Speaker: Frank Furnari

Frank Furnari is the Communication, Documentation, and Training Manager for Boston University’s Information Services & Technology. His team is involved in all aspects of IT-related communication and training efforts both for IT staff as well as for BU’s client community. Frank started working at BU in 1999 as a student employee and has had a variety of responsibilities over the years. Frank most recently was the Service Desk Manager for BU Medical Campus IT. During his tenure at BU, he’s helped manage three Exchange migrations and three Service Desk ticketing software implementations. He is a trained facilitator, Six Sigma Green Belt, and has earned both HDI Support Center Manager and ITIL Foundations certifications. Frank holds a BA and MBA from BU. Frank has served on the board of The Wellesley Players, a community theatre based in Wellesley, MA, managing the theatre’s box office and social media presence. In addition, Frank works on various technical aspects of shows with the Wellesley Players and other theatres in the area.


Speaker: Mimi Royston

Mimi Royston is the Chief Information Officer at American International College. Ms. Royston is an experienced leader with a strong technical background, developed over the past 20 years as an information technology professional. She has both depth and breadth in IT management and operational experience in the following areas: networking, server management, security, helpdesk, desktop support, training, grant writing, web support and instructional technology. Mimi holds an M.B.A. from Assumption College in 2005 and maintains her CISSP certification.

Mimi is responsible for leading the AIC Information Technology staff and the wide range of services IT delivers to the college community in the areas of instructional and administrative information systems, infrastructure, technology support, and IT-related innovation. She is leading the development of a shared vision for technology that supports American International College's mission and will establish and execute strategies to achieve that vision in a collaborative, transparent, and cost-effective way.

Speaker: Amber Vaill

Amber L. Vaill is the Assistant Vice President for Curriculum and Instruction at Becker College. In this role she provides oversight for curriculum development, instructional effectiveness and assessment, and digital learning support. 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.