Curriculum Vitae
Event Schedule (PDF)
Dr. Gonzales has over twenty-six years of progressive leadership and administrative experience in higher education in rural and urban settings. A consistent theme of her career has been to serve at institutions that provide marginalized populations access to quality higher education in a variety of delivery formats.
Currently, she is the provost and vice president of academic affairs at New Mexico Highlands University (NMHU), a Hispanic Serving Institution with just under 10% Native American students. She holds the rank of professor in Education with tenure. Before her current position, she served as the Executive Dean at Clarion University in Pennsylvania where she led Venango College and an extended campus in Oil City offering allied health and behavioral science programs. At Regis University, she served as the Academic Dean of the College for Professional Studies serving 9,000 students online and statewide. While at Park University, she was the Dean of Distance Learning and a tenured Associate Professor of Adult Education. Other positions include Director of Education and Training at Hanscom AFB, MA, and Guidance Counselor and Assistant Education Services Officer at Bitburg AB in Germany. Early in her career, she worked TRIO programs providing services to first generation and low-income students seeking access to post-secondary education.
Roxanne is active in professional and community organizations and is the past president of the Association for Continuing Higher Education and has served on several boards: UPCEA, Oil City Chamber of Commerce, Northwest Hospital Foundation in Clarion, PA, Denver Hispanic Chamber Education Foundation, Boston College, Woods College of Advanced Studies, Philharmonia of Greater Kansas City, Hispanic Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City, National Association of Institutions for Military Education Services Board, and president of the Jesuit Deans of Adult and Continuing Education. Currently, she serves on local boards in Las Vegas, NM.
She is published and presents nationally on topics such as programming for first generation learners, assessment of learning, alternative programming, and online learning environments. She received her doctorate from the University of Massachusetts – Boston in Higher Education Administration, a MS in Counseling from Creighton University, and a BS in Psychology Cum Laude from the University of Maryland University College.
Roxanne is originally from Albuquerque, NM but grew up in the military and is married to Maj. Sanford Walker (USAF Ret.) of Rye, NH; they have two grown sons, both in public service careers, the youngest is an Iraq veteran.