The College of Southern Maryland (CSM) announces the appointment of three new members to its leadership team.
Ellen Flowers-Fields has accepted the position of associate vice president, Continuing Education and Workforce Development (CWD), effective Dec. 9. Erin Ebersole, Ed.D. has accepted the position of associate vice president, Planning, Institutional Effectiveness and Research (PIER), and Sybol Cook Anderson, Ed.D. has accepted the position of executive director, Diversity and Inclusion (DIV). Ebersole’s and Anderson’s appointments are effective Jan. 6, 2020.
“This is an exciting time to be joining our College of Southern Maryland team and these appointments reflect our commitment to our students, faculty, and staff,” said CSM President Dr. Maureen Murphy. “Ellen, Erin, and Sybol bring a tremendous amount of skill and diverse experience to our communities as we continue our pursuit to improve student completion and success; build on our economic development partnerships in the region; and intertwine ourselves with the prosperity of future Southern Maryland generations.”
Filing these vacancies also fulfills immediate needs for our mission, explained Murphy. In the last year alone, CSM has joined Achieving the Dream (ATD), a network of more than 220 colleges in 43 states dedicated to improving student success. CSM was also named as one of 150 community colleges eligible to compete for the $1 million Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, the nation’s signature recognition of high achievement and performance among America’s community colleges.
“This year, we’ve also broken ground for the new Center for Health Sciences at our Regional Hughesville Campus and we can see the finish line to complete the Velocity Center in Indian Head,” Murphy added. “We are rounding out our leadership team with three strong executives and we are more excited than ever to continue purposefully toward transforming lives through lifelong learning and service.”
- Ellen Flowers-Fields, CSM Associate Vice President, CWD
In her role as associate vice president, Flowers-Fields will be responsible for the oversight of all areas of the non-credit economic and community development programming in Southern Maryland, including the Center for Trades and Energy Training, MCET, the Workforce Center, the Small Business Development Center (SBDC), the CSM Non-Profit Institute, the CSM Center for Transportation Training and adult basic education at all CSM campuses.
Flowers-Fields brings with her more than 25 years of progressive professional experience in the field of workforce development and human capital management. Her diverse background includes the acquisition, project management and implementation of various federal, state and local programs that address community economic development needs. Throughout her career she has acquired and managed nearly $100 million in support of various economic and community development initiatives.
With a strong history of serving the college in its continuing education and workforce development division for five years, Flowers-Fields most recently led CSM’s workforce development efforts as interim vice president and previous to that as regional director of the Small Business Development Center.
Her other roles have included: acting assistant secretary, and deputy assistant secretary of the Division of Workforce Development & Adult Learning at the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing & Regulation; regional director of economic development at the Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland; and executive director for Southern Maryland Works. In her role with Southern Maryland Works, Flowers-Fields led the effort to establish the region’s first One Stop workforce service delivery system and Workforce Investment Board under the Federal Workforce Investment Act.
Flowers-Fields holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Pace University in New York and certification from the International Business Innovation Association in Business Incubation Management. She is credentialed as a Global Career Development Facilitator from the Center for Credentialing and Education. Additionally, Flowers-Fields is a 2009 graduate of the inaugural Class of Leadership Southern Maryland, an entrepreneur and a self-published author.
Affiliations include executive board member Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland; member of the National Association of Workforce Development Professionals and of the Maryland Economic Development Association; past board member, Maryland Broadband Coordination Board; past board chair, Bethel House Inc.; and immediate past board chair, Community Foundation of Southern Maryland.
- Erin Ebersole, CSM Associate Vice President, PIER
Ebersole comes to CSM from California Lutheran University where she served as a Major Gift Officer within the Advancement Division for the last two and a half years. In her new role at CSM, Ebersole will oversee the development and implementation of the college’s strategic plan as well as assessment and process improvement plans throughout the college. CSM’s PIER office supports all members of the CSM community including current and prospective students, faculty, staff, federal and state regulatory agencies, regional and programmatic accreditation bodies and other external constituents to support the college’s work in continuously improving processes and maximizing college resources for the benefit of students.
In addition to her fundraising experience, Ebersole brings with her more than 15 years of having led offices of institutional research, planning and effectiveness. She is a true believer in empowering others with data to make mission driven decisions and will bring this philosophy to CSM. Her background includes institutional and department strategic planning, healthy fiscal management and academic and co-curricular programmatic oversight of institutional data pertaining to finance, enrollment, student affairs and advancement, including grants.
Ebersole’s other positions have included director of Institutional Research, Planning and Effectiveness at Immaculata University; director of Institutional Research and Assessment at Alvernia University; and several adjunct teaching positions in the First Year Experience, Honors and Psychology Programs.
She holds an associate of arts in psychology from the College of the Redwoods; a bachelor of arts in psychology from Alvernia University; a master of arts in clinical psychology from West Chester University and a doctorate of education, higher education from Immaculata University. She was one of 47 faculty and administrators to be selected as an American Council on Education Fellow for the 2015-2016 academic year. This national highly selective program established in 1965, is the longest running leadership development program in the United States and focuses on identifying and preparing the next generation of senior leadership for the nation’s colleges and universities.
In addition to professional consulting, presentations, and publication, Ebersole’s service and affiliations in higher education include Council for the Advancement and Support of Education; Association of Fundraising Professionals, Association of Institutional Research and North East Association for Institutional Research; longtime affiliate with the society for College and University Planning having completed their certificate program in 2011. Ebersole has continuously served on regional accreditation teams for the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and the WASC Senior College and University Commission.
- Sybol Cook Anderson, CSM Executive Director, DIV
Anderson joins the CSM team with more than 25 years of experience in data-informed program administration; public and media relations; and strategic leadership of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. She is leaving her position as the Chief Diversity Officer at Loyola University New Orleans (Loyola) where she provides strategic vision and oversight for education, training and programming initiatives on two campuses to increase cultural competency and to promote an understanding of contemporary issues of diversity.
Her career titles have included: Associate Professor of Philosophy at St. Mary’s College of Maryland (SMCM); chair of SMCM’s Campus Culture, Policies and Programming Work Group; consultant and senior program manager at GE-NMF Primary Care Leadership Program in New Orleans; director of SMCM’s DeSousa-Brent Scholars Program; and interim associate director of SMCM’s Public and Media Relations. Additionally, while at CSM previously she had worked as special assistant to the dean of continuing education; acting executive director of the Southern Maryland Job Training Partnership Administration; and continuing education coordinator for Calvert County’s program.
Anderson holds a bachelor’s degree in humanistic studies, a M.L.A in History of Ideas from Johns Hopkins University (JHU); an M.A in philosophy from American University, and a Ph.D. in philosophy from JHU with areas of specialization in social and political philosophy, Hegel, and philosophy of race. She has also held several teaching positions at CSM, SMCM and Loyola.
Her affiliations include being a member in the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, the American Philosophical Association, the California Roundtable on Philosophy and Race and the Collegium of Black Women Philosophers.
