| Alan A. Saidi |
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Alan Saidi is the Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer of the Academic Credentials Evaluation Institute (ACEI). He has been involved in the on-going development and enhancement of ACEI’s electronic database on world education systems and credential equivalencies. He holds a BS in Electronics Engineering and has more than 20 years of experience in evaluating international educational credentials. Alan has regularly led training workshops and presented on foreign educational systems and the recognition of international educational credentials at various professional conferences. He is a frequent contributor to the blog “AcademicExchange,” and prepared the recent profile on the education system of the Republic of Korea for NAFSA’s Online Guide to Education Systems from Around the World.
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| Aleks Morawski |
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Aleks Morawski joined Foreign Credits in 2013 as Director of Evaluation Services. Originally from Poland, Aleks earned a BA degree from Marquette University and an MA degree from San Diego State University, both in Political Science with emphasis on international and comparative politics. His professional experience includes credential evaluation at private agencies, international undergraduate and graduate admissions and recruitment at major US universities, and training and consulting on various topics in international education. Aleks gained national recognition in NAFSA leadership as the ACE Network Leader and has served on NAFSA Trainer Corps since 2009, training hundreds of international education administrators each year on international academic credential evaluation. Additionally, he has also served on the WAIE (Wisconsin Association of International Educators) leadership team as the Recruitment, Admissions and Preparation representative.
Aleks has authored the NAFSA Online Guide to Education Systems Around the World country profile on Myanmar and consults NAFSA Trainer Corps on credential evaluation training, including his tenure as Workshop Dean of the on the Foundations of Foreign Credential Evaluation curriculum. He is also a regular presenter at local, national, and international professional conferences. Beyond credential evaluation, Aleks co-developed a mentorship program in 2013 and continues to offer advising and leadership to new professionals in international education.
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| Alex Popovski |
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Alex Popovski is the President and Senior Evaluator at Ucredo LLC. He has been working in the field of international education since 2006. Prior to starting a credential evaluation business, Alex held leadership roles at several public and private colleges and universities, most recently as Assistant Dean of the Graduate School at Binghamton University (SUNY). Alex has presented at AICE symposia, NAFSA, TAICEP, and AACRAO conferences, credential forums and webinars. He is a contributor to the NAFSA Online Guide to Educational Systems Around the World, and the author of the Macedonia profile in AACRAO EDGE. He wrote a chapter for the 2021 AACRAO publication Bogus Institutions and Documents. He was involved in setting up the TAICEP certificate, a training program for new credential evaluators.
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| Barbara B. Glave |
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Barbara B. Glave began participating in international education when she transferred in 1965 to the Universidad de las Américas, Mexico City, from which she graduated in 1967, with a B.A. in Spanish, with minors in French and Linguistics. At LSU, she earned an M.A. in Spanish and Romance Philology in 1969, plus 24 additional credits in the same fields. From 1972 to 1983, she taught Spanish and English / ESL at the University of Houston – Downtown. In 1982, she passed the ATA Spanish-to-English certification exam. In 1980, she co-founded SpanTran Educational Services, Inc. in Houston; she remained until 2012. In August, 2013, she joined Credential Consultants, Inc., as a Translator, Senior Editor, and Research Adviser.
Barbara is a longtime member of ATA and NAFSA: Association of International Educators; she is a charter member of TAICEP, The Association for International Credential Evaluation Professionals. For four years, she chaired the Membership Committee of the National Association of Credential Evaluations Services / NACES. Additional professional service includes: (1.) Admissions Section representative for the NAFSA Region III Team; (2.) member of the Committee on Records Fraud and Abuse of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers; (3.) member of the Fraudulent Documentation Committee of the Southeast Texas Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers; and (4) two terms on the NAFSA Trainer Corps for Core Education Program workshops in Foreign Educational Credential Analysis.
Barbara has authored/co-authored nine country profiles for the NAFSA Online Guide to Educational Systems Around the World: Albania, Argentina, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico and Sudan. In addition to the accomplishments detailed above, she has over 75 activities as a consultant, panelist, moderator, session presenter, and workshop leader in comparative international education.
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| Beth Cotter |
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Since 1997 Ms. Cotter has provided credential evaluations for individuals, law firms, and employers representing clients from over 140 countries seeking nonimmigrant business-related visas issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The credentials represent secondary school to post-doctoral levels of education and areas of specialization such as engineering, law, and medicine. The CIS, U.S. and State of Georgia Departments of Labor, and institutions of higher education accept her evaluations as authoritative. Ms. Cotter is currently President and CEO of Foreign Credential Evaluations (FCE), Inc. Ms. Cotter had nine years of corporate experience and eight years of teaching and administrative experience in curriculum development at the post-secondary level prior to joining FCE. She regularly attends state, regional, and national conferences dealing with foreign admissions and credentials. She presents at both GAIE (Georgia Association of International Educators) and NAFSA: Association of International Educators conferences and at the NAFSA Summer Admissions Institute. She has been a member of NAFSA and of GAIE since 1999, and was a member of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers from 1999 to 2009. Ms. Cotter holds an undergraduate degree in German from Wake Forest University (B.A. 1974), an MBA from Georgia State University (1983), and has pursued graduate studies in German at the University of North Dakota.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
• 1976 – 1981 Accountant and Credit Manager, AJC International, Inc., Atlanta, GA.
• 1983 – 1987 Auditor, Bank South, Atlanta, GA.
• 1988 – 1989 Instructor, Gordon College, Barnesville, GA.
• 1990 – 1997 Instructor and Curriculum Coordinator, Flint River Technical College (now known as Southern Crescent
Technical College)
• 1997 – Present President and CEO, Foreign Credential Evaluations, Inc.
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
• Presenter, “Review of the Educational Systems of Brazil and Colombia,” NAFSA Region VII Conference, Fall 2004.
• Presenter, “An Overview of the Educational Systems of Brazil and Colombia,” GAIE Winter Conference, February 2006.
• Presenter, “Introduction to the Bologna Process,” “China Overview,” “Resources for International Credential
Evaluation,” “Introduction to Education in Brazil and Colombia,” Credentials Analysis Workshop, NAFSA Summer
Admissions Institute, Atlanta, GA, Summer 2006.
• Presenter, “Secondary Education in Honduras and El Salvador,” Poster Fair, NAFSA National Conference, Washington,
DC, May 2008.
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| Dale E. Gough |
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Dale E. Gough has worked in the field of international credential evaluation and admissions for more
than 40 years. Dale was in the first graduating class of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in
1970 receiving the BA in American Studies. Following graduation he served in the US Army for four
years with the 470 th Military Intelligence Group in the Republic of Panama. While living in Panama he
completed the MA in Human Relations from the University of Oklahoma.
From 1974 until 1990 at the University of Maryland, College Park he was in charge of undergraduate and
graduate admissions of international students. From 1991 to 2016 was Director of International
Education Services at the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers
(AACRAO) in Washington, DC. Since October, 2016 he has been a Director of Foreign Credentials Service
of America, based in Austin, TX, though he still resides in Catonsville, Maryland.
He has participated in overseas workshops that produced reports on foreign educational systems: the
South American Workshop on Bolivia (author), Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay; the Central American
Workshop (Team leader for Panama); the East Central Europe Workshop on Romania (observer) and
Bulgaria. He served as a member of the National Council on the Evaluation of Foreign Educational
Credentials; as chair of the Admissions Section (ADSEC) of NAFSA: Association of International
Educators; and has been on the TOEFL Advisory Board and The College Board’s International Advisory
Board. He is a recognized expert on diploma mills, fraudulent credentials, and responsible international
student recruitment.
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| Garrett Seelinger |
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Garrett Seelinger was raised in Morocco and England before earning his BA from DePaul University and MA in English from the University of Notre Dame. Garrett has worked with InCred since its inception, evaluating the academic records of thousands of international students for ten years and counting.
Garrett started evaluating international credentials as part of the NAIA Eligibility Center’s International Team in 2014 and then joined InCred’s leadership team as its Team Lead in 2016. Garrett became InCred’s Director in 2022, overseeing all aspects of its day-to-day operation and credential evaluation policies.
As a member of TAICEP and AACRAO, Garrett actively contributes to the field of international credential evaluation through industry presentations at conferences and trainings. Garrett co-authored the chapter on international credential issues specific to international students in AACRAO’s Guide to International Education and frequently gives presentations on the unique educational pathways of international student-athletes. Garrett joined AACRAO as a member of The Cuba Project, culminating in a colloquium and publication. Garrett served for three years as a TAICEP Standing Committee Chair. Most recently Garrett chaired the TAICEP Committee for Resources and Knowledge Management, producing the TAICEP Talk newsletter for three years. Garrett’s extensive experience evaluating challenging credentials from student-athletes has positioned him as an industry leader in vocational/technical secondary and post-secondary credentials.
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| Hany Arafat |
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First established in 1999, SDR Educational Consultants is currently owned and operated by Hany Arafat, who has been working in the field since 2005. Hany Arafat has authored and co-authored highly-referenced research such as country profiles for the Palestinian Territories, the Sudan, Dominican Republic and El Salvador for NAFSA’s Online Guide to Educational Systems Around the World, and presented on a variety of topics at professional conferences in the field. Moreover, Hany Arafat has been a major contributor to Credential Connection, a comprehensive proprietary database of comparative education research.
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| Leah McCormack |
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Leah McCormack, a trailblazer in the field of small college registrars and international admissions, joined the NAIA in 2010 as the Manager of International Eligibility, contributing significantly to the establishment of the Eligibility Center and primarily assisting the organization with the unique needs of incoming international student-athletes. Her pivotal role included crafting policies and overseeing international eligibility. Leah authored the NAIA International Standards in 2012 and launched InCred in 2014, a specialized credential evaluation service aiding NAIA and NJCAA admissions directors, registrars and coaches with consolidating the athletics eligibility and admissions processes.
Rising to the Director of the NAIA Eligibility Center in 2014, she later became Vice President of Eligibility Services in 2017. Beyond her NAIA role, Leah contributes to AACRAO through various roles, including chairing committees and presenting on international student-athlete topics. Leah’s impactful leadership extends to her efforts in re-engaging the NAIA Registrar’s Association and fostering collaborations between InCred and AACRAO. With an MBA focused on managing and leading people, Leah is an emerging leader dedicated to enhancing international higher education, showcased by her recognition as an AACRAO Emerging Leader Award in 2019.
Leah continues to serve the international education community in various ways, including as a member of the Working Group on Digital Delivery of Credential Evaluation (DDCE) and was a contributor to the position paper published in 2023 recommending the higher education community to accept secure, digital credential evaluations. Leah continues to oversee InCred’s strategy, growth and credential evaluation policies.
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| Jasmin Saidi-Kuehnert |
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Jasmin Saidi-Kuehnert is the founder, President and CEO of Academic Credentials Evaluation Institute, Inc. (ACEI), incorporated in the State of California since 1994. She was the former Executive Director of the International Education Research Foundation, Inc. She is recognized as an authority on world education systems and is actively engaged in international educational and exchange. She has authored the Country Guide Series Reports on Senegal (2000) and Cameroon and co-authored the 1998 book on the system of education of Hong Kong. She has contributed to PIER Reports on the systems of education of Central America (1987), Canada (1987), and the United Kingdom (1990). She served as Chair of the Admission-Section (ADSEC) Committee of NAFSA (National Association of Foreign Student Advisors: Association of International Educators) from 1999 to 2001, as Chair of NAFSA’s Region XII Southern District committee from 1995 to 1999, and served on AACRAO’s Publication and Reviews Committee from 1990-1993. She has provided training and made frequent presentations on foreign educational systems and the recognition of international credentials at conferences and symposiums in the United States and abroad. She is frequently called on by US government, academic institutions, state licensing boards, private enterprise as well as institutions and educational ministries abroad for assistance with international academic credentials. Shet completed her secondary education in the United Kingdom, holds the B.A. in Political Science from the University of San Diego and M.B.A. from Pepperdine University. She was the past Board Chair of the Association of International Credential Evaluators, Inc and is currently serving on the Board as President and Treasure. She is also serving on the International Education Standards Council (IESC) for EDGE (Electronic Database on Global Education) of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO).
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| Jodi K. Blecher |
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Jodi K. Blecher is cofounder of International Evaluation Services (IES), LLC. During her 10-year tenure as Deputy Director of Applications Processing at the City University of New York (CUNY), she supervised the centralized evaluation and admission cycles of both entering freshman and transfer domestic and international undergraduate applicants to CUNY’s 17 campuses. Since 1989, she has served as International Evaluation Services Executive Director of educational evaluations; her responsibilities have included the review and assessment of international educational evaluation requests, verifying accreditation of all international educational institutions as well as reviewing all transfer-credit educational evaluation requests (“course-by-course”) to determine their US equivalencies in terms of semester credit hours at the undergraduate and graduate level.
Jodi K. Blecher holds a BA in Sociology from Brooklyn College (CUNY) and has completed graduate-level work in Higher Education Administration at Columbia University.
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| Johnny Kent Johnson |
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Johnny Kent Johnson, Executive Director of the California Office of Foreign Credentials Service of America (FCSA), and Professor Emeritus and former Director of International Programs at Monterey Peninsula College, has more than 40 years of administrative and teaching experience at both public and private institutions in the US, Malaysia and Aruba.
Mr. Johnson has served on numerous boards of directors and held many professional leadership positions, including AACRAO Vice President for International Education, NAFSA Vice President for Regional Affairs and Vice President on the California Colleges for International Education (CCIE) board of directors.
He has also consulted with colleges, universities, government and private sector organizations. Educational research, professional presentations and employment have take Mr. Johnson to 85 countries. And, he has written and/or edited 26 publications and made more than 100 conference presentations in the fields of international education and student affairs.
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| Martha Alvarez |
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AERC’s associate director, Mrs. Martha Alvarez, is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the evaluation and translation service. With more than two decades of experience in the academic field as well as a firsthand knowledge of numerous languages and foreign educational systems, Mrs. Alvarez is a unique position to oversee the activities our AERC’s team of senior education analysts and international panel of recognized translators. She also enjoys her role as senior client liaison helping candidates gain a deeper understanding of their educational status.
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| Nancy Katz |
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Nancy Katz has over 30 years of experience in international credential evaluation and international admissions. Her background includes working at academic institutions and private, not-for-profit organizations. Nancy’s expertise is the evaluation of all levels of education and higher education majors from educational systems around the world. Nancy is known for her extensive background in authoring and making presentations at national and international conferences, hosting and organizing seminars and workshops on such topics as: Education in South Asia (India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh), The Middle East, Basics of Credential Evaluation and How to Detect Altered and Forged Documents. In addition, she is the co-author of the publication, The Educational System of Thailand (2000) and a frequent contributor to a number of publications on international credential evaluation, including, most recently, the AACRAO Electronic Database for Global Education (EDGE).
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| Nora K. Saidi |
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Nora Saidi is the Executive Director of A.C.E.I. since 2006. She served as Director of University Placement at ELS Language Center (USA) from 1982 to 2006. She was the founder and President of EDWAM Services in Tehran, Iran (1975-1980) and Director of AFME/AMIDEAST (1963-1975) in Tehran. With business degrees from Switzerland and the United Kingdom, Nora Saidi has over four decades of experience in international education, international student counseling and placement, and has worked closely with U.S. admissions officers and international student advisors in their efforts to effectively recruit and admit foreign student candidates to their institutions.
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| Ravi Kallur |
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Ravi Kallur is an Associate Professor and Associate Dean of Education for Texas A & M Health Science Center at Temple, TX. He was an Assistant Professor of Medical Humanities, Assistant Dean of Graduate Medical Education and Director of E. Grey Dimond MD Program in International Medicine at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC). He was also the Director of International Student Affairs at UMKC. Ravi holds a PhD in Higher Education Administration and a MPA in health care administration and has 15+ years of experience in international recruitment, admissions, advising, immigration, programming and office administration. He has presented at regional and national meetings of AACRAO and NAFSA on topics of Indian Higher Education to best practices in developing international programs office.
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| Robert Watkins |
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Robert Watkins is Assistant Director of Admissions in the Graduate and International Admissions Center where he has been involved in international admission and credential evaluation for more than 40 years. He is a frequent presenter at AACRAO and NAFSA Conferences and is currently on the AACRAO International Education Standards Council (IESC) which determines credential advice in AACRAO EDGE. Robert has served as a Past Chair of the former Admissions Section (ADSEC) of NAFSA and Vice President for International Education at AACRAO. He served as member and chair of the National Council on the Evaluation of Foreign Educational Credentials 1992-2000 and chaired the NCAA International Student Records Committee from 2002-2011. He is the recipient of the 1998 NAFSA Homer Higbee Award for Distinguished Service and the 2015 AACRAO Award for Excellence in International Education.
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| William Paver |
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Dr. Paver was responsible for developing the Graduate and International Admissions Center (GIAC) at
The University of Texas at Austin into one of the preeminent offices of its kind in the country.
Dr. Paver has also held top positions in the major professional organizations in the field, including board
member and Vice President for International Education, AACRAO chair of the committee on the
implementation of computer-based testing for the Educational Testing Service (ETS), board member of
the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), and board member of NAFSA Association of
International Educators. In 2008, Dr. Paver was awarded the AACRAO “Award for Excellence in
International Education.” Other accomplishments of note include being Director of the EDGE Project, co-
editing The People’s Republic of China: Institutional Profiles, PIER, Washington, D.C., 1992 with Dr. Yiping
Wang, and being a member of the Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) committee on the
implementation of the student reporting requirements mandated by the U.S. Congress in 1996 (CIPRIS/
SEVIS).
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