Norma Guerra Gaier has worked in the career development field at both private and public institutions for more than 25 years. In addition to her extensive experience in university career services, she has led efforts in law school career services, alumni relations, adult education career development, civic engagement, leadership initiatives and service learning. Currently, she serves as the director of career services at Texas State University, offering leadership for a comprehensive career services operation serving over 38,000 students.
This year, Norma is serving her profession as the president-elect of the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). With over 11,000 college and employer members nationwide, NACE serves as the leading source of information on the employment of the college educated, and forecasts hiring and trends in the job market. She enjoys serving as a NACE mentor, presenting at conferences, and she remains active in various committees.
She has also been active in various leadership positions within her region, state and locally, and is a proud past-president of the Southern Association of Colleges and Employers, the Texas Association of Employment in Education and the San Antonio Colleges and Universities Career Centers Association. She has also served as an expert reviewer for the CAS Standards for career services.
One of her favorite topics is ethics in career services and recruitment, so she is pleased to serve as a faculty member for the NACE Management Leadership Institute teaching ethics. Her professional interests include communication analysis and interpretation involved in the career development process, life transitional issues, ethics, and generational impacts on the college experience and the workplace. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in English-communication arts and a Master’s degree in communication studies, both from St. Mary’s University.
Gage E. Paine, J.D., Ph.D., is a senior consultant at Keeling & Associates, LLC (K&A)—a comprehensive higher education consulting firm focused on creating change for learning. Throughout her more than thirty-year career, she has been a leader in higher education and student affairs serving most recently as vice president for student affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. Throughout her career, Dr. Paine has taught at the graduate and undergraduate level and presented at numerous national and regional conferences. In 2011 Dr. Paine was honored by NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education with the John Jones Award for Outstanding Performance as a Senior Student Affairs Officer for Region III, followed in 2012 with the Scott Goodnight Award for Outstanding Performance as a Dean as well as recognition as a Pillar of the Profession.
Dr. Paine earned her Ph.D. in educational administration from the University of Texas at Austin, a doctor of jurisprudence from Texas Tech University and a Bachelor of Arts in Letters from the University of Oklahoma.