Last Update: 09/11/2025

Commissioner of Higher Education

Commissioner's Office

General Information

General Information
Address Main Number Fax Number TTY Website Org Chart

560 N. Park Avenue, 4th Floor

PO Box 203201

Helena, MT 59620-3201

406-449-9124 406-449-9171 711 www.mus.edu/che/ https://mus.edu/che/OCHE_org_chart.pdf

Board of Regents of Higher Education

Contact Information

Contact Information
Address Fax Number Website

PO Box 203201

Helena, MT 59620-3201

406-449-9171 https://mus.edu/board/

Board of Regents Members

Board of Regents Members
Name Email Phone
Regent Loren Bough, Big Sky RegentBough@montana.edu 406-449-9124
Regent Todd Buchanan, Billings RegentBuchanan@montana.edu 406-449-9124
Regent Joyce Dombrouski, Missoula RegentDombrouski@montana.edu 406-449-9124
Regent Dean Folkvord, Three Forks RegentFolkvord@montana.edu 406-449-9124
Regent Heather Hoyer, Great Falls RegentHoyer@montana.edu 406-449-9124
Regent Jeff Southworth, Livingston RegentSouthworth@montana.edu 406-449-9124
Student Regent Carter Jasper RegentJasper@montana.edu 406-449-9124

Administration

Administration Staff

Administration Staff
Name Email Phone
Commissioner of Higher Education, Clayton Christian cchristian@montana.edu 406-449-9125
Executive Assistant to the Commissioner, Jasmine Casanovas jcasanovas@montana.edu 406-449-9127
Galen Hollenbaugh, Deputy Commissioner for Government Relations and Communications ghollenbaugh@montana.edu 406-449-9167
Leanne Kurtz, Communications Director lkurtz@montana.edu 406-449-9151
Tamara Turner, Administrative Support Specialist tturner@montana.edu 406-449-9147

Academic, Research and Student Affairs

Academic, Research and Student Affairs Staff

Academic, Research and Student Affairs Staff
Name Email Phone
Interim Deputy Commissioner for Academic, Research, and Student Affairs, Joe Thiel jthiel@montana.edu 406-449-9134
Director of Online Initiatives, Susan Balter-Reitz susan.balterreitz@msubillings.edu 406-657-2214
Director of Transfer and Special Projects, Angela DeWolf King aking@montana.edu 406-449-9143
Student Success and Perkins Compliance Program Manager, Ciera Franks-Ongoy cfranksongoy@montana.edu 406-449-9132
Director of American Indian/Minority Achievement and K-12 Partnerships, Angela McLean amclean@montana.edu 406-449-9131
Director of Student Affairs and Student Engagement, Crystine Miller cmiller@montana.edu 406-449-9133
Perkins Program Manager, ML Rutherford mlrutherford@montana.edu 406-449-9128
Associate Director of Student Wellbeing, Amber Spring aspring@montana.edu TBD
CTE & Special Projects Data Specialist, Chase Stahl cstahl@montana.edu 406-449-9141
Director of Dual Enrollment and Career & Technical Education, Jacque Treaster jtreaster@montana.edu 406-449-9135
METS Pre-College Advisor (Lodge Grass & Hardin Area Public Schools), Collena Brown cbrown@montana.edu 406-639-2385
METS College Access Manager, Dawes Elwood delwood@montana.edu 406-449-9138
METS Pre-College Advisor II (Flathead Area Schools), Carla Guarisco cguarisco@montana.edu 406-275-4871
METS Pre-College Advisor (Great Falls Area Schools), Elizabethe Maloney-Barrett emaloneybarrett@montana.edu 406-268-6199
METS Pre-College Advisor (Pablo Area Public Schools), Mandy Moran mmoran@montana.edu 406-275-4871
METS Pre-College Advisor (Great Falls and Browning Area Public Schools), Annsley Pugh apugh@montana.edu 406-268-6199
METS Pre-College Advisor (Great Falls Area Schools), Rowland Wilber rwilber@montana.edu 406-268-6199
METS Program Specialist, Vacant 406-449-9137
EOC Outreach Advisor (Butte Area), Vacant eoc@montana.edu 406-389-7020
EOC Program Specialist, Vacant eoc@montana.edu 406-389-7020
EOC Outreach Advisor (Missoula Area), Vacant eoc@montana.edu 406-389-7020
Director, GEAR UP, Jeannie Origbo jorigbo@montana.edu 406-449-9139
GEAR UP Program Manager, John Kilgour jkilgour@montana.edu 406-449-9140
GEAR UP Senior Project Manager, Madie Moore mmoore@montana.edu 406-449-9129
GEAR UP Data Analysis Manager, Alex Sutherland asutherland@montana.edu 406-449-9174
GEAR UP Communication Manager, Jake Troyer jtroyer@montana.edu 406-449-9142
GEAR UP School Grant Manager, Karen Wilson kwilson@montana.edu 406-449-9144

Budget, Administration & Planning

Budget, Administration & Planning Staff

Budget, Administration & Planning Staff
Name Email Phone
Deputy Commissioner for Budget & Planning, Chief of Staff, Tyler Trevor ttrevor@montana.edu 406-449-9145
Accounting Manager, Jamie Dushin jdushin@montana.edu 406-449-9169
Accounting Specialist, Angelina Fillinger afillinger@montana.edu 406-449-9146
MUS Accountant, Chad Lee clee@montana.edu 406-449-9175
Director of Admissions & Enrollment Strategy, Scott Lemmon slemmon@montana.edu 406-449-9172
MUS Director of Budget & Planning, Shauna Lyons slyons@montana.edu 406-449-9126
Developer and Business Intelligence Manager, Eric Meredith emeredith@montana.edu 406-449-9165
Scholarship Coordinator, Sheila Newlun snewlun@montana.edu 406-449-9168
Chief Procurement Officer, Brian O'Connor boconnor@montana.edu 406-994-5016
Accounting Associate II, Morgan Sabol msabol@montana.edu 406-449-9153
OCHE IT Systems Administrator, Jared Smith jsmith@montana.edu 406-449-9152
Student Assistance Support Manager, Marlys Stark mstark@montana.edu 406-449-9130
MUS Director of Facilities Planning, Daniel Stevenson dstevenson@montana.edu 406-994-3622
MUS Chief Information Officer, John Thunstrom JThunstrom@mso.umt.edu 406-544-3822
Director of Student Assistance, Amy Unsworth aunsworth@montana.edu 406-449-9149
Director of Assurance, Risk Management, and Workers Compensation, Margaret Wallace mwallace@montana.edu 406-449-9148

Human Resources

Contact Information

Contact Information
Benefits Toll Free Fax Number
877-501-1722 406-449-9170

Human Resources Staff

Human Resources Staff
Name Email Phone
Executive Director for Human Resources, Kerry Davant kdavant@montana.edu 406-449-9154
Director of Human Resources & Labor Relations, Jackie Salveson jsalveson@montana.edu 406-449-9155
Associate Director of Employee Wellbeing, Karen Wood kwood@montana.edu 406-449-9156
Executive Director of Insurance & Benefits, Mary Lachenbruch mlachenbruch@montana.edu 406-449-9158
Wellness Program Manager/Fitness Specialist, Neal Andrews michael.andrews4@montana.edu 406-994-6111
Associate Director of Benefits, Amy Berry aberry@montana.edu 406-449-9159
Benefits Enrollment and Accounting Specialist, Chelsi Dupler cdupler@montana.edu 406-449-9160
Registered Nurse Case Manager, Joan Fabricius jfabricius@montana.edu 406-449-9161
Benefits and Wellness Specialist, Kelsey Hartzheim kelsey.hartzheim@montana.edu 406-994-5402
Benefits and Medicare Specialist and Training Expert, Jane Liedle jliedle@montana.edu 406-449-9162
Benefits Communications Manager, Kelley Shields kshields@montana.edu 406-449-9163
Benefits Specialist, Traci Swingley tswingley@montana.edu 406-449-9164

Legal Division

Legal Division Staff

Legal Division Staff
Name Email Phone
MUS Chief Legal Counsel, Ali Bovingdon abovingdon@montana.edu 406-449-9166
Associate Legal Counsel, Hannah Tokerud htokerud@montana.edu 406-449-9173