Westfield State University President Linda Thompson has appointed Melinda M. Phelps as general counsel and vice president for government and community relations.
As a member of the president’s cabinet, Phelps will advise the president, the Board of Trustees, and other senior campus officers on legal issues. Phelps will also monitor legislation of importance to the university and higher education generally, including those before state and local courts and commissions. She will also manage the relationships with outside legal counsel on matters of priority to the university.
Phelps, with more than 40 years of service as a licensed Massachusetts attorney, has held positions in the public and private sectors. With a specialty in educational law, Phelps has most recently served as chief legal counsel to the Springfield Public Schools providing guidance on matters regarding the Open Meeting Law, the Massachusetts Ethics Law, public records disclosure requirements and employment issues.
Phelps received her bachelor’s degree from Mount Holyoke College and later went on to receive her J.D. from Western New England College School of Law. She is a member of the Hampden County Bar Association, the National Association of College and University Attorneys and the Council of School Attorneys.
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Sharale W. Mathis, vice president of academic and student affairs at Holyoke Community College, has been appointed to a national advisory board for community colleges.
Mathis, of Simsbury, Conn., was invited to join the Commission on Institutional Infrastructure and Transformation of the American Association of Community Colleges, the primary advocacy group for U.S. community colleges.
Her three-year term began July 1 and will run through June 2027.
The AACC’s Commission on Institutional Infrastructure and Transformation focuses on community college efforts to improve student success, which includes administrative processes, infrastructure, technology, and workforce development.
As vice president of academic and student affairs at HCC, Mathis oversees all academic divisions as well as student records, the registrar’s office, planning and assessment, student success programs, library services, advising, career services, transfer affairs, admissions and financial aid, among others.
She holds a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Hartfield, a master’s degree in biomedical sciences from Quinnipiac University, and a bachelor’s degree in biology from Eastern Connecticut State University.
A native of Hartford, Mathis joined HCC in 2021 after serving as dean of academic and student affairs at Middlesex Community College in Connecticut, where she previously led the STEM division as director.
