Welcome New AFSA Team Members
July 21, 2021
AFSA has had new hires in recent months, and so that you may get to know them a bit better, several are highlighted below.
Anna Norris – Faculty Affairs. Anna is one of two newly hired Faculty Affairs coordinators. Her primary responsibilities include faculty processing and assisting with faculty accreditation. She is a Tennessee native and began work at UTK in 2016 before transferring to UTHSC May 2020. Anna’s professional and personal journey to Memphis began when her spouse was accepted as a UTHSC dental student. Before joining AFSA, she was all things admin in the College of Health Professions and joined AFSA May 2021. Anna is currently working on her Masters in Higher Education Administration (HEAM), and only one of her current passions is to pursue her doctorate in HEAM. Anna and her husband, Zach, are proud parents to a 5-month-old Cava poodle named Archie. Anna always wanted to be a “doctor” because she had the mindset that she wanted to help people, and to do that, she thought she had to be in the medical field. That mindset was quickly changed when she realized she loathed needles… She learned that you could help people in many different capacities within a health field realm. Working in this higher education setting, she is a welcome resource to students, faculty, and fellow staff members.
Cathy Sanchez – Enrollment Management. Cathy is the Director of Financial Aid (FA). Cathy’s great attitude is brought alive when sharing that her job title, by definition, means she takes the heat if the Office of Financial Aid does not meet compliance obligations or meet student and College expectations. In actuality, she creates and edits processes to make work flows easier for the FA team while making financial aid more accessible to students. In addition to her Financial Aid undergraduate and graduate degree credentials, Cathy has an AA in Criminal Justice. She likes to investigate and solve problems and is passionate about serving the students (making their graduate school journey as stress free as is possible) and maintaining the integrity of the Office of Financial Aid. Cathy is originally from California, and, while living in Dallas, began work at UTHSC in February. She happily relocated to Memphis this month, July. Outside of work, Cathy is all about football. She’s a loyal Charger and OU (Boomer!) football fan.=
Kristi Forman – Faculty Affairs. Dr. Forman (who insists on being called Kristi) is Director of Faculty Affairs, a newly created AFSA position. She has a background in psychology, educational management, and recently conferred her doctorate in business administration with a management and leadership focus. Kristi joined UTHSC January 2021, and shares that she landed on the higher education career path by accident as she initially served as an Academic/Admissions counselor for an adult degree program at a different Memphis institution. She fell in love with the work and the people. In her current role, she manages processes related to all faculty at UTHSC. This includes faculty appointments, annual reviews, post tenure reviews, promotion and tenure, and recognition programs. She also serves as a partner to the Faculty Senate. Another one of her important roles is maintaining accurate faculty data in IRIS and Digital Measures. Kristi loves helping people recognize their strengths and weaknesses and hearing their stories about why and how they’ve landed in life as well as their unique experiences that shape who they’ve become. With that lens, Kristi shares that perfection is in the eye of the beholder as we all see the world and its many imperfections from our own vantage points.
Please extend a warm welcome to these newest team members, and congratulate them on taking the next step in their careers. We are so fortunate they’re sharing their talents within AFSA and campus wide!