Averee Deck Selected for the 2026-27 CUPA-HR Ignite Program Cohort

Averee Deck, human resources operations specialist at John Brown University, has been selected from 268 applicants to participate in the 2026-27 CUPA-HR Ignite program, a 12-month leadership development experience designed for early-career higher education human resources professionals.

Deck and her 12-person cohort will develop their professional skills through tailored learning experiences - including mentorship, learning events and courses, and the completion of a project showcasing the insights they gain throughout the year - and will be connected to higher education leaders experienced in areas that align with their professional development goals.

"I am most excited to participate in the experiential learning parts of the program," Deck said. "I've spent much of my professional journey earning degrees through classroom learning, so I am grateful for the opportunity to branch out into more personal, one-on-one mentorship and connection with peers and leaders in the higher education space."

Deck and the other program participants were selected based on their HR strengths, the development areas they identified in their program applications and their interest in and commitment to the program.

"We are so pleased to welcome this outstanding group of early career higher ed HR professionals as our 2026-27 Ignite cohort," said CUPA-HR President and Chief Executive Officer Andy Brantley, Ed.D. "The next 12 months will be transformative as they engage in an immersive leadership journey with one another and higher ed HR leaders from across the country."

CUPA-HR's Ignite program is led by outstanding current and past CUPA-HR leaders and national office staff and made possible in part thanks to support from HigherEdJobs.

CUPA-HR serves higher education by providing the knowledge, resources, advocacy and connections to achieve organizational and workforce excellence. Serving more than 23,000 HR professionals and other higher ed leaders at more than 1,700 member organizations around the country and abroad, the association offers learning and professional development programs, higher education salary, benefits and demographic.

John Brown University is a leading private Christian university, training students to honor God and serve others since 1919. Arkansas' top-ranked regional university (U.S. News) and No. 2 private university (The Wall Street Journal), JBU enrolls more than 2,500 students from 34 states and 43 countries in its traditional undergraduate, graduate, online and concurrent education programs. JBU offers over 50 undergraduate majors, with top programs including business, nursing, visual arts, engineering, teacher education, psychology, computer science, construction management, graphic design, family and human services, and engineering. Twelve graduate degrees are available in business, counseling and cybersecurity.

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