Program Directors
Judith E. Miller
Associate Dean for Special Academic Initiatives, Clark University
508-793-7464
judmiller@clarku.edu
Susan C. Wyckoff
Vice President, Colleges of Worcester Consortium, Inc.
508-754-6829 ext. 3029
swyckoff@cowc.org
Faculty
Mary-Ellen Boyle
Associate Professor of Management
Graduate School of Management
Clark University
508-793-7558
mboyle@clarku.edu
B.A., Yale University; M.B.A., Boston College; Ph.D. (Sociology), Boston College
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Research interests: business and social issues, particularly poverty; community-university partnerships; minority and ethnic entrepreneurship
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Teaching experience: graduate courses in business ethics, corporate social responsibility, European business, organizational behavior, managing change and conflict; undergraduate courses in management, social change, women and work, and the sociology of education
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Teaching awards: Beta Gamma Sigma, faculty award; Clark GSOM Student Council, best course award; Award for Excellence in Teaching, Boston College
David DiBiasio
Associate Professor, Chemical Engineering
Assessment Coordinator, Interdisciplinary and Global Studies Division
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
508-831-5372
dibiasio@wpi.edu
- Research Interests: engineering education research (including international education), the process of learning, and educational assessment; biological engineering.
- Teaching Experience: graduate and undergraduate courses in chemical engineering; Seminar in College Teaching.
Janet Fisher
Associate Professor, Academic Support Program
Suffolk University Law School
617-573-8563
jfisher@suffolk.edu
B.A., Fontbonne College; J.D., Suffolk University Law School
- Research interests: Higher education law and policy
- Teaching experience: Undergraduate courses in law, leadershp and critical thinking and writing; graduate course in Legal Issues for College Faculty; law school course in Academic Excellence
Beth W. Gale
Assistant Professor of French
Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures
Clark University
508-421-3781
bgale@clarku.edu
B.A. University of Delaware, M.A., Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania
- Research Interests: 19th- and 20th-century French literature and culture, women and the novel, cultural studies.
- Teaching experience: beginning, intermediate and advanced French language; youth in French literature, film and culture; the fairy tale.
Anthony Helm
Academic Technology Coordinator for the Humanities and Visual and Performing Arts
Clark University
508-793-7214
ahelm@clarku.edu
B.A., Southern Methodist University; M.A.., University of Texas at Austin
- Research interests: Foreign Language Acquisition, Educational Technology, Japanese Literature and Culture
- Teaching experience: Introductory and Intermediate Microcomputer Applications; Introduction to Japanese Culture, Women in Japanese Society
Lorraine Higgins
Associate Professor of Rhetoric
Director of Center for Communication Across the Curriculum
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
508-410-1063
ldh@wpi.edu
Ph.D., (Rhetoric) Carnegie Mellon University
- Teaching experience: courses in composition and rhetoric for over 20 years at Carnegie Mellon University, University of Pittsburgh, and WPI
- Research and publications: writing pedagogy and the role of writing in community problem-solving
Kevin R. Kearney
Associate Professor of Biochemistry
Director of Service-Learning
Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
508-373-5605
kevin.kearney@mcphs.edu
B.S., University of Notre Dame; M.Th., University of Notre Dame; Ph.D., Yale University
- Research Interests: service-learning and its educational outcomes; development of clinical in-vitro diagnostic tests
- Teaching experience: Biochemistry, Intermediary Metabolism, Nutrition, Service-Learning, Health Literacy
Matthew D. Laliberte
Associate Dean of Faculty & Curriculum; Teacher
The Hillside School
Doctoral Student - Curriculum & Instruction
Boston College
508-292-2246
matthew_laliberte@hotmail.com
B.A., University of New Hampshire; M.S., Syracuse University
- Research Interests: Social Justice, Teacher Education, Educational Policy in K-12 and Higher Education, Equity Online
- Teaching Experience: Teaching and Learning in the Diverse Classroom, Classroom Technology Integration, Teaching Online
Sarah Michaels
Senior Research Scholar, Hiatt Center for Urban Education
Associate Professor of Education
Clark University, Education Department and Communication and Culture Program
508-793-7610
smichaels@clarku.edu
B.A., Barnard College; M.A. and Ph.D., U.C.-Berkeley
- Research interests: Language, culture and learning; classroom discourse; the intersection of talk, task and identity.
- Teaching Experience: Graduate courses on Language, Culture and Education; Classroom Discourse; Ethnographic Methods; undergraduate courses on Language, Culture and Society; Introduciton to Communication and Culture
Judith E. Miller
Associate Dean for Special Academic Initiatives
Corner House - 3rd floor
Clark University
508-793-7464
judmiller@clarku.edu
B.S., Cornell University; Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University
- Research and teaching interests: Educational innovation; cooperative learning; team teaching; educational outcomes assessment; educational productivity
- Teaching Experience: Seminar and Practicum in College Teaching; introductory biology; microbial physiology
Teaching Awards: Outstanding Undergraduate Science Teacher, Kendall/Hunt Publishers and the Society for College Science Teaching (1998); Massachusetts CASE Professor of the Year, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (2002); Trustees? Award for Outstanding Teaching, WPI Board of Trustees (2004)
Lisa J. O'Connor
Adjunct Faculty, Department of Management
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
ljo@wpi.edu
B.S., Bridgewater State College; M.M., Florida Institute of Technology; A.B.D., Boston University
- Research Interests: Instructional Design, Multimedia, Universal Design, and Educational Technology
- Teaching Experience: Management of Technology, Database Design, Financial Accounting, Information Technology, Management Information Systems, Instructional Technology, Microcomputers in the Classroom, Multimedia Design and Development, Programming Languages, and Systems Analysis and Design
Mary M. Philbin
Instructor, Department of Medicine
Director, Faculty Development, Department of Medicine
Administrator, Community Faculty Development Center
University of Massachusetts Medical School
508-856-6533
Mary.Philbin@umassmed.edu
B.A., Harvard University; Ed.M., Harvard Graduate School of Education
- Research Interests: Teacher Identity in physician community preceptors; implementing and evaluating competency-based curriculum; identifying behavioral characteristics of empathy in physicians.
- Teaching Experience: Faculty Development Fellowship; Physician, Patient and Society Course; small group facilitation in Teaching of Tomorrow faculty development series and Domestic Violence interclerkship. Study skills and 12th grade psychology.
Pamela D. Sherer
Associate Professor of Management
Providence College
401-865-2036
psherer@providence.edu
B.A., Carthage College; M.S., Southern Illinois University-Carbondale; M.B.A., Clark University; Ph.D., University of Massachusetts-Amherst
- Research interests: Corporate Universities and E-learning; Human Resource Development and Organizational Change; Workplace Diversity; Faculty Development; Pedagogy in Higher Education
- Courses recently taught: Organizational Theory; Organizaitonal Behavior; Managing Workplace Diversity; International Human Resources Management; Comparative Management; Teaching-Learning and Assessment
Alice Valentine
Lecturer, Japanese Language and Literature, Dept. of Foreign Languages and Literatures
Clark University
avalentine@clarku.edu
B.A. Florida State University; A.M. Harvard University
- Research Interests: Japanese literature and culture; foreign language pedagogy; technology and language learning
- Teaching Experience: beginning, intermediate, and advanced Japanese; classical and modern Japanese literature and culture; Gender and Japanese Society
Donald Vescio
Associate Vice President - Academic Affairs, Information Technology
Worcester State College
508-887-8796
donald.vescio@worcester.edu
B.A. SUNY-Oswego; M.A. University of New Hampshire-Durham; Ph.D. University of Rochester
- Teaching Experience: computer science, English literature and writing, web and document design, critical thinking
- Research Interests: relationship between patterns of information structures and effective online pedagogies; interstices between network topologies and postmodern and narratological critical theory; information architecture, usability assessment, and design best practices; and pedagogical applications of emerging network-based technologies
Dan Wolaver
Adjunct Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
603-465-7385
dwolaver@wpi.edu
B.E.E., Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Teaching interests: Analog and digital circuit design; communications systems; signal timing control; effective teaching
- Industrial experience: Optical communications at Bell Labs; test sets for signal timing at Tektronics
Susan C. Wyckoff
Vice President
Colleges of Worcester Consortium, Inc.
508-754-6829 ext. 3029
swyckoff@cowc.org
B.S. University of Rhode Island; M.Ed. Keene State College; Ph.D. University of New Hampshire
- Research interests: Faculty evaluation systems in higher education; student satisfaction and retention trends in higher education; collaborative faculty development
- Courses recently taught: Contemporary Trends and Issues in American Public Education; Seminar in College Teaching; Learner-Centered Assessment; Education Law; Practicum