Speaker: Kate Beverage

Kate Beverage is the Associate Director of the Academic Technology Center at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). Kate's primary responsibility is to lead the ATC's outreach efforts to the WPI community with regards to the use of instructional technologies in teaching and learning. In her ten years at WPI, she has been supporting faculty development initiatives through the use of instructional technologies and other collaborative applications at WPI for use in campus-based, blended, and distance learning courses. Kate holds a B.A. in Instructional Technologies from the University of Connecticut and a M.S.Ed. in Educational Technology from Boise State University.
 

Speaker: Kevin Brassard

Kevin Brassard is the Chief Information Officer at Nichols College. He has over 30 years of experience in information technology, spanning industries such as high tech manufacturing, managed health care, and auto parts manufacturing; with the last ten years spent at Nichols College. During his time at Nichols College, he has managed the implementation of a new student information system, a new fundraising application, a redesigned web site with new content management system, and several other smaller applications. More recent projects also include a CRM system and a document management/automated workflow application. Kevin is also responsible for managing the merged Information Technology and Library organizations.

Kevin is currently the Vice Chairman of the Program Committee for the NERCOMP 2016 annual conference. Kevin has also coordinated a full-date professional development day on document imaging technologies; and has previously contributed to several other professional development days.

|Kevin has a B.S. degree in Business Administration from Western New England College, and an M.S. degree in Computer Information Systems from Bentley College.


Speaker: Meghan Codd Walker

Principal and Co-Founder, Zuula Consulting
Meghan is writer, editor and content strategist whose approach to language infuses numbers wizardry with her bookworm nature. As co-founder of Zuula Consulting, Meghan’s knack for strategic, clear communication helps clients understand — and unleash — the power of plain language. With over a decade of professional writing experience, she has provided precise, compelling content for organizations ranging from startup firms to international corporations. Before becoming an entrepreneur, Meghan served as a copywriter at Wachovia Securities and senior technical editor at Capital One. She believes there is a difference between good writing and effective writing, and is committed to building strong connections between clients and their audiences. 

Meghan holds a bachelor’s degree in English language and literature from the University of Virginia. She speaks and blogs regularly about the content world and is always looking for new ways to spread the word about plain language. 
• Board Member, Center for Plain Language
• Co-Chair, ClearMark Awards, an international event celebrating clarity in communications
• Member, Government Affairs Committee, Greater Richmond Chamber


Speaker: Carole Currie

Carole Currie is the Assistant Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Salve Regina University. During her corporate and academic career Carole has presented over 2,500 seminars to more than 25,000 professionals. As President of the Salve Regina Toastmaster’s Club, she holds an Advanced Bronze Communicator Award. Carole is known for her ability to create a collaborative and interactive group dynamic through her presentations. She has also served multiple times on the NERCOMP Conference Programming Committee. Carole has her MS in Management and a CGS in Leadership from Salve Regina University.


Speaker: Erin DeSilva

Erin DeSilva recently joined Dartmouth College as an Instructional Designer. Prior to her current position, she has also been involved with NERCOMP/Educause in her roles at Brown University and Worcester Polytechnic University, and has been presenting at regional and national conferences for over fifteen years. Throughout her time in both K-12 and higher education, Erin has worked with faculty to identify student needs, develop and deliver engaging content, and evaluate these efforts within classroom, blended, and online learning environments. Erin received an EdM from Boston University SED, is a 2012 Educause Learning Technology Leadership alum, and has experience in public broadcasting and science education.
 

Speaker: Debra Dexter

In my day job, I supervise IT content management, communications, and training efforts including overseeing professional and student staff. I partner with staff in IT and business units to provide leadership in the development and delivery of support processes, training and documentation for the successful transition of business initiatives and projects from implementation to production.

My passion for writing and presenting began in my undergraduate years while studying communication and public speaking. At the height of my career as a software trainer, I obtained a master’s degree in professional communication. Since then, I seek out any opportunity to improve communication in the workplace. I coordinated this workshop to help people craft exceptional proposal ideas or nominations that engage a reader to take action….and accept them!

Speaker: Deanna Lorianni

Principal/Co-Founder Zuula Consulting
A content professional for over a decade, Deanna is a strategist and writing coach who helps organizations and professionals nationwide embrace their voice and deliver strategically crafted content. From teaching workplace writing skills to supporting plain language and beyond, Deanna grounds her work in an analytical, creative passion for language. She believes that every word truly counts, and with purposeful intent, has the power to engage and inspire audiences. Deanna enjoys helping clients uncover the words they need to transform convoluted messaging into clear, compelling communication. 
Deanna has served Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 companies, and emerging businesses across industries such as financial services, scientific R&D, real estate and nonprofits. Her previous career experience includes serving as copywriter in the Wachovia Securities marketing department. Deanna holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Virginia Commonwealth University with a minor in creative writing and focus in linguistics. 
• Member, Center for Plain Language
• Co-Chair, ClearMark Awards, an international event celebrating clarity in communications
• Member, Richmond Business Council, Greater Richmond Chamber
• Member, Executive Committee, Advisory Board, The Podium Foundation

Speaker: Amber Vaill

Amber Vaill is the Director of the Office of Teaching, Learning and Technology at Becker College. In this role she provides faculty with support and training in the areas of curriculum development, teaching strategies, and digital learning. She has been an educator since 1999, has worked in higher education since 2007, and has extensive experience in online education and instructional technologies. Prior to moving into the field of higher education, she served as a secondary- and middle-school level English and history classroom and online teacher.

Throughout her career Amber has developed and implemented online faculty and student support and training programs, including the creation of online student orientation courses and online faculty development initiatives. Amber has published and presented at numerous national and regional conferences on topics including online faculty development, supporting students through a transition to a new learning management system, and the importance of online student orientations.

Amber has been actively involved in NERCOMP since 2011 when she first presented at the Annual Conference. Since then she has served as a Professional Development Coordinator, organizing a number of PDOs including launching the annual Canvas User Group with colleagues from Brown University. She has presented various talks and posters at the NERCOMP Annual Conference over the past few years, has served on the NERCOMP Annual Conference Program Committee since 2013, and has also served as a NERCOMP Social Media Strategist.

Amber holds a Ph.D. in Education with an e-Learning specialization from Northcentral University, an M.Ed. in History from Westfield State University, and an M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instructional Technology from Framingham State University.


Speaker: Karen Warren

Karen is Director of User and Technical Services at Wesleyan University. In her unique role, Karen has oversight for both the front end user support operations including Desktop Support and student Helpdesk and the back end technical support team comprised of network administration, data center, and system administrators. Bridging the divide between these mutually dependent, but often at odds groups is challenging and always interesting. Karen and her team provide the foundational support for all other IT operations in the University and provide strategic input regarding systems and infrastructure. Currently, Wesleyan is undergoing a network refresh which will substantively improve bandwidth across campus providing the needed support for future initiatives such as Coursera and the burgeoning use of HD media on campus.

Since joining Wesleyan, Karen has been an active member in NERCOMP. She hosted her first SIG in May 2010 on desktop virtualization and has since presented at two annual conferences as well as participated in two other SIGs including a panel for the 2012 Women in Technology Leadership SIG. For the past two years, Karen has served on the Annual Conference program committee and this year, Karen is leading the online program committee team. Additionally, Karen co-leads the virtual workshop project for NERCOMP bringing low-cost online only content to help the organization expand its reach and engage constituents who are underrepresented in the traditional SIG model. This effort has thus far been extremely effective with 135 sites participating.

In 2012, Karen participated in the NITLE Innovation Studio, a new initiative comprised of project teams employing entrepreneurial and design theory strategies. Karen and her teammates continue to run the only remaining project, Collegiate Collaborations, a community site aimed at reducing the fear and uncertainty of engaging in cross-institutional collaborations. The group has been invited back this year to speak at the 2013 NITLE Symposium in April.

Prior to coming to Wesleyan, Karen spent 15 years at the American School for the Deaf in West Hartford, CT where she was IT Director for 10 of those years. Karen focused much time on the importance of broadband access and two-way video installing the school’s first system in 1999. She and a colleague at Gallaudet University organized a conference on two-way video in Deaf education, an initiative that led to 3 conferences over 6 years. She has spoken at numerous conferences on the topic and participated on a panel at the FCC on the importance of ERate to broadband in schools.

Recently, Karen initiated Wesleyan’s membership in National Center for Women in Information Technology Academic Alliance program to help Wesleyan encourage young women in the field of technology.

Karen is energized at the prospect of participation on the NERCOMP board. The organization has been a vital resource for her and she looks forward to helping shape its future particularly the increasing role of online interactive programming. Technology’s ever-changing nature and rapid growth make communities such as NERCOMP vital to success both together and at individual institutions.


Speaker: Jolee West

Jolee is the Director of Academic Computing at Wesleyan University. She formerly served as the Academic Computing Manager for Natural Sciences and Mathematics at Wesleyan University and prior to that, as the Assistant Director of the Sloan Center for Asynchronous Learning Environments (SCALE), at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Illinois, with a specialty in palaeoanthropology. 
 

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