He began his career at Saint Mary's as an admissions officer and has also served as director of admissions and assistant vice president for research, planning, and technology.

 Michael oversaw the creation of Saint Mary's first integrated marketing plan, established its first offices of institutional research and college communications, created the college's first technology plan, and led renewal of the institutional web site.  His efforts have resulted in the academically most able and diverse entering classes in Saint Mary’s 150 year history.  In addition to his work at Saint Mary’s, he has been a national leader in the effort to combat the commercialization of college admissions through his service as a founding Board member of the Education Conservancy.  He is the author of College Admission as if Learning Mattered in College Unranked: Ending the College Admission Frenzy (Harvard University Press, 2005) 

Michael graduated Summa Cum Laude from Saint Mary's College with a BA in the Integral Curriculum of the Liberal Arts, earned his master's degree in World and Comparative Literature from San Francisco State University, and did additional graduate study in Higher Education Policy at UCB.