October 30, 2020: Addressing Equity Through Assessment—Mutually Reinforcing Objectives

Laura serves as the Vice President for Student Affairs at Fitchburg State University, providing strategic leadership to 12 co-curricular departments. She has served in senior leadership roles at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, Caldwell University, and St. Mary's College of Maryland. She earned her PhD at Virginia Tech, MS at Miami University of Ohio, and BA at Denison University. In addition to her administrative duties, Laura teaches in masters and doctoral programs in higher education leadership and policy development.

Amy is a Professor of English and the Academic Technology Facilitator at Quinsigamond Community College, where she has worked since 2004. In addition to teaching composition, literature and philosophy classes, Beaudry is involved in a variety of online teaching and learning, professional development, assessment, retention, and Open Educational Resources initiatives at the campus and state levels.

Gaelan is a Professor of Sociology and Academic Assessment Facilitator at Quinsigamond Community College. She joined the faculty in 2005 after earning a Ph.D. in Sociology from Brown University, where her dissertation focused on work-family balance negotiations among Dominican immigrants to Providence, RI. Gaelan’s professional interests include racial/ethnic, gender, sexual, socioeconomic, age, and health-related diversity and inclusion.

Ron is a tenured Professor of Criminal Justice at Middlesex Community College. He has a B.S. from New York Institute of Technology and a M.S. from Anna Maria College.

LaDonna is Associate Dean of Academic Success and Director of the Center for Academic Success and Achievement. Dr. Bridges began her career in health care marketing and advertising and re-careered into higher education. She sees herself as a scholar-practitioner and is passionate about working with students with disabilities and first-gen students. Her dissertation used innovative qualitative methodology to explore the influence of working-class culture on first-generation and low-income students. Her own experiences and scholarship allows her to bring leadership, passion and an evidence-based approach to address student needs at the individual and system levels, affinity groups at FSU like Generation One and the larger higher education community. LaDonna received her Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Matt is currently the Senior Director of Athletics and Recreation at Fitchburg State University. Burke oversees 17 varsity sports, 350 student-athletes, and a staff of over 50 employees. He previously served as the Executive Director of Athletics at Mount Ida College and was part of the Mustang community for twenty years. While at Mount Ida, Burke was responsible for three athletic facility expansion projects, increased the number of full-time coaches and launched the addition of field hockey in 2014. Burke earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Sport Management from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and received his Master's in Business Administration from Nichols College.

Heloise is a tenured Professor of Criminal Justice at Middlesex Community College. She has both a B.S. and a M.A. from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell.

Maura has 15+ years’ experience working with non-traditional students. Her roles at Bay Path University have been in teaching, advising, international exchange, student and career guidance, and academic program administration. Currently, Maura serves as an Associate Vice President & Dean, Undergraduate Studies. Previously, she served as the Deputy Chief Learning Officer of The American Women’s College division, overseeing academic curriculum and student support services. Maura completed her Ph.D. in Educational Policy and Leadership at University of Massachusetts Amherst with a dissertation focused on intergenerational mobility and maternal education. She has an abiding interest in education’s role in socioeconomic mobility among the underserved and she is an advocate for data-driven strategies to ensure that higher education achieves this mission.

Catherine is the chair of the Department of Chemistry and Food Science at Framingham State, and serves as the Program Director for FSU’s STEM Racial Equity Project, funded by an Inclusive Excellence Award from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Her current interests include developing programs that support the success of STEM students by encouraging an inclusive learning environment, the strategic use of student success data to improve teaching and learning, and transforming institutional culture to embrace anti-racism through intensive faculty development.

Robert received his B.A. in psychology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and his Masters and Ph.D. from the University of Florida. While at the University of Florida, Dr. Donohue was a National Institute of Child Health and Development pre-doctoral trainee and 1989 recipient of the Bernard Tursky Award for Excellence in Pre-doctoral Research. After earning his Ph.D., Dr. Donohue was appointed as a John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Post-doctoral Fellow and National Institute of Health post-doctoral trainee. Before arriving at Framingham State University, Dr. Donohue taught at the University of Denver, Franklin and Marshall College and the University of Hawaii. Dr. Donohue’s research training is in infant cognitive development & psychophysiology.

Maureen is the Coordinator for Instructional Technology & Assessment at Quinsigamond Community College where she has worked since 2017 and occasionally serves as an adjunct faculty member for computer applications.  She has twelve years of instructional design experience in the public and private sector and 30+ in the areas of education and technology. She assists faculty and staff with the application of academic technologies in the college's learning management system (LMS) and face-to-face classroom as well as facilitating the online faculty training workshops.

Judy is the Dean of Business, Legal Studies and Public Service at Middlesex Community College where 3,000 students study and prepare for careers in Business Administration, Legal Studies, Fire Science, and Criminal Justice. A respected administrator, she has overseen several grant programs including: AACU Strengthening Pathways, Everyday Entrepreneur Venture Fund, HED International Entrepreneurship, DOL RFID and Energy Utility Technology training programs, NSF Grant for Integrating Nanotechnology and Technician Education, and a NSF BATEC grant. She also led a Massachusetts Workforce Competitiveness Trust Fund grant for workers in travel/tourism with Bryansk State Technical College in Bryansk, Russia where she organized student lead curriculum exchanges and lectured on engineering and technical education in the United States. Prior to coming to the college Judy was an entrepreneur. She also worked for Illinois Tool Works as a Product Manager for several years. Judy received a B.S. In Business Administration from Boston College and a M.B.A. from Rivier University.

Robert serves as the Assistant Dean/Director of Counseling Services at Fitchburg State University. He earned his Ph.D. in Clinical and School Psychology from Hofstra University in 1996 and is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Massachusetts. In addition to clinical and administrative responsibilities, Dr. Hynes teaches a variety of coursework in the graduate Mental Health Counseling Program at Fitchburg State.   

Natasha serves as Executive Director of the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA) and Research Associate Professor in the department of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She is co-author with her NILOA colleagues of the book Using Evidence of Student Learning to Improve Higher Education, as well as co-author of Degrees that Matter: Moving Higher Education to a Learning Systems Paradigm. She works in partnership with her NILOA colleagues and others in the field on assignment design, transparency, evidence-based storytelling, equity, mapping and alignment of learning, and all things assessment.  NILOA is the proud recipient of the ACPA Contribution to Higher Education award. Natasha is the recipient of the Academic Professional Excellence Award from the University of Illinois, Kent State University’s Alumni Award, and the Young Alumni Award from the College of Education at UIUC. She holds a PhD in Higher Education from the University of Illinois, an M.A. in Higher Education Administration from Kent State University, and a B.A. in philosophy from Illinois State University.

Matthew is in his fourth year as an assistant professor in the mathematics department at Framingham State University. He has eight years of teaching experience and his research interests involve combinatorics and algebra. Matthew is currently broadening his teaching to explore the connections between mathematics and social justice. He earned a Ph.D. in mathematics from Brandeis University and a B.A. in mathematics from St. Olaf College.

Hank has 23 years of progressive experience in higher education administration and is an expert leadership trainer. He has worked at multiple institutions and is experienced in Student Activities, Operations, Orientation, First Year Experience, Leadership Development, Volunteerism, Greek Life, Residence Life, Multi-Cultural Affairs, Recreation Services, and is currently the Associate Dean for Student Development at Fitchburg State University. His research interests include First Year Experience, Leadership Development, and Student Development.

Matt joined the faculty at Bridgewater State University (BSU) in 2009, where he is Chair of the Mathematics Department, and Faculty Director of Math Services learning assistance in the Academic Achievement Center. At BSU, he was the founding coordinator of the Quantity Across the Curriculum (“QuAC”) program; a faculty development initiative dedicated to supporting wider faculty engagement and increased student success with quantitative content in all disciplines. QuAC also hosts SEQuEL, an annual conference in January, to support faculty and staff from around the region in their efforts to strengthen quantitative literacy efforts on their campuses. Dr. Salomone holds a B.A. in Integrated Science and a Ph.D. in Mathematics, both from Northwestern University where he studied celestial mechanics and applied geometry.

Tiger is the Coordinator for Library Reference and Instruction at Quinsigamond Community College (QCC), where he has worked since 2014. As a librarian, Swan is integrated into many facets of QCC’s campus community, particularly those tied to student learning, information literacy, critical thinking, and assessment. Prior to his arrival at QCC, he worked at Florida A&M University for nearly five years and he was a member of the coordinating team for their Quality Enhancement Plan.

Mary-Ann is the executive director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Brandeis University, and the founding director of the Transparency in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education Project (TILT Higher Ed), which aims to advance equitable teaching and learning practices that reduce systemic inequities in higher education. Her work to improve higher education learning and teaching, especially for historically underserved students, has been recognized nationally by the Chronicle of Higher Education and by the POD Network's Robert J. Menges Award for Outstanding Research in Educational Development. She has served as a Senior Fellow of the Association of American Colleges and Universities and in faculty development leadership roles at Harvard University, the University of Chicago, University of Illinois, and University of Nevada, Las Vegas.