Summer Institute Presenters

Catherine Baird is the University Libraries Online and Outreach Services Librarian. Catherine has been a member of the Research and Reference Services Department since 2014. She is the liaison to the Communication Sciences and Disorders, Counseling, Educational Foundations, Educational Leadership, and Linguistics departments. Catherine’s areas of research interest include bullying in academic libraries and critical information literacy.

Jacob Bilek joined the Harry A. Sprague Library as a Reference & Instruction Librarian for STEM in the Research and Reference Services Department in February 2024. He brings with him experience as a Social Sciences Librarian and Medical Library Specialist from East Tennessee State University. Jacob is the liaison to the School of Nursing as well as the Mathematics and Chemistry & Biochemistry departments. His research interests include health information literacy and research data management.

Earl Brown is an experienced educator and executive with a passion for fostering student engagement and success in higher education. Currently serving as an Instructional Specialist at Montclair State University’s School of Business, Earl teaches courses in Strategic Business Communications while also providing strategic planning, development, and support to colleges, school districts, and community organizations as the Founder and Executive Director of Earl Brown Education Consulting (EBEC).
With a background in higher education spanning over a decade, Earl brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to his role. He holds bachelor’s degrees in both Business Management and Economics, as well as a master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA). He has served in various leadership positions, including Campus Director/COO and Executive Director at Berkeley College.

In addition to his work in academia and workforce readiness, Earl is committed to continuous learning and professional development. He is an active participant in conferences and seminars, regularly presenting on topics related to student engagement, leadership development, and career readiness. Earl’s dynamic and engaging presentations inspire educators and professionals to create inclusive and supportive learning environments that promote student success.

As a thought leader in the field of education, Earl is passionate about driving positive change and innovation. Through his consultancy work at EBEC (www.ebedc.com), he collaborates with organizations to develop customized programs and workshops that address the evolving needs of today’s learners. Earl’s strategic approach and dedication to empowering student and adult learners is evident through his commitment to excellence. He is deeply invested in supporting educational institutions and organizations, particularly those focused on enhancing student engagement and achieving measurable outcomes.

Dr. Christie Cruse is an Associate Professor of Business. She teaches in the areas of leadership, ethics, conflict resolution, and organizational behavior. She developed and is in charge of the Organizational Leadership Certificate Program at Bloomfield College of Montclair State University. Her past experience includes creating new and innovative guest satisfaction programs for the Walt Disney World Company. In addition, she was a cast member orientation facilitator which focused on the teaching of Disney’s culture, traditions, values, and mission to new employees. Dr. Cruse was chosen as a recipient of the Rockland County 40 Under 40 Award which recognizes 40 individuals under the age of 40 in Rockland County that have made a positive impact in the community and in their workplace.

Joe Yankus is an Instructional Designer on the ITDS team with about 10 years of experience in higher education. He collaborates with faculty to design courses for undergraduate and graduate programs, and enjoys ideating and facilitating various faculty development initiatives. Joe has a B.A. in Communication Studies & Sociology and a M.A. in Instructional Design & Technology, both from Seton Hall University. He is also a part-time faculty member at Rutgers University, where he teaches an undergraduate Public Speaking course.

Gina Policastro is an Instructional Designer with ITDS and an MSU Alumnus (BA English Education). As a Montclair State student, Gina was the captain of the soccer team her senior year and broke multiple records as the team’s goalkeeper. She is passionate about building community in online environments and providing instruction on blended learning engagement strategies. Gina holds an MI in Library and Information Science from Rutgers University and a Graduate Certificate in Instructional Design from Drexel University.

Dr. Dana Levitt is a professor and co-director for the graduate counseling program. She has been a counselor educator for more than a decade. Dr. Levitt is a past member of the American Counseling Association’s Ethics Committee and has served in several leadership roles. As part of her work with master’s and doctoral counseling students, Dr. Levitt is an advocate for critical reflection in the ethical decision-making process and working in the best interests of populations that counselors serve. In addition to ethics, Dr. Levitt has expertise in scholarship and teaching in counselor development, religious issues in counseling, gender issues, and body image/eating disorders.

Pam Fallivene is a Lead Technology Trainer in the ITDS group and has been at Montclair State University for 22 years feeding her passion for teaching and helping others to improve their skills. She supports the campus community on Canvas as well as other teaching and learning technologies.

Kevin Handeli, Web Services and Systems Specialist for University Libraries, has been with Montclair State University since February 2023. His areas of expertise include website and application development, website accessibility, and library systems. Prior to his role at Montclair he worked as a web developer in private industry and also as a math educator in public schools. He is an alumnus of Montclair holding both an M.S. in Computer Science and a B.S in Mathematics Education.

Dr. Sudha Wadhwani is a NJ Licensed Psychologist who joined the CAPS team in 2006, after working as Multicultural Outreach Coordinator at Mount Holyoke College Counseling Center for 6 years prior. She has served as co-chair of the New Jersey Psychological Association (NJPA) Diversity Committee; NJPA Diversity Delegate; and as a founding Steering Committee member and member of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee of the National Association for University and College Counseling Center Outreach (AUCCCO). Dr. Wadhwani was recently awarded an Inclusive Excellence Award by the Montclair State University Office for Social Justice and Diversity (OSJD) for her commitment to promoting social justice initiatives, in addition to several Red Ribbon awards for building collaborations on campus. She has a passion for developing and implementing outreach, prevention, and community programs for underserved populations in order to improve racial health disparities and increase access to care. She coordinates the Let’s Talk program, Sister to Sister, Agents of Change, and facilitates Mosaic Women and Connecting Across Cultures drop-in groups.

Dr. Rui Li is a tenure-track assistant professor in the School of Computing. She is the director of the Multimodal Interaction and Affective Computing Lab (MIAC Lab). Dr. Li’s research focuses on Multimodal Human-Machine Interaction, encompassing multimodal information processing for immersive interaction, intelligent interactive systems for vehicles and robots, and affective computing for friendly human-machine interaction. Her research is currently funded by the National Science Foundation and was honored with the ASME DSCC Robotics TC Best Paper Award. Dr. Li is particularly interested in the interdisciplinary study of human behaviors and emotions, and she actively integrates it into her research on multimodal human-machine interaction. Dr. Li is a member of IEEE and ACM. She is also a member of the IEEE Women in Engineering.

Dr. Pavlo Lushyn is a Ukrainian psychologist renowned for his profound insights into human behavior and resilience in the face of adversity. With a Ph.D. in Psychology, Dr. Lushyn has dedicated over three decades to studying and teaching the dynamics of personal and organizational change. His pioneering research explores how individuals and groups navigate the complexities of transformative periods, making significant contributions to both theoretical and applied psychology.

Dr. Lushyn is a celebrated author and speaker, having published more than 200 articles and books that discuss the psychological mechanisms of coping with chaos and embracing change. His work emphasizes the importance of staying true to oneself during tumultuous times, advocating for a balanced approach to personal development and psychological well-being.

Dr. Lushyn serves as a research professor at Montclair State University’s Department of Educational Foundations (EDFD). He is the innovator behind the therapeutic approach known as “psychological eco-facilitation,” through which he uses his theories to assist individuals and groups in crafting strategies for resilience and growth.

Dr. Catherine Keohane is interim Associate Director for Teaching and Learning for the Office for Faculty Development. Dr. Keohane has a Ph.D. in English from Rutgers University. She has designed and taught upper- and lower-division literature and composition courses, and has experience teaching in multiple modalities. She has presented on student engagement at MLA, and recently has begun to develop open-educational resources that work to mitigate financial barriers to students’ success.

Dr. Kimberly Killmer Hollister is the Dean for the Feliciano School of Business and a Full Professor in the Department of Information & Operations Management. Prior to joining Montclair State in 1999, as an Assistant Professor, she held a Lecturer position at the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania. In her role as Dean, Dr. Hollister is responsible for overseeing both administrative and academic affairs for the Feliciano School of Business. Dr. Hollister’s research focuses on Educational Program Assessment and Applied Operations Management. Her works have appeared in European Journal of Operational Research, Journal of Informatics and Education Research, Journal of Accountancy, Journal of Business & Economic Studies, Review of Business Research, Journal of Academy of Business and Economics, and the Journal of Business and Economics Research. Her teaching experience includes courses in both statistics and management information systems. Dr. Hollister earned her Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania; she also holds a B.S.E and M.S.E in Systems Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Lucy Sant’Anna Takagi earned her Master’s in Educational Psychology with a concentration on Child and Adolescent Clinical Psychology from Montclair State University in 1999. She received her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology (GSAPP) at Rutgers University in May, 2006. Dr. Takagi has worked clinically with inner-city, ethnically, financially and culturally diverse populations and with adult and child victims of sexual abuse. She is a trained forensic evaluator and has done assessments and treatments of victims impacted by abuse and neglect. She has testified as an expert and fact witness in New Jersey’s civil courts. Dr. Takagi has also worked forensically, evaluating undocumented immigrants applying for documentation. Currently, she paused her forensic work, and is only doing clinical adult work because of her other work commitments.

Dr. Joseph O. Oluwole, J.D. Ph.D., is a Professor of Education Leadership and Chair of the Department of Educational Leadership at Montclair State University. His scholarly interests include the constitutional and statutory rights and responsibilities of students, teachers, and public school districts. In addition to being a scholar, he is an attorney-at-law. Dr. Oluwole has published several articles analyzing laws and policies affecting education and presented at various venues nationally including the University Council for Educational Administration, the Education Law Association, University of Iowa College of Law, Stanford Law School, and the American Education Research Association. He was the 2006 recipient of the Emerging Scholar Award from the American Educational Research Association, Law and Education Special Interest Group. He has coordinated the Online Program, Offsite Program, and Fast Track Program in the Department of Educational Leadership.

Tara Campos (M.A., Educational Leadership, Saint Peter’s University) is the Program Administrator and Advisor for the nationally recognized Online Program for Educational Leadership. She was born and raised in New Jersey and earned her B.A. in Journalism from Rutgers University. Tara started her career at The Record newspaper as a news desk clerk and left as an award-winning staff writer. She later started a career as a high school English teacher, and eventually a K-12 school administrator — a collective 15 years of experience in New Jersey’s smallest and largest public school districts. Tara joined the Educational Leadership Department at Montclair State University in 2018. The online program she oversees has been ranked among the Top 10 nationwide and number one in New Jersey by US News & World Report. Tara also teaches online classes for the program.

Dr. Chantelle K. Wright serves as the executive director for Experiential Education and Career Connections at Montclair State University. She has 15 years of experience in college career counseling, particularly with multi-ethnic and multi-generational populations. Most recently, she served as the director for the Center for Career & Professional Development at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City, overseeing the career services for all students and alumni. Dr. Wright previously served as an associate director at John Jay College managing employer relations, internships and career education. Prior to her roles at John Jay, she was the career and transfer advisor at Bronx Community College and worked as an adjunct lecturer and internship coordinator at LaGuardia Community College. Dr. Wright received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Morgan State University, her master’s in psychological counseling from Teachers College, Columbia University, and her doctorate of education in leadership for organizations from the University of Dayton.

Hello, I’m Kaylee Clark, your Customer Success Manager at Poll Everywhere. I’m here to ensure you get the most out of our student engagement system. With a passion for problem solving and a commitment to your success, I am your go-to resource for effective use cases in the classroom and Poll Everywhere tips and tricks. Let’s make your presentations more engaging and impactful for students together!

Dr. Elaine Gerber is a medical anthropologist and disability studies scholar at Montclair State University in New Jersey, and former Senior Research Associate at the American Foundation for the Blind. Her work examines the intersection between culture and the body, understanding disability as a social construction and a key lens through which to examine culture. There are both theoretical contributions and practical applications to Dr. Gerber’s work. Some of her more recent projects focus on disability culture and blind theater, the intersection of food and disability, and of course, audio description. Dr. Gerber also serves as Vice President of the Montclair State University Disability Caucus and is the advisor for the student-led DREAM (Disability Rights, Education, Activism, and Mentoring) group on campus.

Judy Lieff’s passion is to explore the possibilities of storytelling across different media and platforms, and to empower students and audiences to engage with social and cultural issues through film. She has earned an MA in Interactive Media from NYU and an MFA in Interdisciplinary Studies from CalArts, following a career as a professional dancer. She has received multiple awards and grants for her film projects, and has worked as a motion capture and stop-motion performer and choreographer on projects such as Terry Gilliam’s “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” and Pat O’Neil’s “The Decay of Fiction”. She has also been an envoy for the American Film Showcase, a cultural diplomacy program that brings American films and filmmakers to audiences around the world. Judy is a filmmaker and member of New Day Films, a filmmaker-run distribution company providing social issue documentaries to educators since 1971.

Dr. John Soboslai is an Assistant Professor in the department of Religion. He received his PhD from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2016, when he began teaching at Montclair State. His scholarship centers around religion and violence, particularly cultures of self-sacrifice in various traditions. His first solo-authored book, Constructing Religious Martyrdom is currently under contract with Cambridge University Press. In 2022, he served as the Project Director for the Seeing What Takes Place NEH Digital Humanities Advancement grant, exploring the use of immersive media and extended reality in teaching about religious practices.

Heather Edwards is an adjunct instructor in the Department of Social Work and Child advocacy with over eight years of experience teaching in higher education. She has taught in-person, synchronously online, and asynchronously online, and her courses tend to be related to social welfare policy, research methods, and child welfare. Heather has used Google Meet, WebEx, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and InSpace to meet with students, and she is excited about sharing her love of InSpace with others.

Lynette Surie walked into Montclair State a starry-eyed freshman one rainy September morning in 1997 and never left. She has taught developmental and first-year writing for nearly 20 years but makes her living as the Associate Director for Global Marketing Compliance at KPMG International, reviewing endless content, attending endless Teams meetings, and finding endless opportunity to mitigate potential risk and protect a global brand across 143 countries. She recently completed a certificate in AI Strategy at Cornell and speaks on the ethical use of AI and human-AI collaboration. Lynette believes in the power of storytelling and helps hone that power in her students.

Dr. Courtney Crimmins is an Adjunct Faculty member in the Department of World Languages and Cultures, where she teaches German. Her approach to teaching is based in collaborative, project-based learning. In both the face-to-face and online courses she teaches, students work together in small learning groups, explore authentic digital resources, and use technology to learn the language. Courtney has a Ph.D. in Germanic Language and Literature from the University of Michigan.

Tim Pure arrived at Montclair State University in the spring of 2023. For much of the past fifteen years, Tim has worked in higher education in the field of disability services. Tim holds his masters degree from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, where he studied in the Mind, Brain, and Education program. His research interests include transition planning for students ages 14-21, as well as efforts to improve campus climate for students, faculty, and staff with disabilities.

Dr. Monica Glina is Assistant Dean for Faculty Development, Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Director of the Medical Education concentration at New York Medical College. She has a master’s degree in Applied Linguistics from Boston University and a doctorate in pedagogy. She was awarded a post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Educational Research at the University of Oslo in Norway. She has extensive experience conducting educational research and has served as senior research associate, project director and discourse coach on a number of grants sponsored by the Department of Education, Institute of Education (IES), the National Academy of Education, the Spencer Foundation and the Templeton Foundation. She has published on and has specific expertise in classroom discourse, democratic pedagogy and teacher education. Her book entitled Relationships of Reciprocity, which will be released this fall, addresses many of these themes. She is also an adjunct instructor in the Department of Educational Foundations at Montclair State University and has prepared curricula for a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses, such as Psychological Foundations of Education, Assessment of Learning, Methods of Research and Testing and Evaluation.

Michelle Muldowney-Stevens is the Manager of Customer Success at Cidi Labs. She holds a Master’s degree in Learning Technologies & Instructional Design from Utah State University with Certificates in Museum Studies, Natural Resources & Environmental Education. Michelle has extensive experience in military and higher education and is interested in the design of student centered learning approaches and interactive environments in education.

Pam Fallivene is a Lead Technology Trainer in the ITDS group and has been at Montclair State University for 22 years feeding her passion for teaching and helping others to improve their skills. She supports the campus community on Canvas as well as other teaching and learning technologies.

Abigail Hunte is a Senior Technology Trainer with over 15 years of experience providing technical training to adult learners in Corporate and Higher Education environments. She enjoys being part of the ITDS team and helping to serve the greater Montclair State community.