Finance Office

Annette Parker

Annette Parker has worked in higher education since 1985, first in the classroom, then in financial administration and, most recently, in consulting roles. Ms. Parker’s portfolios have included the Business Office, Facilities Operations, Human Resources, Public Safety and Environmental Health and Safety, as well as managing outsourced and auxiliary programs and working closely with public area partners on downtown revitalization.

Ms. Parker joined Ursinus College in summer 2016 as Vice President for Finance and Administration, a position she held until her retirement in fall 2021. Since then, she has served as Interim VP Finance and Administration at Dickinson College (2021-2022) and Interim VP Finance and Administration at Ursinus College (2022-2023). She currently works with Ursinus’s VP Finance and Administration/CFO as consulting advisor on downtown revitalization and optimization of college-owned real estate.

A summa cum laude 1973 graduate of Dickinson College with a degree in Fine Arts and Art History, Ms. Parker returned to Dickinson in 1988 as Assistant Treasurer and, in March 1992, became Associate VP/Comptroller, before stepping up as VP/Treasurer in fall 1998. She received her MBA in accounting from Shippensburg University and served on the business and economics faculty at Wilson College after progressively responsible financial positions in state and local government prior to returning to her alma mater.

During Annette’s tenure as VP/CFO (1998-2010), Dickinson’s bond rating improved three steps from BBB+ to A+ (S&P), the highest rating in the College’s then 225-year history. During this time, the investment portfolio consistently produced top quartile returns, including rankings in the top seven percent of colleges and universities nationwide between 2006 and 2010. She retired from Dickinson College as CFO on December 31, 2010.

In 2011, Ms. Parker formed Causeway Consulting LLC, focusing on mission-driven strategic planning, branding, finances and investments with non-profits, private colleges and independent preparatory schools. In particular, she specialized in guiding non-profits through the process of assessing and developing the right support structures for endowment management. Her consulting led her to Richard Bland College of William and Mary, where her work spanned multiple areas from strategic planning and administrative reorganization in 2012-2013 to the 2013-2014 academic year as full-time VP for Finance and Administration. In August 2014, she moved back to independent education as CFOO at Cape Henry Collegiate, a large nationally ranked day school in Virginia Beach, Virginia, before returning in summer 2016 to private higher education as VP and CFO at Ursinus College.

Education

  • Dickinson College, BA in Fine Arts and Art History
  • Shippensburg University, MBA in Accounting