Kirsten Behling

Kirsten is the Director of Student Accessibility Services at Tufts University. Prior to coming to Tufts, Kirsten spent 8 years as the Director of Disability Services at Suffolk University where she created the office and helped increase awareness of disability needs across campus. Kirsten currently teaches online through the University of Connecticut’s Certificate Program in Disability Services. Kirsten’s interest includes online learning and access, procurement and policy development that is inclusive of institutional need. 

Linda Bruenjes

Linda Bruenjes is the Acting Director of the Center for Teaching and Scholarly Excellence at Suffolk University.    Her primary role is to work collaboratively with faculty in the Schools of Business, Arts & Science and Law in their efforts to strengthen, improve, and assess teaching and learning in face-to-face, hybrid, and online learning environments.  She currently serves as the campus coordinator for Quality Matters, and she has recently joined the New England Faculty Development Consortium Board.  Prior to working at the University, Linda was the Director of Online Learning and the Technology for Learning Center at Lasell College. 

 

Andrew Cioffi

Andrew is a graduate of Suffolk University in Boston, where currently serves as the Director of Disability Services. His areas of professional interest include promoting university-wide accessibility, assistive and emerging technology, and the intersection of disability and diversity. Andrew’s teaching experience includes Issues in Postsecondary Disability Services, and Assistive Technology in Postsecondary Education. Andrew has served as Chair of the Assistive Technology committee for New England AHEAD and presented both regionally and nationally on best practices in access and accommodation.

Brandon Drake

 Brandon joined the UMass Lowell community in June 2015 as Assistant Director for Assistive Technology in Disability Services. He works with students finding ways to access everything UMass Lowell offers through software, hardware and training. He previously worked in the disability field at Bridgewater State University and Harvard as an Assistive Technology Specialist and Alternative Text Production Specialist, respectively. 

Ella Epshteyn 

Ella Epshteyn is an Instructional Designer at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston. In this role, she has managed multiple accessibility-related projects including proactive testing of digital services across the Institute and closed captioning of video and audio content. Ella is also a graduate student in Northeastern University’s Doctor of Education (Higher Education Administration) program. Her research interest is faculty motivation in improving accessibility of online, hybrid and technology-enhanced courses..

Brianna Giacoppe

 Brianna is the Assistive Tech Specialist at Tufts University. In her role as the AT specialist Brianna provides support to students registered with the Student Accessibility Services office in finding high and low tech tools to support them in their studies, as well as producing alternate formats of course materials, and increasing campus awareness of accessibility and universal design through various trainings. 

Jody Goldstein

Jody is the Director of the Joined the office of Disability Services at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.  Jody has a Masters in Social Work as well as a Post Masters certification in school counseling.  Prior to working for the University she worked in Rehabilitation Hospital settings with patients that had experienced traumatic brain injuries and spinal cord injuries.  Jody has been facilitating and Assistive Technology/Universal Design group at the University for the past four years.

Bridget McNamee

Bridget is the Assistant Director of the Center for Wellness and Disability Services at the Wentworth Institute of Technology.  She has previously worked as a special education teacher and as an Assistive Technology Specialist. Bridget sits on the board of the New England Association of Higher Education and Disability. Bridget presents both locally and nationally on the topic of disabilities in higher education and consults with local high schools on transitioning students with disabilities to college. 

Mac Wishart

Mac is an Instructional Technologist at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. He assists faculty in the use and integration of technology into the academic curriculum in order to enhance the learning process. Mac works with Instructional Technology Services to support classroom technologies including Lecture Capture and provides trainings and support materials for a number of Academic Technology tools and software.