Laurel Carpenter

Laurel is a tenured Associate Professor of Environmental Science at Holyoke Community College and has served as the Environmental Science Department Chair since 2021. Laurel is a life-long learner and strives to bring an interdisciplinary approach to science education at the higher education level. She is a Professional Wetland Scientist, holds an M.S. in Wildlife Conservation, a M.A.T in Secondary Science Education, and is currently a Ph.D. student in the Math, Science, and Learning Technology program in the College of Education at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She is particularly interested in student retention, science identity development, and inclusive pedagogies including service learning, universal design for learning, and culturally responsive pedagogy. In 2019 Laurel co-wrote a successfully awarded S-STEM NSF grant titled STEM Scholars' 2.0 SCoRE: STEM Cohorts for Research and Engagement (2030890) that supports students in an intensive program of financial assistance, cohort experiences, advising, mentoring, undergraduate research support, and culturally responsive pedagogy. Formerly, Laurel was a wildlife field technician, wildlife biologist, lead educator, and environmental interpreter for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service for over ten years. Laurel spends her free time dog training and hiking with her fiance and dog Chaya.  

Sheila Gould

Sheila Gould is a tenured Associate Professor of Education at Holyoke Community College where she has worked since 2014. Sheila serves as the Early Childhood Programs Coordinator for the college and supervises early childhood student teachers. Sheila has a Masters in Early Childhood Education from American International College and is currently a Second Year Fellow in UMASS Boston’s Post Master’s Certificate in Early Childhood Leadership, Policy and Practice. Sheila is passionate about service learning and utilizing social media to increase student engagement and success. She lives with her husband, who also works at a community college, their three children, and two adorable dogs. 

Liz Charland-Tait is StrongStart Western Professional Development Center Lead Coach.

Liz has been working in the Early Childhood field for 30 years. She has taught and directed in both infant toddler and preschool programs. For the last 8 years, Liz has consulted with & mentored program directors and teaching teams as an early childhood coach. Liz also facilitates PLC's (Professional Learning Communities) for the field. What inspires and motivates Liz is the power of connection and collaboration.  What Liz loves most about her work are the myriad of opportunities she has to partner and create with dedicated educators in the field. One of her rewarding partnerships is co-hosting The Itsy Bitsy Zoomcast, a joyful collaboration between Liz and her colleague Sheila Gould, Associate Professor of Education and the Early Childhood Coordinator at Holyoke Community College.

 

Nick Kolodziejczak

Nick Kolodziejczak is a Junior Accounting Major and Intelligent Process Automation Analyst at the Nichols College Center for Intelligent Process Automation.  Nick has developed experiential course material in the past and will be piloting a new set of course material to teach RPA in my Spring Undergraduate course.  The goal of the course material will be to help students more quickly and deeply learn and demonstrate key RPA development and business analysis skills.  The material will start with curated “repeat after me” development videos and end build into real-world problems with simulated data sets. 

Aura Lippincott

Aura Lippincott is an instructional designer at Western Connecticut State University where she helps faculty design courses using learner-centered pedagogical approaches, research-based course design best practices, and media/instructional technologies that support learner interaction and engagement.  Aura has dual master’s degrees in Information Studies (UCLA) and Instructional Design (SDSU).  Prior to a cross-country move to New York State, she worked for several years at a California university as an instructional technologist conceptualizing, designing, and supporting online and classroom learning environments and services.  

Leslie Lindenauer

Leslie Lindenauer is a Professor in the Department of History and Non-Western Cultures at Western Connecticut State University, where she teaches the American history survey, courses in early American history, and gender and popular culture. She also teaches courses in museum studies, history communication, and public history. As a former director of WCSU’s Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching she organized workshops, roundtables, podcast discussions, and other programs about issues in teaching and learning for the University community. Her teaching interests include OER and Open Pedagogy. Her book I Could Not Call Her Mother: The Stepmother in American Popular Culture, 1750-1960 was published by Lexington Books in 2014.

Stephanie Payzant

Stephanie graduated from King’s College in Wilkes-Barre PA in 1987 with a B.S. in Mathematics and Computer Science. She continued on to Villanova University with a teaching assistantship to complete an M.S. in Computer Science in 1988. After spending 10 years at DuPont as a systems analyst, she has been working in education for the last 20+ years and is currently the Director of Instructional Design at Post University focusing on the online education experience for the adult learner.

Bryant Richards

Bryant Richards is the Director for the Center of Intelligent Process Automation and an Associate Professor of Accounting & Finance at Nichols College.  Bryant is focused on the evolution of education through the adoption and integration of emerging technologies.  Prior to joining the faculty, he spent 20+ years in industry as an accounting and finance professional.