Dr. Hutchens serves as Professor and Associate Chair in the University of Mississippi School of Education’s Department of Higher Education. Previously, Dr. Hutchens served as inaugural chair for the Department of Higher Education. He is also an Affiliated Faculty in the University of Mississippi School of Law. Hutchens earned his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland and his J.D. from the University of Alabama School of Law. His research focuses on legal and policy issues in higher education, with a key strand of his scholarship centered on free speech and academic freedom. Hutchens was the 2015 recipient of the William A. Kaplin Award from the Center for Excellence in Higher Education Law and Policy at Stetson University College of Law. Among his publications, Hutchens is on the author team—along with William A. Kaplin, Barbara A. Lee, and Jacob H. Rooksby—for the sixth edition of The Law of Higher Education, a leading treatise on higher education law.

Dr. Hephner LaBanc serves as the Vice President for Student Engagement and Enrollment Services at Old Dominion University. She was previously Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Campus Life at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Professor in the Higher Education program. With over 25 years of experience in higher education, she has served as Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Professor of Higher Education at the University of Mississippi, and held multiple administrative roles at Northern Illinois University, Arizona State University, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Baldwin-Wallace College, and The University of Akron. As a first-generation student she pursued an accounting degree from The University of Akron prior to graduate study in Higher Education Administration at Kent State University, and she earned her Ed.D. from Northern Illinois University. She is a NASPA Pillar of the Profession and has been recognized by her graduate institutions for her leadership in higher education.