Meet Our Team
Leadership
Dr. Susan Chang
Dr. Susan Chang
Director of Assessment and Research
Before joining Northeastern University, Dr. Chang served as Director of Assessment at Framingham State University. Dr. Chang earned her Ph.D. in Mass Media from Michigan State University. Her research has focused on product placement in entertainment media, marketing communications, psychological factors affecting perceptions of unsolicited commercial e-mail, and the relationship with brand origins and international versus domestic magazines. She has published in the Journal of Promotion Management, International Journal of Advertising, Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, Journal of International Consumer Marketing, Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, Journal of Interactive Advertising, and the Journal of Information Technology. She has taught courses on Media Research and Consumer Behavior, Media Ethics, Advertising in Society, Public Relations Theories, and Journalism Research Methods.
Prior to transitioning into academics, Dr. Chang began her professional career in advertising and marketing at DDB Needham and CNBC in New York City.
Dr. Hilary Schuldt
Dr. Hilary Schuldt
Director of Project and Team Strategy
Dr. Schuldt earned her Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University in Rhetoric. Her research focuses on the relationship between media representations of identity and rhetorical strategies that promote accommodation and acceptance. She has presented her work at national conferences, including the National Communication Association and the Rhetoric Society of America. Previously, she was an Associate Director and the Coordinator of Graduate Programs at the Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence and Educational Innovation at Carnegie Mellon University, where she directed the Future Faculty Program and the center’s other graduate student services.
Dr. Schuldt has taught undergraduate- and graduate-level classes in composition, professional writing, and language and culture.
Dr. Michael Sweet
Dr. Michael Sweet
Director of Design and Integration
Dr. Sweet earned his Ph.D. from University of Texas Austin in Educational Psychology. His research and professional work have centered on learning processes in student groups and he has published in Educational Psychology Review, Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, Decision Sciences, Journal of Innovative Education, To Improve the Academy, and New Directions for Teaching and Learning. He was an invited guest editor for a special issue of Educational Psychology Review and was lead editor of the volume Team-Based Learning in the Social Sciences and Humanities: Group Work that Works to Generate Critical Thinking and Engagement.
Dr. Sweet presents nationally and internationally on critical thinking and team-based learning, served as the 2009-2010 President of the international Team-Based Learning Collaborative and 2014-2016 Executive Editor of Publications. Furthermore, the online resources he developed to support critical thinking instruction and team-based learning have achieved international adoption.
Dr. Sweet has taught classes in Learning and Motivation, Group Communication, Critical Thinking and in various internet and data networking topics.
Our Team
Dr. Kelsey Bitting
Dr. Kelsey Bitting
Associate Director
Dr. Bitting received her Ph.D. in Geoscience from Rutgers University and her B.A. in Anthropology and Earth and Environmental Sciences from Vanderbilt University, and was an inaugural Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow for Course Redesign in Geology at the University of Kansas. Her research has investigated the effects of active learning techniques on conceptual geoscience knowledge and skillsets, student perceptions of course redesign and the implementation of active learning in introductory geoscience courses, and the postglacial landscape evolution of the Delaware River Valley.
Dr. Bitting has published in Science Education and Civic Engagement: An International Journal and The Flipped College Classroom: Conceptualized and Re-conceptualized, shared teaching and learning products and advice through the Science Education Resource Center collection at Carleton College and the Science Education for New Civic Endeavors and Responsibilities (SENCER) Model Series, and presented at national and international geoscience and curriculum and instruction conferences. She also serves as Chair for the Association for Women Geoscientists’ Outstanding Educator Award Committee, and Chair of the National Association of Geoscience Teachers Geoscience Education Research Division’s Communications Committee.
Dr. Mary English
Dr. Mary English
Associate Director
Dr. English earned a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from George Mason University. Her professional work has centered on instructional systems design for interactive multimedia training and online asynchronous education. Dr. English’s research focuses on teacher motivation and implementation fidelity issues related to PBL, as well as creating environments to support student self-regulated learning. She has presented nationally on these topics, and has been published in several journals, including the Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning. Dr. English is currently an advisory board member of the Advanced Manufacturing PBL project, which is an NSF-funded initiative of the New England Board of Higher Education. She is also an adjunct professor.
Prior to her career in higher education, Dr. English served in diverse teaching, consulting, and research roles in various private, non-profit, government, and educational institutions in the Washington, D.C. area. She has taught classes in student motivation, PBL, teaching online, applying user-centered design principles to course Blackboard sites, and implementing and evaluating learning technologies.
Dr. Janna Ferguson
Dr. Janna Ferguson
Senior Research Analyst of Student Learning
Dr. Ferguson earned her Ph.D. from Rutgers University in Political Science. Her research focused on the gendered political economy of transnational migration and remittance economies, particularly the production of knowledge and policy about remittances in international institutions. Dr. Ferguson specializes in multi-method research approaches, including a variety of techniques in qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods research design.
Dr. Alexia Ferracuti
Dr. Alexia Ferracuti
Associate Director
Dr. Alexia Ferracuti develops and facilitates programming and services that promote reflection, inquiry, and inclusive pedagogy. She is especially interested in the integration of contemplative practices in higher education, intercultural pedagogies, and embodied forms of learning. Alexia joins Northeastern from Columbia University, where she served as Assistant Director at the Center for Teaching and Learning. Previously, she was Assistant Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Yale University, where she focused on the mentorship and professional development of doctoral students and oversaw the Graduate Teaching Fellows Program.
Alexia earned her Ph.D. with distinction from Yale University in Italian and Renaissance Studies with a research focus on the multivalence of sexual ambiguity and imitation in early modern comedy, art, and performance. She has taught courses at Yale University and Wesleyan University in Italian Language and Literature, Theatre Studies, and Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies.
Rebecca Grossfield
Rebecca Grossfield
Associate Director for Outreach and Communications
Ms. Grossfield began working with the Center in 2017 bringing with her a rich background in communications and marketing, and a passion for education. She earned her BA from The George Washington University and her MA from CUNY-Brooklyn College.
In Grossfield’s work, she oversees the communications for the Center, including the CATLR website, print collateral, event marketing, and digital communications.
Dr. Suzanne Horwitz
Dr. Suzanne Horwitz
Research and Data Analyst
Dr. Horwitz joined CATLR as a Research and Data Analyst in December 2018. Prior to joining CATLR’s Research and Assessment team, Dr. Horwitz earned her Ph.D. from Yale University in Psychology and completed Postdoctoral Training at the Yale School of Management.
Her previous research examined people’s implicit, subconscious attitudes and how these subconscious attitudes shape behavior. Drawing from different areas within psychology, she has studied how social group attitudes develop during childhood, how social group attitudes affect interpersonal interactions, and how implicit attitudes shape consumer behaviors.
She has published her research in journals such as Developmental Science, Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, Socius and PLoS ONE.
Jennifer Lehmann
Jennifer Lehmann
Assistant Director
Ms. Lehmann has extensively worked in research design and assessment through 10+ years of research positions held in higher education and other non-profit sectors. Prior to joining the Center, Jennifer was the Assistant Director of Northeastern’s Office of Institutional Research. For seven years, she managed evaluation and assessment projects supporting academic and administrative departments across campus. Such work focused on post-graduate outcomes; learning outcomes; student engagement; experiential learning opportunities; and program effectiveness. Prior to working in higher education, she held assessment and program evaluation positions in non-profit sectors. In these roles, she consulted with programs to develop a mission, outcomes, and a research plan to assess and ultimately improve the programs (and comply with state standards).
Jennifer earned a Masters in Experimental Psychology from Boston College, where her thesis focused on attentional differences linked to individual differences in emotional granularity. She also earned a Masters in Business Administration from Northeastern University.
Dr. Gail Matthews-DeNatale
Dr. Gail Matthews-DeNatale
Associate Director
Dr. Matthews-DeNatale earned her Ph.D. from Indiana University in Folklore with minors in Anthropology and American Studies. Her research focuses on engaging students as storytellers and creators within multimodal online learning contexts. She came to CATLR from Northeastern’s Graduate School of Education, College of Professional Studies, where as Associate Teaching Professor she founded and led the school’s eLearning and Instructional Design M.Ed. program, served as a doctoral thesis advisor, and chaired the Faculty Academic Council’s Academic Programs Committee. Prior to Northeastern, she held positions at Simmons College, George Mason University, and The University of South Carolina.
Gail was the recipient Northeastern University’s 2014 CPS Award for Teaching Excellence and the Sloan-C Online Learning Consortium’s 2013 Learning Effectiveness Award. She is a founding board member of the Association of Authentic, Experiential, Evidence-Based Learning (AAEEBL). From 2011-14 she led Northeastern’s involvement in Connect to Learning, a FIPSE-funded national network that developed the Catalyst for Learning framework of effective ePortfolio practice (http://c2l.mcnrc.org). In addition to authoring many publications, she provides editorial review for the Online Learning Journal and Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education.
Gail’s teaching experience includes the development and instruction of courses on models for learning design, open learning, oral history, digital storytelling, learning analytics concepts and theories, and how people learn.
Dave Merry
Dave Merry
Associate Director of Experiential Integration
Mr. Merry began his career in Residence Life at Bentley University, working primarily with first-year and international student populations. He transitioned to Northeastern University in 2008 as an Academic Advisor in the previously combined College of Arts and Sciences, and subsequently spent seven years working in the Co-op unit of the College of Science advising the Psychology student population. Dave served as the Director for the College of Science Co-op unit for five years prior to moving to the CATLR team.
Dave earned a Masters in College Student Development at the University of Iowa, and is currently engaged in Doctoral work at Northeastern University. His research interests include professional identity development, the role of experiential learning in developing self-efficacy and mitigating imposter syndrome, and the effectiveness of design thinking in creating personal narratives.
Mia Nachbar
Mia Nachbar
Administrative Coordinator
Ms. Nachbar joined the Center for Advancing Teaching and Learning Through Research as the Administrative Coordinator in March 2018. She graduated from Roger Williams University with a BA in Psychology and holds a passion for creative writing and education. At the Center, she assists with day-to-day operations, on-going research projects, and marketing efforts.
Vincenza Parella
Vincenza Parella
Digital Communications Specialist
Ms. Parella is the Digital Communications Specialist at CATLR and began working with the Center in November, 2018. Ms. Parella began her career as the Communications Specialist at the Five College Consortium in Amherst, MA. She helped teach accurate Indigenous history during a National Endowment for the Arts summer intensive, at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. During her time there, she also interviewed indigenous peoples and historians to compile a resource database for K-12 teachers.
Vincenza worked most recently as the Marketing and Communications Specialist for an edtech start-up which works to connect with high school students, school counselors, and college admissions officers. She earned her B.S. in Journalism, with a minor in Indigenous Studies, from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Dr. Laurie Poklop
Dr. Laurie Poklop
Senior Associate Director
Dr. Poklop’s doctoral research focused on the implementation and design of electronic portfolios, and this is another area in which she provides faculty development opportunities and consulting. She was a member of Cohort VI of the Inter/National Coalition for Research on Electronic Portfolios through which she completed a three-year study examining the effects of e-portfolios on the teaching of audience in first-year writing courses.
Dr. Poklop earned her Ed.D. from Northeastern University. She served as an instructional designer in Northeastern’s former Educational Technology Center for ten years and was a lecturer in the M.Ed. program in Instructional Design at UMass Boston for 15 years, teaching courses in instructional design, media-based training development, project management and research. She currently teaches for Northeastern’s Graduate School of Education. Prior to working in higher education, Dr. Poklop directed the consulting business of a technical training company.
Matt San Miguel
Matt San Miguel
Video Co-op
Matt San Miguel is a second year combined Communication/Media and Screen Studies Major with a minor in business administration here at Northeastern University. Matt’s background is in digital media and education. He worked for two summers at a production company called Spot Creative located in New York City. While there, Matt spent his time helping with the creation of a variety of videos and special media projects, as well as developing several social media accounts to increase company awareness. To increase the likelihood that teenage survivors of pediatric cancer attend college, Matt was instrumental in the creation of a program that taught campers about a myriad of STEM topics, analytic research, and college preparatory tips while working for Happiness is Camping, a nonprofit camp located in New Jersey for children with cancer and their siblings.
Matt is joining the CATLR team as a full time co-op starting in January of 2019, with the role of Media Campaign Producer. He will be working on communications and social media development for CATLR as they launch the newest education platform at Northeastern, SAIL.
Kaleena Seeley
Kaleena Seeley
Associate Director of Operations and Planning
Ms. Seeley is a Double Husky, having earned her B.A. in Sociology from Northeastern and more recently, her Masters in Public Administration with a certificate in the Nonprofit Sector, Philanthropy, and Social Change. Kaleena began her career at the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, investigating civil rights complaints, processing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, and participating in the leadership team in order to approve operations and management.
Kaleena has been with the Center for Advancing Teaching and Learning Through Research (CATLR) since 2013, previously as CATLR’s Research and Program Manager. In her current role as Associate Director of Operations and Planning, she oversees CATLR’s operations in order to help core work and projects succeed, in addition to supporting the overall administration of the team, budget development and implementation, hiring, and long-range planning. She also helps direct overall product strategy related to the Self-Authored Integrated Learning (SAIL) digital platforms.
Kristine Stigas
Kristine Stigas
Program Manager
Ms. Stigas joined the Center in June 2017. She earned her M.A. in Higher Education Administration and B.S. in Business Administration from Boston College. Prior to joining the team, Kristine worked in the Provost’s Office at Northeastern, where she administratively supported various Undergraduate Education and Experiential Learning initiatives.