Nazareth’s Harvey and Hopkins named to the CIC Senior Leadership Academy

The Council of Independent Colleges and Universities and the American Academic Leadership Institute named Nazareth University’s Kim Harvey, associate provost of student experience, and Maria Hopkins, associate provost in academic affairs, to its 2025-26 Senior Leadership Academy —  a year-long program for administrators in higher education aspiring to cabinet-level positions in independent colleges and universities.

Hopkins and Harvey attended their first in-person Leadership Academy meeting in early November in Indianapolis, where they met with peers from institutions across the U.S. to deepen the knowledge, skills, and experience necessary to become a vice president or cabinet officer. Their second in-person seminar is in Washington, D.C., in June 2026. The academy also includes mentorship, a personalized professional experience plan, executive coaching, webinars, campus visits, regional gatherings, and more.

Both Harvey and Hopkins were nominated for the leadership academy by Nazareth Provost Maureen Finney, who is a graduate of the CIC Senior Leadership Academy. 

“Dr. Harvey’s energy, enthusiasm, can-do and will-do attitude cause people to gravitate toward her and want to be part of her work,” said Finney. “Equally balanced with this is her analytical and institutional strategic lens. She leads with integrity and passion and has quickly become my go-to thought partner in discerning difficult situations.”

Harvey and her team led the reimagining and visioning of Nazareth’s enhanced focus on student success, including the Well Being Collective, an interdisciplinary, campus-wide initiative to student wellness, mental health, and safety.

“Dr. Hopkins is a mission-centric and ethical leader,” said Finney. “Nazareth’s mission and our collective commitment to student and faculty success are the constant underpinning of her work. Leading in independent higher education certainly has unique challenges, and Dr. Hopkins steps up to these challenges and is tireless in her efforts to strengthen the student and faculty experience in our community.”

In the newly-imagined associate provost role, Hopkins oversees Nazareth’s graduate academic offerings. She was also co-chair of Nazareth’s Middle States Accreditation self-study, which culminated in a successful on-campus visit in March 2025.

Nazareth University is an inclusive community of inspired learners, educators, and changemakers who for 100 years have been driven by a bold commitment to action, empathy, equity, and leading innovation for the common good. Impact experiences are at the heart of a Nazareth education, preparing each student to discover within themselves the potential to cultivate positive change in their life's work, in any career field, and in a world that is constantly evolving and infinitely interconnected.

Our broad academic offerings present a range of study options typical of larger universities, yet achieved in our supportive campus culture. Nearly 2,100 undergrad and 600 graduate students enroll in degree and certificate programs and engage in collaborative, transformative learning experiences, preparing for the professions and society of today and tomorrow. In a learning community that purposefully integrates liberal arts and professional programs, Nazareth University graduates are able to launch a lifetime of impactful leadership in communities and workplaces near and far.

• published: 2025 November
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