Presenters: Annual Spring Symposium – Spring 2022

Keynote Presenter: Dr. Courtney Plotts

Dr. Courtney Plotts is a certified/licensed school psychologist who writes and speaks about culturally responsive teaching practices for face-to-face and online spaces. She has written two books on Latino and Black culture and online spaces. She is currently the National Chair of the Council For At-Risk Student Education and Professional Standards and has been recognized by the California State Legislature for A Bold Commitment to Change and Education. She offers workshops on topics related to building community, effective culturally responsive teaching, and best practices. Dr. Plotts’ work was highlighted in the book Small Teaching Online by Flower Darby.

Dr. Emily Isaacs

Prof. Emily Isaacs specializes in writing pedagogy, writing assessment, and writing programming in higher education. Professor Isaacs’ scholarship is focused on best practices for writing instruction and administration, the national state of writing instruction and support at U.S. four-year universities, and teaching and learning in public higher education. Recently her articles have appeared in Pedagogy, College English, Writing Program Administration, Writing Center Journal, Journal of Teaching Writing and in several book collections. In addition, she is the author of three books, including most recently, Writing at the State U (Utah State UP).

Dr. Masela Obade

Dr. Obade provides technical expertise in quantitative research methods and statistical data analysis on various university projects and is currently collaborating with the Office of Faculty Advancement as a co-Principal Investigator on The High Impact Course Redesign Project. She manages national surveys for students, faculty and staff administered through the Office of Institutional Research and prepares and shares analytical reports and result visualizations with the campus community. She works closely with representatives of the Committee on University Effectiveness (CUE) to support Strategic Planning activities and also serves as member of the University’s Middle States Commission of Higher Education Accreditation and self-study process.

Abigail Hunte

Abigail Hunte is a Senior Technology Trainer in Instructional Technology and Design Services, a Division of Information Technology at Montclair State University. Abigail has over 15 years of experience providing technical training for adult learners in Corporate and Higher Education environments. As a lifelong learner, she enjoys helping people reach their learning goals and building confidence in their abilities.

Pam Fallivene

Pam Fallivene is a Lead Technology Trainer in the Instructional Technology and Design Services 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.

Joe Russo

Joe Russo is an Instructional Designer with Montclair State University. He previously worked at Montclair State’s ADP Center for Teacher Preparation & Learning Technologies. There he provided professional development for faculty, aspiring teacher education students, and P-12 classroom teachers, with a concentration on implementing innovative and practical methods for integrating new technologies in the classroom. He has an MA in Modern History and Literature from Drew University, as well as an MS in Library and Information Science, from the Pratt Institute.

Chris Petrillo

Chris Petrillo is an Instructional Designer with ITDS and an MSU alumni of the class of 2016 (BS in Biological Science). In addition to his regular course design, LMS support, and training duties, he enjoys finding creative ways to engage students with multimedia projects using free programs or tools such as iMovie and Anchor.fm.

Rosi Lamela

Rosi Lamela has been the Multimedia Specialist for Instructional Technology and Design Services at Montclair State University, since 2017. She has been involved in video, multimedia and photography for the last decade after receiving her BA in Broadcasting from MSU. She previously worked as a Video Specialist and Photographer in the Marketing and Communications Department for Berkeley College, and in the University Communications and Marketing Department at Montclair State. One of her key efforts is producing all video content for the Online MBA program and ITDS. Rosi contributes video and photography to a wide range of venues, including SXSW (Links to an external site.) and other national events.

Terry Steckowich

Terry Steckowich is an Instructional Technology Specialist with the Instructional Technology and Design Services (ITDS) at MSU. He assists both faculty and students with Canvas and other software and campus technologies. Terry also conducts training classes on Canvas and other campus technologies and enjoys making everyone feel at ease and confident in using them to promote online learning. He received his BA in Communications/Media Studies from UNC-Chapel Hill and previously worked there as well as Columbia Law School.

Dr. David Hood

David S. Hood, Ed.D., appointed in 2018, serves as Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education, founding Dean of University College, and a professor in the Educational Leadership department. At Montclair State, Dr. Hood leads general education reform and oversees undergraduate initiatives that impact student success including academic advising, the first-year experience, and the Honors and Presidential Scholars Programs. He comes to Montclair State as the next step in a professional journey that has spanned two decades at various levels of K-12 and higher education, both as a faculty member and as a member of the administration, at institutions including Elizabeth City State University, Virginia Union University, and Central Michigan University. He earned his doctorate in Administration and Supervision with a concentration in Higher Education from Tennessee State University.

Jane Sanchez Swain

Jane Sanchez Swain is the Assistant Director for Degree Completion Programs and an adjunct instructor at Montclair State University. She oversees the development and expansion of the Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies, Montclair’s new degree completion program for adults returning to finish their undergraduate degree. With over a decade of experience in higher education, Jane is passionate about student development and success. Prior to her current role, she served as an Academic Advisor in University College and was a recipient of the 2020-2021 Advising Excellence Award by the Office of the Provost. Jane is currently a doctoral student in the Family Science and Human Development PhD program at Montclair State University.

Dr. Pablo Tinio

Dr. Pablo P.L. Tinio is Chair of the Department of Educational Foundations at Montclair State University where he also heads the Creativity and Aesthetics Lab. He holds a Doctorate from the University of Vienna, Department of Psychology, an M.A. in Educational Psychology from Rutgers University, and an M.A. in Behavioral Science from Kean University. Dr. Tinio’s work is focused on the psychology of aesthetics, creativity, and the arts; arts and aesthetics in education; learning and engagement in cultural institutions; and gifted and talented education. He has conducted research in, and published scholarly works with, schools as well as museums such as the Whitney Museum of American Art, Art Institute of Chicago, Queens Museum, Contemporary Art Centre Andratx Spain, and Belvedere Museum of Vienna, among other institutions. He is Co-Editor of the Cambridge Handbook of the Psychology of Aesthetics and the Arts and past Editor of Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts.

Dr. Victoria T. Larson

Dr. Larson is professor of Classics (with a special interest in Latin Literature, classical reception, and the classical tradition) and Humanities. She is also Director of the Institute for the Humanities at Montclair State University.

Dr. Caroline Dadas

Caroline Dadas, associate professor and Director of First Year Writing, received a PhD in rhetoric and composition from Miami University. Her research interests include digital rhetorics, public sphere theory, professional writing, queer rhetorics, and civic participation. She teaches courses on rhetorical theory, digital writing, research methods, technical writing, and queer studies. She is the author of articles published in venues such as College Composition and Communication, Computers and Writing, New Media and Society, Composition Forum, Literacy in Composition Studies, and Computers and Composition Online. She is co-editor of the CCCC Lavender Award winning 2019 collection, Re/Orienting Writing Studies: Queer Methods, Queer Projects.

Susan Wright

Susan Dara Wright has been working at MSU for over 20 years in the English and Writing Studies Departments.  With a background in Writing Tutoring and coaching Returning Students and underprepared students, it was an easy move to using Labor Grading for the past four years in her classroom.  With a focus on at risk adult learning that developed from working  in the non-profit community, Susan brings to Labour Grading an understanding of the pressures that learners face and the challenges that college level learning asks of them.

Daniel Stratthaus

Daniel Stratthaus is the Lead Instructional Technologist of the Instructional Technology and Design Services team. He has 20 years of experience in Information Technology which includes roles as Systems Engineer, Team Lead and previous experience with systems administration, data migrations, various data integrations, development and technology training. Daniel has been with MSU IT for 11 years holding various positions. He is currently the primary administrator of Canvas, all of its integrations, as well as the other systems that the ITDS group manage. He works closely with the Instructional Designers and other groups within IT to ensure the learning management system, in addition to the instructional technology we support, helps deliver the best learning experience possible to the campus community. Daniel is a technology enthusiast and an advocate for anyone who wants to incorporate any kind of technology especially for learning.

Justin Savage

Justin Savage joined the Harry A. Sprague Library as a Reference Librarian in the Research and Reference Services Department in September 2021. Justin earned his MSLIS and Advanced Certificate in Archives and Records Management in 2018 from Long Island University and has worked part-time as a reference librarian at Montclair since 2019. He brings with him experience as a Public Librarian and Assistant Director of the Mountain Lakes Public Library. Justin’s research interests include information literacy, first-generation/non-traditional students and libraries, and archives.

Siobhan McCarthy

Siobhan McCarthy is a Reference Librarian at the Sprague Library. Her areas of responsibility include providing reference services, information literacy instruction, coordinating interlibrary services and document delivery, and serving as liaison to departments within the College of Science and Mathematics. Her research interests include scholarly communications, digital scholarship, science literacy and sustainability.

Catherine Baird

Catherine Baird provides leadership and support for online teaching and learning related to information literacy and library instruction. Her research focuses on understanding the behavior of information seekers and researchers and improving their online user experience. She blends this interest with a passion for teaching information literacy.