Marc Booker and Sandip Bhakta with University of Phoenix and Chris Herring with Stride
University of Phoenix innovates to help working adults enhance their careers and develop skills in a rapidly changing world. Flexible schedules, relevant courses, interactive learning, skills-mapped curriculum for our bachelor’s and master’s degree programs and a Career Services for Life® commitment help students more effectively pursue career and personal aspirations while balancing their busy lives.
In his current role as vice president of product management for Student Career Services teams, Sandip Bhakta brings to bear the roles he has held at University of Phoenix over the past nineteen years. He leads multiple empowered product teams, leveraging user centric product methodologies to develop digitals solutions aimed at helping students and alumni take charge of their career goals.
Sandip began his career at UOPX as a financial advisor and along his professional journey, has served in numerous managerial and leadership roles, such as Director of Financial Services and VP of Financial Services. In his various capacities and roles with the University, he always placed students and his employees first, focusing on opportunities for organizational effectiveness and improved student experience.
Sandip has led and overseen many initiatives focused on organizational effectiveness and efficiencies – leading to improved staff performance and, importantly, student satisfaction and outcomes.
In 2017, Sandip earned the distinguished UOPX Presidents award, recognizing his continued efforts towards finding creative solutions to help those he serves. He is an active member of various leadership development programs within the organization, and often serves as a mentor for aspiring leaders.
Outside of his professional work, Sandip is a father of three young children and actively volunteers as a baseball coach for the Chandler Youth Baseball, in Chandler, Arizona.
Sandip earned his Bachelor’s degree in Finance from Arizona State University W.P. Carey School of Business, and Master’s in Business Administration with the University of Phoenix.
With over two decades of experience working with online and distance education students at the post-secondary level in admissions, registrar, and academic administration roles Marc Booker brings a unique perspective on the trends in higher education from a post-traditional student lens.
As Vice Provost for Strategy at the University of Phoenix, Marc oversees critical path academic initiatives to improve the student experience such as learning platform implementations, curricular enhancements, developing innovative academic program designs, and creating empathetic solutions to drive improved student outcomes.
For his work guiding the academic strategy wing of the University of Phoenix, Marc received a 2020 Hall of Fame recognition from Blackboard recognizing his contributions in providing thought leadership and innovation in education.
Since 2009, Marc has been a regular speaker, contributor, and subject matter expert at national and regional conferences like the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO), the Pacific Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (PACRAO), the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL), EDUCAUSE, and more.
Widely recognized as an expert in transfer credit and Credit for Prior Learning (CPL) Marc was previously the Vice President of Admissions and Evaluation at University of Phoenix, and during his tenure his office received three Showcase in Excellence Awards from the Southwest Alliance for Excellence for processes related to admissions application, transcript, and prior learning assessment processes.
Currently, Marc is the chair for the AACRAO Transfer and Articulation Committee, has authored courses on transfer process and has also contributed to publications on transfer credit processes.
Marc has served in several capacities on the PACRAO Board culminating in being President of the association in 2016 and is one of the founding faculty members for the PACRAO Leadership Development Institute, where is he is now Dean of Faculty for this program. Marc holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Higher Education Administration from the University of Phoenix.
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Stride is reimagining learning—where learning is lifelong, deeply personal, and prepares learners for tomorrow. The company has transformed millions of people’s teaching and learning experiences by providing innovative, high-quality, tech-enabled education solutions, curriculums, and programs directly to students, schools, the military, and enterprises in primary, secondary, and postsecondary settings.
Stride is a premier provider of K–12 education for students, schools, and districts, including career learning services through middle and high school curriculums. Stride has delivered millions of courses over the past decade and serves learners in all 50 states and more than 100 countries.
Chris Herring has spent his entire 17 year career in the EdTech arena. He joined Stride Inc. in 2023 as their new Head of Product for curriculum products. Jumping from Higher Ed to K12 he leads curriculum innovation developing new product lines in Augment Reality, Virtual Reality, Game Based Learning, and Artificial Intelligence products.
Chris served in various leadership roles during 15 years at University of Phoenix. He helped lead numerous technology products including the development of the University’s virtual assistant Phoebe and the development of the University’s Career Navigator.
Connect with Chris on LinkedIn.
