Washington, D.C. – The Board of Directors of the Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council (PESC) has announced that after over 20 years of his work within PESC and the education sector, Michael Sessa will be stepping down from his position as PESC President and CEO, effective September 11, 2023.

The PESC Board is grateful for his unwavering loyalty and will recognize his ongoing commitment to the work of PESC with an honorary lifetime PESC Membership and the new title of President Emeritus. Michael will continue to be a part of the PESC community as he seeks new opportunities outside of his PESC voluntary efforts.

Michael Sessa was instrumental in bringing the education community together to foster data exchange standards that are impacting every higher education institution and millions of learners each year. We are thankful for his leadership, dedication, and persistence leading our voluntary efforts to augment how we build interoperability into our data systems, said Francisco Valines, Director of Financial Aid at Florida International University and former PESC Chair and Vice Chair.

Michael has led hundreds of workgroup and user group meetings, posted and published hundreds of articles on blogs, newsletters and initiatives hosted by major industry convenings and private foundations, and participated in CEDS, Credential Engine and T3 convergence between education and workforce stakeholders. Michael has also advocated for Data Standards United (DSU) with the Access 4 Learning (A4L) Community, bringing together standards bodies to consider partnerships and joint efforts. He is a trailblazer, no doubt! summarized Doug Falk, former PESC Chair and CIO of National Student Clearinghouse. 

The PESC Board Leadership, made of David Moldoff as Chair, Monterey Sims as Vice Chair, Ruth Blades as Secretary, and Kristi Blabaum as Treasurer, will continue; as will Jennifer Kim as Director of Membership Services. PESC will be supported by the team at AcademyOne for business management (Joyce Selke), website support (Steve Mincer), marketing support (Michelle Thornal) and coordination across all services (Michael McIntyre), for the next six months as the Board reassess roles and activities aligned with the PESC mission and direction. 

Please join us in wishing Michael success in his future endeavors.