Speakers
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
David Gooblar [he/him/his]
David Gooblar is an assistant professor in the departments of English and Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies at the University of Iowa. He is the author of The Missing Course: Everything They Never Taught You About College Teaching (Harvard University Press, 2019) and The Major Phases of Philip Roth (Continuum, 2011), and the co-editor, with Aimee Pozorski, of Roth After Eighty: Philip Roth and the American Literary Imagination (Lexington 2016). Since 2013 he has written about college teaching for The Chronicle of Higher Education.
SESSION SPEAKERS
Melissa Barlett [she/hers]
Associate Professor in Life Sciences, MVCC
Melissa Barlett, better known to her students as Dr. B, is an Associate Professor in Life Sciences at Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica, NY. She has a PhD in aquatic microbial ecology from Kent State University, and BS in biology from Allegheny College. She has been teaching biology for the last 10 years, mostly to students who think they are not very good at science. She is also the Chair of the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) group, Co-Chair of the LGBTQ Workgroup, and a member of the Diversity Council, the General Education committee, and the Institutional Effectiveness Council. She is currently serving as alternate delegate to the Faculty Council of Community Colleges (FCCC
Merryn Clay [she/her]
Office of Global Initiatives, TC3
Merryn Clay joined the Office of Global Initiatives in 2016 after teaching ESL and English at Tompkins Cortland for many years prior. She coordinates Tompkins Cortland’s Academic Exchange at the Walt Disney World Resort, in which students from international partner universities earn academic credit while gaining work experience in Orlando, Florida. Merryn also works closely with TC3’s dual-degree programs, supports the team in furthering the internationalization of the College, assists with Study Abroad programs, and currently serves as a DSO and ARO. She holds a B.A. in History and Spanish from Rutgers University and an M.A. in Applied Linguistics from Teachers College, Columbia University. Prior to moving back to the New York area from which she hails, Merryn lived in Ecuador and Chile for a number of years, where she taught EFL and attempted to become fluent in Spanish.
Sim Covington [he/his]
Chief Diversity Officer, FLCC
A 16+ year veteran of the State University of New York (SUNY), Dr. Sim J. Covington Jr.’s tenure within higher education is well established. Relocating to New York’s Capital District to begin his undergraduate and graduate studies, while at the University at Albany Sim went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, a Master of Science in Rehabilitation Counseling, a Certificate of Advanced Study in School Counseling, and a Master of Science in Educational Administration & Policy Studies – Higher Education Leadership. His professional career started at his alma mater as the Assistant Director/Internship Coordinator of the University at Albany Career Development Center, where he also served in the Advisement Services Center for Undergraduate Studies. A proud six-time graduate of the SUNY system, Sim went on to complete his MBA in Technology Management at SUNY Polytechnic Institute, as well as his Advanced Graduate Certificate in Human Resource Management at Empire State College. For his doctoral training, Sim completed his Ed.D. in Higher Education Administration at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. A National Conference On Race & Equity (NCORE) attendee and member of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE), Sim is also a former Diversity Chair for the Mohawk Valley Society for Human Resource Management (MVSHRM). In spring 2018, Sim joined Finger Lakes Community College (FLCC) as their inaugural Chief Diversity Officer and is responsible for supporting all aspects of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion within various segments of the institution. Focusing on climate, policy, curriculum, programming and recruitment, Sim works to advance diversity and equity within institutional units in support of organizational sustainability. Since Sim’s hire, diversity applicants for employment has increased 50% at the college, and the FLCC has also set record numbers on the national level as a community college for their DEI campus climate survey response. A proud proponent of world-class executive education, Sim has completed programs at Harvard Business School, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Yale School of Management, Columbia Business School, the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business, UCLA Anderson School of Management, University of Southern California Marshall School of Business, and Stanford Graduate School of Business. As an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Social Sciences, Sim continues to promote intellectual curiosity and social justice. Among his many accolades, he was in the first class of the National Inclusive Excellence Leadership Academy (NIXLA), in addition to being a member of Sigma Alpha Pi, National Society of Leadership and Success. A distinguished brother of the Albany (NY) Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. and recognized as a Lifetime Member on the Grand Chapter level, Sim is also a member of the Canandaigua Rotary Club.
Shannon Crocker
Assistant Professor, MVCC
Shannon Crocker teaches Anatomy and Physiology, Nutrition, Ecology, and General Biology. She earned a Masters Degrees in Biology from the University of South Alabama. Shannon has served as MVCC’s Guided Pathways facilitator since the 2017-2018 academic year and has been involved with MVCC’s Guided Pathways Steering Council, Integrated Advising Workgroup, college-wide curriculum review and program mapping. In the 2018-19 academic year, she worked to coordinate communication of Guided Pathways work with many constituents on campus including College Senate and Faculty Caucus. She is also serves in MVCC Strategic Planning Council, Senate, Faculty Caucus, and Curriculum Committee.
Kerry Curran [she/her]
Associate Professor, TC3
Kerry Curran has been teaching at Tompkins Cortland Community College since 2012. Eight years before that, she was a high school English teacher, in both private and public schools. She was the recipient of the SUNY Excellence Award in Teaching in 2020. Kerry currently serves as Coordinator of Developmental English, helps spearhead the college’s voter registration efforts, serves as a BRAVE Dialogue facilitator, and recently became the master of finding Covid vaccination appointments for her extended family, friends, and colleagues, a talent she believes she developed in the late 80s and 90s while trying to score concert tickets from Ticketmaster.
Jeff Dugan [he/him]
Instructional Designer, FLCC
Jeff Dugan has been working in the online learning department at Finger Lakes Community College for three years. Prior to his time at FLCC he worked in the field of web marketing and search engine optimization and specialized in web accessibility. While working as an instructional designer, he has earned several credentials in accessibility and his master’s in adult education. When it comes to working with making content more accessible, he believes that the barriers that exist for students are not always overly apparent and you may never know how some small changes can completely change the learning experience.
Aaron Fried [he/him]
Associate Professor of Anatomy and Physiology, MVCC
Professor Fried has been teaching anatomy and physiology, neuroanatomy, and general biology at the higher education level since 2001. He holds MS degrees in Science Teaching and Instructional Design. Aaron has been Chair of MVCCs College-Wide Curriculum Committee for the past 9 years and has led a number of college-wide initiatives in the past few years including a campus wide program mapping project and development and deployment of an equity scorecard for academic programs at MVCC. In May 2020, he was a recipient of the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Service.
Derrick Gentry
Assistant Professor of Humanities, FLCC
Derrick received his Ph.D. in English from the CUNY Graduate Center in 2014. In addition to the history of the essay, Derrick's interests include the history of nature writing and the future of the genre in the Anthropocene. For the past two years, he has published a monthly series of essays exploring agrarian themes.
Jocelyn Ireland [she/her]
Instructional Design Librarian, MVCC
Jocelyn has been the Instructional Design Librarian at Mohawk Valley Community College since 2016. She is the president-elect of the SUNY Librarians Association (June 2021-June 2022). Jocelyn received a BA in History and English from Albion College (MI) and a MSIS from SUNY Albany. Her interests include running 5Ks at turtle speed, reading historical fiction, universal design for learning, OERs, and educational technology tools.
Trevor Johnson-Steigelman [he/him]
Assistant Professor of Physics, FLCC
Dr. Trevor Johnson-Steigelman teaches College Physics I and II, University Physics I and II, and The Physics of Sound. He serves as the Assessment Committee Chair and as Coordinator of the technology programs at FLCC.
Trevor teaches in-person, online, remotely, and is planning to teach HyFlex in the near future. He spearheaded the adoption of OER and LCM textbooks for physics courses at FLCC to reduce student costs and to ensure student access to materials from the first day of class.
In addition to teaching physics, he is highly interested in ways that instructors can be proactive in terms of accessibility.
Justine Lewis [she/her/hers]
Adjunct Assistant Professor, TC3
I am a researcher and practitioner with a focus on refugee integration, social impact and social capital measurement, and public affairs. Before following my heart to academia to become grounded in evidence-based research, I was a Public Affairs Specialist and Acting Deputy Director of Public Engagement, working for the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Bureau for Legislative and Public Affairs. I joined USAID in 2014 as a Presidential Management Fellow (PMF). As a PMF, I also served a five-month tour with the Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration at the Embassy of the United States in Nepal, as well as the Embassy’s Political and Economic section. I returned after the April 25, 2015 earthquake, where I worked supporting USAID/Nepal’s communications efforts. Prior to my work at USAID, I completed a Master’s in Public Administration (2013) from Cornell University’s Cornell Institute for Public Affairs. I hold an additional Masters in Human Development (2011) from Cornell University’s School of Human Ecology. I graduated in 2010 from Ithaca College with a BA in Sociology. I am also a TC3 alumna, with an AAS in Human Services (2008). In 2020, I completed my PhD from Binghamton University.
Crystal Lyon
Adjunct Instructor, TC3
Crystal Lyon is the Professional Digital Media and Art Tutor and Adjunct Instructor in the Graphic Design Department at Tompkins Cortland Community College and an Artist and Creative Advocate. Accessibility to creativity is at the core of her teaching. She draws on her various experiences in working with both traditional and digital media to support artists/designers and non-artists/designers exploring creativity and visual communication. As a creative advocate, she has collaborated with creatives across disciplines and strives to make the local arts community more diverse, inclusive, and interactive. She is the recipient of the 2021 Distinguished Alumni Award at Tompkins Cortland Community College.
Todd Marshall [he/him/his]
Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer, MVCC
Todd Alden Marshall graduated and received his Master's Degree in General Linguistics and Slavic Linguistics 1993, and a Ph.D. in Slavic Studies from Cornell University in 2002. He has taught Russian, French, and English as a Second Language for many years. In 2011 he started working at MVCC as instructor in English as a Second Language, and later French. Recently, he became MVCC’s first Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer/CDO.
Anndrea Mathers
Associate Professor, TC3
Anndrea Mathers, Ph.D., teaches composition classes, communication courses, literature, and gender and sexuality courses. She is on the Diversity Equity Action Council and TC3’s Guided Pathways Steering Committee, and is the Chair of the College Teaching Center Board. As a mentor with the Vector Network Program, she gets to spend time with first generation college students from a range of backgrounds. She is passionate about community colleges and sees them as a bridge for students to prepare for their next steps in their education and vocation. She received her doctorate in Rhetoric and Public Culture from Northwestern University, her MA in English Studies from University of Illinois at Chicago, and her BA in English Literature from Bryan College.
Karen Miller
Coordinator of Global Partnerships and Programs, TC3
International exchange was first introduced to me when my family hosted an exchange student from Tokyo, Japan when I was 12 years old. I have since dedicated my life and career to international education, with more than 10 years’ experience working with academic exchange, ESL, and internationalization. I hold an A.A. in Speech Communication from Angelina College and B.A. in Communication Studies and Sociology from Sam Houston State University, both in my home state of Texas, and an M.A. in International Higher Education from Boston College. After teaching ESL and living in Mexico for three years, I worked in Boston and New York City running grant-funded ESL programs. I actively research internationalization at community colleges, higher education in developing countries, and partnerships for immigrant success at community colleges. I joined the Office of Global Initiatives at TC3 in 2020 as the coordinator for our Global Connections program. My primary responsibilities are supporting students in our dual degree programs, coordinating with partners at foreign institutions, and developing internationalization at home initiatives for the College.
Nasim Sarvaiya [she/her]
Assistant Professor of Human Services, FLCC
I came to FLCC in August 2016 after working in social work for most of my career. Working with clients in the field sometimes required a bit of outside-of-the-box thinking if change wasn't occurring. This type of thinking was necessary when the pandemic hit in March 2020. From March 2020 until May 2020, the sudden transition to all remote with traditionally based assignments consisting of research papers, quizzes, homework assignments, etc. was very challenging for me and the students. I did not want to repeat the platform of Spring 2020 in Fall 2020.
During Summer of 2020 I, like many in academia, had to come up with creative ways to engage students in an all virtual platform. I began researching ways to supplement the humdrum powerpoint lectures. During my research I came across a few applications which I've integrated into my classes with some success based on student feedback. These applications are very relevant in human services but may also be applied into other disciplines.
Today's presentation will highlight the applications I've utilized and I hope to engage the participants in discussing the applications themselves but also its possible relevance to their own disciplines (if at all). I'd also like to have others discuss some applications or other creative means of teaching they've utilized in the past year.
Christine Shanks
Associate Professor of Graphic Design, TC3
Christine J. Shanks is the Program Chair and Associate Professor of Graphic Design at Tompkins Cortland Community and a Lecturer in the Digital Multimedia Design program, College of Arts And Architecture, School of Visual Arts at Penn State University World Campus. She teaches and creates work in both traditional studio and digital media. She applies her design background to her multifaceted work in academia by utilizing user-experience principles, creativity, and design thinking in her curriculum and pedagogy. As an educator, her primary goal is to establish a supportive classroom that emboldens students to explore and refine their process, motivations, and skills. She feels her work in academia and design are intertwined, new projects and pursuits in one field develop from ideas and exploration in the other.
Christian Sisack
Professor of English, OCC
Christian Sisack is Professor of English at Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, NY, where he has taught since 2007. His teaching emphasis is first-year and developmental writing, and his current research interests include the relationships between graduate programs and community colleges.
Tim Thompson
Coordinator of Diversity Education & Support Services, TC3
Tim Thompson is a second-year MPA student at Cornell University's Institute for Public Affairs, concentrating in Government, Policy, and Politics. Tim is from the Bronx, NY, and is an active member in Ithaca's Alumni Chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated and a member of SUNY Cortland's Alumni Board of Directors. Tim is a graduate of TC3 and SUNY Cortland, where he earned an Associate's and Bachelors of Science degree in Sport Management with a concentration in International Sport.
Christine VanNamee [she/her]
Dean of the School of Business & Hospitality, MVCC
Christine VanNamee holds an MBA in Accounting/Finance from SUNY Polytechnic Institute and a BS in Management from SUNY Brockport. She is an enthusiastic educator always looking for new ways to engage students and inspire faculty. Prior to becoming Dean, Christine taught accounting and business courses full-time at MVCC. Her professional background is in teaching, commercial bank lending, financial analysis, and insurance. She strives to make a difference for students, through curriculum design and enhancing the overall student experience. Outside of work, Christine and her family enjoy all things sports, roasting marshmallows over an open campfire, reading books of all genres, and sharing stories and food at family gatherings.
Vera Whisman [she/her]
Associate Professor of Sociology, FLCC
Vera Whisman coordinates the A.A. Liberal Arts Degree and serves as a Faculty Coach for assessment. Previously, she helped found the Women's Studies Program at Ithaca College, and taught the program's core courses for several years. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from New York University.
Michele Whitecraft
Adjunct Associate Professor, TC3
Michele Whitecraft is a dynamic teacher, lecturer and researcher. She takes a holistic interdisciplinary approach to education and is actively involved in advancing women and minorities in science. She has been the recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Secondary Science Education, the Tandy Scholar Teacher Award, and the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Education, among others. From her unique research and consulting experiences with the:
Department of Energy;
National Science Foundation;
National Institutes for Environmental Health Science;
National Institutes of Health;
and National Aeronautics Space Association, Michele has designed science curricula with real world experiments ranging from her work on the International Experimental Thermonuclear Reactor at Princeton to the artificial transmutation of the transuranium elements at UC Berkeley. Michele’s experiences with these national organizations and research projects have inspired her desire to help advance women and minorities in all scientific endeavors. Michele has been a member of the:
American Chemical Society;
American Association for the Advancement of Science;
Society of Women Engineers;
American Association of University Women;
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development;
National Association of Research in Science Teaching;
National Science Teaching Association;
Pennsylvania Science Teaching Association (Current Board Member);
Tompkins Cortland Community College Teaching Center (Current Board Member).
With more than 35 years' experience in teaching high school and college chemistry, Michele has authored several monographs and book chapters to enhance science education nation-wide and presented at several national and international conferences. She has publications in BioScience, Journal of Nuclear Materials, Human Ecology, The International Journal of Agriculture, Chemistry in Action and The Encyclopedia of Applied Ethics. Michele was an Education Policy Fellow for Pennsylvania from 2017-2018. Michele earned her master’s degree from Bloomsburg University and her doctorate from Cornell. She is currently the concurrent enrollment chemistry liaison and chemistry instructor at Tompkins Cortland Community College and a science education professor at Mansfield University.