Division of Student Affairs

Dr. Sara Hinkle has dedicated three decades to advancing student success and engagement in higher education. Since 2013, she has served as a member of the Student Affairs executive team at West Chester University. Her career spans a wide range of leadership roles at 10 diverse institutions, where she developed broad expertise across nearly every functional area of student affairs.

A dynamic leader and scholar-practitioner, Dr. Hinkle earned her B.A. in Psychology from Gettysburg College, an M.S. in Counseling from Georgia State University, and a Ph.D. in Higher Education from Indiana University Bloomington. She has contributed extensively to the field through more than 50 national presentations and publications, focusing on student transitions, engagement, leadership, and feminist issues. Among her most notable contributions, she served as a research associate for Student Success in College: Creating Conditions That Matter (Kuh, Schuh, Whitt, & Associates, 2005, 2010), a landmark work in the student affairs profession.

Dr. Hinkle has also held leadership roles within ACPA – College Student Educators International and The National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition and remains a committed advocate for inclusive and impactful student development. A highlight of her career was sailing around the world as part of the Semester at Sea program—an experience that reflects her passion for transformative education.

Originally from the Midwest and shaped by life across the Northeast and South, Dr. Hinkle has made a home in West Chester, where she enjoys life with her son.

Cara Jenkins has devoted more than two decades to advancing inclusive leadership, student development, and community building in higher education. Since 2010, she has been a cornerstone of the Student Affairs team at West Chester University, where she currently serves as the Director of Special Projects and Professional Development.

Her professional journey spans multiple institutions, including Virginia Commonwealth University and Quinnipiac University, where she cultivated a deep expertise in fraternity and sorority life, student organization development, risk prevention, and inclusive programming. At West Chester, Cara led transformative initiatives including the development of anti-racist curricula in fraternity and sorority life, the creation of sustainable growth and risk mitigation policies and under her leadership, the university’s fraternity and sorority community grew by 74%, supported by expanded staffing and comprehensive leadership training programs.

Cara earned her B.A. in Sociology from Randolph-Macon College and her M.Ed. in Higher Education Administration and Student Affairs from the University of South Carolina. She has served in a variety of national facilitation and training roles with organizations such as LeaderShape, CAMPUSPEAK, the National Interfraternity Conference, and multiple fraternal organizations, shaping leadership education at both institutional and national levels. She has also served WCU on numerous university committees and planning teams focused on student policy, social justice, and leadership development. Her enduring commitment to student success is matched by her passion for community, equity, and the transformative power of involvement.

Originally from West Chester, she is the only person in her family without a WCU degree (for now!)  Cara resides in the Borough with her family – including her husband, also in higher education, and their two daughters.

Amanda Thomas is a first-gen college graduate with two decades of university experience in leading initiatives, policy development, strategic planning, a co-curricular transcript, conference and event planning, student development, experiential learning, institutional research, assessment, data governance, grant writing and budgeting.

Amanda holds a Master's in Higher Education Administration and Student Personnel from Kent State University and a Bachelor's of Business Administration in Management with a minor in Human Resources, also from Kent State. She has been certified in Social and Behavioral Research for more than a decade and is trained in Title IX advising, hearing boards, hazing, mental health first aid, and seizure recognition.

Amanda currently serves as the Director for Assessment and Strategic Planning in the Division of Student Affairs at West Chester University. Her previous institutions include Case Western Reserve University and Kent State University where she worked in Student Affairs Operations and Planning, Institutional Research, Quality Initiatives and Curriculum, a Research and Evaluation Bureau, and the colleges of Arts, Business, Communication and Information, and Nursing.

Amanda is a member of ACPA-College Student Educators International where she serves on the directorate board for the Senior-Level Community of Practice and previously as a directorate board member for the Commission on Assessment and Evaluation. Amanda was involved in the Student Affairs Assessment Institute from 2017-2020 and led the Institute as a co-chair in 2020. Under her leadership, SAAI adopted a curricular approach and expanded to include a third track for assessment leaders at the division and university level. She is also a member of the Society for College and University Planning and the Student Affairs Assessment Leaders professional organization. Most recently, she joined the Canadian Association of College and University Student Services Co-curricular Record Community of Practice.