FEATURED SPEAKER: Dr. Pedro JosÉ Santana

Dr. Santana is a multi-lingual (fluent in English and Spanish and working knowledge of Portuguese) individual with two decades of experience working within academia at primarily public and private colleges and universities within the Northeast. He grew up in New York City and is extremely familiar with the critical role higher education plays within society.

Dr. Santana firmly believes in the transformative impact that a higher education can have on its students. Dr. Santana has made it his lifetime mission and goal to help institutions maximize their potential in addressing the shifting demographics and ever changing needs of a diverse student body. 

Dr. Santana’s parents were immigrants to the United States from the Dominican Republic in the 1960’s and 70’s. Like many immigrants before them, they came to the U.S. in search of a better life. Dr. Santana grew up in Washington Heights, a neighborhood that shared its border with Harlem in New York City. A neighborhood plagued, at the time, with gang violence, drugs, high teenage pregnancy rates, and the highest homicide rate within the five boroughs. He was a product of the New York City public school system and graduated from George Washington High School. Dr. Santana became a first-generation college student at the age of 16 when he gained admission to the University at Buffalo through their Educational Opportunity Program. The guidance and support structure provided by this program allowed Dr. Santana the opportunity to major in both Psychology and American studies while also being active in a multitude of campus-based clubs and organizations.  His involvement in these community based organizations afforded him the opportunity to serve while providing the experience that would guide his career path. Dr. Santana graduated the University at Buffalo within four years and chose to dedicate his life to helping others achieve their full potential as his EOP counselor, Mr. Carlos Oliviencia had done for him. The profound impact that both the program and Mr. Oliviencia had on Dr. Santana would greatly impact the ensuing years beyond his graduation from the University at Buffalo.

Fast-forward to the most recent decade, Dr. Santana served as part of the fabric of Stockton University for nearly two decades prior to establishing Deal With It Management, LLC. Most recently he has served as the Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs, Divisional Administration and Strategic Initiatives. In this position he served as the primary partner to the Vice President for Student Affairs while providing leadership to the Division. He coordinated the divisional assessment, research and accreditation activities as well as the review, revision and resubmission of divisional and departmental policies and procedures for compliance, currency and effectiveness. Dr. Santana also provided administrative support and coordination for Strategic Divisional Leadership Teams and the delivery of student affairs services at instructional site locations. He was responsible for the coordination of professional development activities and requests for the Student Affairs professional staff while ensuring compliance with federal and state laws (Clery, Title IX compliance, VAWA, and FERPA, etc.). Dr. Santana also coordinated strategic divisional initiatives and served as a liaison to the Student Affairs departments for recruitment and search processes. Dr. Santana also served on several notable university committees and was designated as a liaison to community partners.

Throughout two decades of working within academia, Dr. Santana has developed a broad range of knowledge and skills from the varied professional roles in which he previously served (Dean of Students, Associate Dean of Students, Assistant Dean of Students, Associate Director of Housing and Residential Life at Stockton University). Dr. Santana additionally served as part of the senior, on-call team for emergencies and provided leadership, vision, direction and supervision to the following units and programs at the university:

•Marketing and Student Affairs Communications •Strategic Divisional Initiatives

•Planning, Assessment and Accreditation •Development, Fundraising, Community Partnerships •Strategic Divisional Leadership Teams

•Web and Technology

•Staff and Student Personnel & Professional Development 

•Divisional Liaison to instructional Sites

In Dr. Santana’s immediate prior role of approximately 9 years, he has served as the Dean of Students at Stockton University, and had the primary responsibilities of providing leadership, vision, direction and supervision to a comprehensive student life area consisting of several Student Affairs units and institutional auxiliaries. Dr. Santana supervised the largest arm of the division of Student Affairs at the university at that time. His fiscal responsibilities included managing an overall operating budget of nearly $4 million and auxiliary budgets approaching $44 million.

The value Dr. Santana places on education is paramount as evidenced by his educational pursuits and the attainment of multiple graduate degrees in student personnel administration, organizational management and additional completed coursework in global affairs, educational leadership and higher education administration. Dr. Santana holds a Doctorate degree in Business Administration; his research examined the Middle States Chief Student Affairs Officer (CSAO) roles and succession planning considerations within all four-year public, private and for-profit institutions accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. Dr. Santana’s career-path trajectory has been primarily within Student Affairs. However, despite his administrative focus, he has always remained grounded in his respective academic discipline and training. He has held teaching roles at Stockton University’s School of Business, the Wilmington University College of Business, Buffalo State College Department of Higher Education Administration and the MBA program at Goldey-Beacom College. Dr. Santana’s experiences and training in strategic planning, succession management, assessment, institutional effectiveness, student learning outcomes and technology have allowed him to develop and contribute his expertise at the local, state and national levels.

In addition to his formal schooling, Dr. Santana has completed the Institute for Education Management at Harvard University and has received a certificate in fundraising management (CFRM) from the Indiana University, Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Other notable executive leadership programs that Dr. Santana has participated in have included the Leadership New Jersey Fellows program and the Executive Leadership Academy (ELA), a year-long program cosponsored by the Council of Independent Colleges, the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, and the American Academic Leadership Institute. These programs were designed to prepare experienced provosts and vice presidents to become successful presidents. Dr. Santana additionally has served as a Peer Evaluator for the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and served on numerous visiting teams that reviewed peer institutions according to the standards outlined in the Commission’s Characteristics of Excellence in Higher Education. Additionally, Dr. Santana acted as a Compliance Reviewer for the Commission and ensured that institutions assigned were in compliance with federal requirements related to Title IV as outlined in the 2008 Higher Education Accreditation Act (Distance education (student identity verification), Transfer of credit, Assignment of credit hours and Title IV cohort default rate). 

Dr. Santana serves on numerous boards that are dedicated to the academic empowerment and upliftment of humanity. Dr. Santana holds numerous memberships in both professional and philanthropic organizations. Most recently, Dr. Santana became a Founder and the first elected President of the UNIDOS Faculty and Staff organization at Stockton University and led the charge for the development of many initiatives that contributed towards the university’s diversity and inclusion efforts. Dr. Santana is a Life-Member of La Unidad Latina and the Prince Hall Masonic family.

In his personal time, Dr. Santana enjoys worshiping God, serving the community and spending time with his family.

Presentation topics Dr. Santana is available to speak on for Hispanic Heritage Month are the following:

• My Personal Story of Being First-Gen and Latino: Resilience within the Academy
• Perspectives of the Latino Male and Identity Formation within the Latino community
• They were here before Columbus, our Latin-American Indigenous Ancestors
• Latino or Hispanic: Who are we? What makes us different and special?
• Latino leadership within the Academy: Inspiring the Next Generation of Leaders
• Race Relations and the Academy, Am I a problem? or Am I a solution?
• Nuestro Futuro: Planning and Goal-Setting for the next generation of higher ed change agents and thought leaders
• Starting an organization versus joining an organization: Strategies for student development and involvement within the academy

Presentation topics Dr. Santana is available to speak on throughout the year:

• The Manhattan Project - A Story of Strength, Struggle, Sacrifice under My Father's Watchful Eye
• Succeeding in spite of all odds: Adversity is the fuel that will propel you forward
• Student Affairs Assessment and the Primacy of the Academic Mission
• Goal-setting and Visioning: Manifesting Your Dreams Into Reality
• I’m different and that’s ok, making it work for me
• Yo soy Latino, I am Latino and I’m Proud
• The Importance of Mentorship and Role-Modeling throughout your lifetime
• Student Affairs and Student Learning: A Presentation on Best Practices and Lessons Learned
• Take back control and learn how to tell your story: Lessons for organizational and individual success (Impact Narratives, CASE statement generation and Benchmarking)
• It’s a new world, how can we continue to drive innovation and change within the academy?

Dr. Santana will primarily provide keynotes. 

He is available for workshops and full day trainings. 

Dr. Santana is available to work with students, faculty and staff on a variety of topics listed above and is also available to create custom presentations that meet your organizational and individual needs.

Dr. Santana strives to provide a fun and informative learning experience that aims to nurture communication and critical thinking about the world around us.