time, Katy enjoys spending time with her family and golden retriever, planning events, traveling, trying new restaurants, and catching up on the latest movies and TV shows. Katy is married to her high school sweetheart (and ISU alum!) and looks forward to the day when her two daughters attend Iowa State (class of 2037 and 2039).

Brittany Vander Zwaag serves as the Administrative Assistant I for the Office of the Senior Vice President for Student Affairs. Brittany grew up in Collins, Iowa and served with the United States Army from 2003 to 2011. She graduated from Iowa State with a degree in criminology. Brittany has two daughters; Isabelle who is 11, and Sofia who is 5. In her spare time she likes to spend time with friends, family, her daughters, and pets.

Megan Peterson serves as the Senior Executive Administrative Assistant to the Senior Vice President for Student Affairs. Megan has been a staff member at ISU since 2014. Prior to joining the Division of Student Affairs, Megan worked in the Office of the Senior Vice President and Provost. Megan received her Associate’s Degree from Des Moines Area Community College and her Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Studies from Iowa State University. In her free time, Megan enjoys reading, running, cheering on the Cyclones, and spending time with friends and family.