College of Education
Fall 2022 – New Faculty
First Name | Last Name | Title/Rank | Dept/Unit | |
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Heather | Lindfors-Navarro | Assistant Professor | Teaching & Learning | |
Heather Lindfors-Navarro (she/her) work centers on children's mathematical ideas within a complex educational system with a focus on issues of equity and social justice. She has spent two decades working with Latinx and Indigenous communities in Arizona, first as an elementary school teacher and then as a mathematics specialist. | ||||
Tina | Chaseley | Assistant Clinical Professor | Teaching & Learning | |
After earning a BA in Elementary Education, Tina Chaseley taught second, third, and fourth grade for ten years in Gilbert Public Schools and served as a district Reading Specialist for three years. In 2010, she started teaching preservice teachers, and in 2015 began the full transition to teaching in higher education. Her passion is in preparing and supporting teachers for the rigors of classroom practice. | ||||
Lauren | Contreras | Assistant Professor | Educational Leadership | |
Lauren Contreras has 15 years of experience working in non-profits and higher education in research, teaching, advising, and program coordination with an emphasis on supporting first-generation college students, and students of color. Lauren’s research draws from a LatCrit and Chicana Feminist lens and focuses on uplifting the voices and experiences of historically marginalized students in higher education. | ||||
Marya | Cota | Assistant Clinical Professor | Educational Psychology | |
Marya Cota is an adult and child trained Clinical Psychologist. During the course of her career she provides organizational consultation and held a private practice in Clinical Psychology specializing in working with children, adolescents, young adults and their families. She is a bi-cultural, Spanish-speaking psychologist committed to bridging the gap of healthcare and education for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse populations. | ||||
Austin | Guida | Assistant Clinical Professor | Educational Psychology | |
Austin Guida is an NAU alumna and is expected to receive her Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision at the University of Arizona in December 2022. Austin has served the University of Arizona as an adjunct instructor and graduate teaching associate in the Department of Disability and Psychoeducational Studies. She is a Licensed Associate Counselor and Nationally Certified Counselor with a specialization in high conflict family reunification therapy. | ||||
Susana | Hernandez | Assistant Professor | Educational Psychology | |
Susana Hernandez's student and professional experiences in higher education as a first-generation Latina shapes and informs her research. Her research is centered on using critical and non-deficit frameworks to study how higher education policies influence the educational/work experiences for racially and ethnically minoritized students and faculty. Currently, her research is exploring developmental education policies. | ||||
Jenny | Holzapfel | Assistant Clinical Professor | Educational Psychology | |
Jenny Holzapfel enjoys working with clients on concerns related to mood and anxiety disorders, grief and loss, identity exploration, and the transition to parenthood. Her research is focused on supervision techniques, client therapy outcomes, and mental health stigma among student-athletes. | ||||
Rachelle | Huntington | Assistant Clinical Professor | First Year Seminar | |
Shelly Huntington started in the field of special education as a teacher. Her first year managing the challenging behaviors in the classroom inspired her to pursue my BCBA to become a better teacher. She found her passion and decided to pursue certification and a doctoral degree inn Behavior Analysis to improve the lives of those negatively impacted by a disability or behavioral challenge. She has many research interests including working with individuals with disabilities, using socially valid practice, choice and preference and training and coaching and improving the experiences of students in higher education. | ||||
Alana | Kennedy | Assistant Professor | Educational Psychology | |
Alana Kennedy is an educational psychology researcher interested in self-regulated learning strategies, learning, and motivation, with a specific focus on students of color. She is currently using quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate how model minority myth endorsement impacts academic help-seeking among Asian American college students. | ||||
Robert | Macias | Lecturer | Teaching & Learning | |
Robert Macias is a Flagstaff Native and brings 20 years of classroom teaching experience. His areas of expertise include literacy instruction and diversity and equity issues in education. | ||||
Jessica | Manzone | Assistant Professor of Practice | Teaching & Learning | |
Jess Manzone is a classroom teacher, instructional coach, and professional learning consultant who has been in the field of education for 20 years. Jessica works as a professional learning consultant in schools and districts across the country in the areas of culturally sustaining pedagogies, instructional practices, curriculum design, and differentiation. Her research interests include non-traditional identification, early childhood education, and the expansion of differentiation to include culturally sustaining pedagogies. | ||||
Christopher | McBride | Associate Professor of Practice | Educational Psychology | |
Chris McBride worked as an EMT for five years prior to graduate school where he was exposed to the diversity of people and life circumstances in the city that never sleeps. He completed his Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology specifically studying stress and first responders. Chris developed his own private practice and has been teaching at the undergraduate and graduate level since 2015. | ||||
Michael | McCarthy | Associate Professor of Practice | Educational Psychology | |
Mike McCarthy loves the areas of Education, Educational Psychology, and School Psychology. He is both a state certified school psychologist and has previous experience as a special education teacher. He has many years of teaching experience and has been active with national accreditation reviews and research. | ||||
Lauren | Mott | Assistant Clinical Professor | Educational Psychology | |
Lauren Mott integrates seven years of clinical experience as a licensed professional counselor into her teaching philosophy. Her teaching approach relies on incorporating lived experiences and integration of theory into practice. Her clinical experiences involve working as an addiction and trauma specialist. She has experience working with adults in individual, couple, and group counseling modalities in a variety of setting, including; inpatient/residential, intensive outpatient, community mental health, college counseling, and private practices in Arizona. | ||||
Stacy | Murison | Lecturer | First Year Seminar | |
Stacy Murison (she/they) is an educator and author. In her role as lecturer with First Year Seminar, she created and developed (and currently teaches) two courses: "What does it mean to be human?" and "What is truth?" Her research interests include writing pedagogy, critical thinking, media studies, and identity. She holds a MFA in Creative Writing from Northern Arizona University and a MA in Humanities from Georgetown University. | ||||
Vangee | Nez | Assistant Professor | Educational Specialties | |
Dr. Vangee Nez is a member of the Navajo Nation from Tocito, New Mexico. She is Táchiinii, Ta’néészahnii yáshchiin, Naakaii Dine'é dábicheii dóó Bit'ahnii dábinali. Dr. Nez is a certified Native American Language and Culture, K-12 through the State of New Mexico PED to collaborate and continue developing teaching strategies for the Navajo language proficiency.Dr. Nez’s research explores the theoretical and philosophical foundations of Navajo Epistemology for research paradigms and using the Navajo Knowledge of SNBH (Framework) as an educational tool to reclaim cultural knowledge through storytelling and re-examining community-based education for Navajo youth. | ||||
Jennifer | Prior | Associate Teaching Professor | Teaching & Learning | |
Jennifer Prior retired from NAU in 2017 as Full Professor Emeritus in the areas of Literacy and Early Childhood. During her 15 years fulltime with the university, her scholarly interests included using environmental print as an instructional literacy tool, family involvement in education, and effective teaching practices. During retirement, she continued to teach online for NAU and write and publish teacher resource materials. She returns to NAU this year as a teaching professor and looks forward to inspiring preservice teachers. | ||||
Nandini | Ramakrishna | Assistant Clinical Professor | Educational Psychology | |
Nandini Ramakrishna is a Licensed Professional Counselor with experience in outpatient and in-home settings working with Severely Mentally Ill (SMI) adult patients. She brings 4 years of clinical experience in mental health assessments, treatment planning, and counseling intervention services to a diverse population dealing with mental health issues. Her teaching philosophy is aimed at integrating theory and practice and encouraging students to view multicultural competence as central to their counseling skills. | ||||
Laura | Rodriguez | Assistant Clinical Professor | Educational Psychology | |
Laura Rodriguez (she/her) is finishing her dissertation at the NAU Combined Counseling/School Psychology program in Educational Psychology. Clinically, Laura specializes in working with bilingual Southwestern populations, both in rural and metropolitan settings. She leads with a multicultural framework, integrating systemic and developmental approaches to address the unique needs of the family. In teaching, Laura demonstrates a strong commitment to mentorship and community-based learning. Her research interests include critical social justice issues surrounding education, human development, and health equity. Laura is proactive in community service, equity advocacy, and leadership. | ||||
Samuel | Severance | Assistant Professor | STEM | |
Sam Severance's research explores how to use inclusive design practices to develop and implement STEM education innovations – such as curricula, assessments, and learning technologies – that all K-12 students, families, and teachers can find meaningful and empowering. Prior to joining academia, Sam taught science at the secondary school level for six years. | ||||
Steven | Smith | Lecturer | First Year Seminar | |
Steven L. Smith is a retired naval chaplain having served in the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps for twenty-two years. Current civic memberships include the Indigenous Peoples Advisory Council, Coconino County Board of Supervisors; Advisory Board member for Martin-Springer Institute, NAU, and member of the Doctrine of Discovery Group, Syracuse University. | ||||
James | Snyder | Assistant Clinical Professor | Teaching & Learning | |
Jimmy Snyder, citizen of the Kickapoo Tribe in Kansas, is a new Assistant Clinical Professor and Assistant Director for the Institute for Native-serving Educators (INE). He has taught social studies on the Kickapoo reservation in Kansas, the Navajo Nation in New Mexico, and has years of experience working on a tribal college campus. Research interests and areas of expertise include Indigenous education, philosophy, and history, Indigenous feminism, settler colonial theory, athletic coaching, curriculum development, and teacher education. |
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Victoria (Tori) | Theisen-Homer | Assistant Clinical Professor | Teaching & Learning | |
Victoria Theisen-Homer is the Director of the new Arizona Teacher Residency program at NAU. She was born and raised in Arizona and is a product of public schools in Phoenix. She was a high school English teacher in Los Angeles Unified School District, where she was named a district Teacher of the Year. | ||||
Noé | Vargas | Assistant Clinical Professor | Educational Psychology | |
Noé Vargas is a native of Tepic Nayarit, Mexico. He is bilingual in English and Spanish and is a National Certified Counselor (NCC), a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), and a PreK-12 Standard School Counselor (SSC) in the State of Arizona. Noé has over ten years of experience working with diverse and unique individuals in different academic setting and believes in the uniqueness and potential of each human being and in creating and promoting a client or student-centered approach. | ||||
Ashley | Vaughan | Assistant Professor | Educational Psychology | |
As a K-8 educator, Ashley Vaughan developed, implemented, and evaluated culturally responsive and sustaining curricula for indigenous students, as well as designed and directed asset-based, community-driven summer and after school programs. Her research is focused on the cognitive, civic, and social consequences of community-based pedagogies, as well as dismantling those practices that restrict the inclusion of traditionally marginalized groups. | ||||
Beau | Vezino | Assistant Teaching Professor | Teaching & Learning | |
Beau Vezino's primary research interest is integrating engineering, science, and mathematics (STEM) in elementary schools. He has strived to be a leader in designing curriculum materials, pedagogical practices, and assessments for teaching engineering in K-12 schools and is committed to the strong preparation of teachers to teach science and math, especially in the elementary grades. He has worked to develop courses that support teachers to integrate STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) in their classrooms; to promote equity, growth mindset, and productive struggle; to plan and teach lessons that place experiences before explanations and engage students in scientific practices. | ||||
Cynthia | Villarreal | Assistant Professor | Educational Leadership | |
Cynthia D. Villarreal's research uses organizational theory to evaluate policies and culture at community colleges and Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs). Recent projects include interrogating equity policies at California Community Colleges, examining racialized experiences of faculty at Predominantly White Institutions, and critiquing faculty hiring policies at HSIs. | ||||
Amy | Boniface | Assistant Clinical Professor | Teaching & Learning | |
Amy Boniface's passion is focused on helping teachers fully engage their students by facilitating instructional practices that encourage critical thinking, problem solving, and authentic opportunities that allow students to use their knowledge in creative and collaborative ways. | ||||
Victoria | Damjanovic | Assistant Professor | Teaching & Learning | |
Victoria (Tori) Damjanovic served as the Director of the USF Preschool for Creative Learning, a teacher educator lab school and Affiliated Faculty in the Early Childhood Education program at the University of South Florida. During her tenure at the USF PCL she worked with pre-service and in-service teachers in an inclusive diverse program with a focus on inquiry-based teaching and learning, facilitating practitioner inquiry as a method for professional development, systematic analysis of one’s teaching practice, and to explore the use of equitable teaching practices with young children. Tori’s current research agenda focuses on in service and pre-service teachers content and pedagogical knowledge, communities of practice, and the role of documentation in child and teacher learning in early childhood contexts through dimensions of equity. | ||||
Marie-Christine | Goodworth | Associate Clinical Professor | Educational Psychology | |
For the last ten years, Marie-Christine Goodworth has been teaching in a doctor of clinical psychology program at George Fox University. Currently she is collaborating with audiologists at the National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research doing research and clinical care related to tinnitus at the Portland VA Medical Center. Marie-Christine is very glad to return to Arizona and teach with competent and collaborative colleagues in the Clinical Psychology (PsyD) program on the North Valley Campus. | ||||
Kaitlin | Hublitz | Associate Teaching Professor | First Year Experience | |
Kaitlin Hublitz has been working at NAU for 10 years, teaching classes for the First-Year Experience and the First Year Seminar. During that time, her area of focus has been student persistence, with special attention paid to first-year students in need of added support. She has been an educator for 14 years, with a background in English Education. | ||||
Na Young | Kong | Assistant Professor | Educational Specialties and Teaching and Learning | |
Na Young Kong research focuses on vocabulary instruction; multi-tiered systems of support in early education settings; emergent bilingual children; and evidence-based, culturally responsive, family-centered service provision for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. | ||||
Kama | O'Connor | Lecturer | First Year Experience | |
Kama O'Connor's undergraduate degree in Hospitality Management is from NAU, as is her Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. After graduating with her MFA in 2015, she worked for six years as an instructor in the Composition Department. During this time, she taught additional courses in the Honors College as well as created and piloted a veteran-specific writing course at Coconino Community College. Her academic interests lie in the first-year student experience, especially in working with veteran and military-connected populations. | ||||
Kymberly | Richard | Lecturer | First Year Experience | |
Kym Richard's specialization during her graduate education was the cognitive processes that contribute to criminal behavior. She has taught at the college level in a women’s maximum-security prison, provided life skills instruction to incarcerated men and women at several county jails, and conducted re-entry seminars for formerly incarcerated women transitioning back into society. Kym has spent the last decade designing and teaching courses that examine topics in criminal behavior, domestic violence, criminal law, police psychology, and child and human development. | ||||
Gregory | Shrader | Associate Clinical Professor | Educational Psychology | |
Greg Shrader comes by teaching naturally - both his grandmothers were teachers, and his great grandfather was a professor at Indiana University. Working for NAU now is a full circle moment for him, as he grew up in Flagstaff, AZ in NAU's shadow. Greg has taught at ASU, U of A, Midwestern University and at Argosy University, where he was a full-time faculty member for 12.5 years until Argosy closed in 2019. Since then, he has been working at ASU's Counseling Services and continuing his private practice in Tempe. | ||||
Jennifer | Blaney | Assistant Professor | Educational Leadership | |
Jennie Blaney's research examines gender equity in computing and other STEM fields, and she is currently the Principal Investigator on two different studies of gender equity and community college pathways to computing degrees, funded by the Spencer Foundation and National Science Foundation. | ||||
Evelyn | Burrell | Associate Professor of Practice | Educational Psychology | |
Evelyn Burrell has experience completing psychological and psychosexual evaluations, violence risk assessments, and therapeutic treatment for forensic populations. She specializes in working with adolescent and adult individuals with personality, mood, sexual, and paraphilic disorders. Evelyn Burrell has taught college courses at both the undergraduate and graduate level, focusing on foundational psychology, cultural diversity, diagnostics, and counseling skills. | ||||
Sheryl | Harrison | Associate Clinical Professor | Educational Psychology | |
Sherry Harrison is a psychologist who has had a full or part time practice in Scottsdale for over 25 years. For 16 years she has taught in a doctoral Clinical Psychology program. She teaches courses in Ethics, CBT, Person Centered and Experiential Therapy, Family and Couples Therapy, and Animal Assisted Therapy. | ||||
Chesleigh | Keene | Assistant Professor | Educational Psychology | |
Chesleigh Keene teachers primarily in the Counseling masters and Combined Counseling/School Psychology doctoral programs in Educational Psychology. Her research interests are in the area of health equity for Indigenous populations. | ||||
Lisa | Outhier | Associate Clinical Professor | Educational Psychology | |
Lisa Elder Outhier is a licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in working with children, adolescents, college students, and parents. Dr. Outhier's specialties include anxiety and depressive disorders, adjustment issues & stress management, ADHD, OCD, Autism Spectrum Disorders, mood disorders, gender and sexuality issues, and adolescence. | ||||
Catharyn | Shelton | Assistant Professor | Educational Specialties | |
Catharyn Shelton brings a background as a K-12 teacher (high school Spanish, special ed, bilingual elementary). In her teaching and research, Catharyn explores how technology can help or hinder teacher learning, networking, and agency. Recently she has investigated how teachers learn and lead in online spaces, focusing on how teachers enact (or fail to enact) social justice and anti-bias, anti-racist approaches. | ||||
Lawrence | Sideman | Clinical Professor | Educational Psychology | |
Larry Sideman's professional experiences as a clinical psychologist have been diverse, highlighted by an almost 14 year academic career as a core faculty member in the doctor of psychology program at the Arizona School of Professional Psychology at Argosy University. Since 1995, he has maintained an independent psychological practice where he provides psychological assessment and individual, couples and family psychotherapy. |
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Rose | Ylimaki | Professor | Educational Leadership | |
Rose M. Ylimaki is the Del and Jewell Lewis Endowed Chair in the Department of Educational Leadership. Her research focuses on leadership as a multi-level phenomenon, including classrooms, schools, districts, states, nation states, and increasingly, transnational levels. She has a background in education theory and philosophy as well as qualitative research methods. |