My professional work is grounded in student success and has expanded over time to include program leadership, institutional collaboration, learning design, assessment, and educational innovation.
Profile
Executive Profile
For more than three decades, I have worked to improve how students learn, how educational programs support them, and how institutions translate good intentions into effective systems. My experience spans student success, academic support, scholarship services, corporate learning, instructional design, workforce development, educational technology, and organizational improvement.
Student success remains the center of my professional identity. My work combines direct understanding of student needs with program strategy, staff development, service redesign, assessment, and cross-functional collaboration.
Areas of Expertise
Student Success
Academic support, tutoring, Supplemental Instruction, scholarship and financial-aid coaching, persistence, self-regulated learning, and peer educator development.
Program Leadership
Program development, organizational improvement, staff leadership, partnership development, stakeholder engagement, and change management.
Assessment & Improvement
Program evaluation, learning analytics, service utilization, data-informed decisions, continuous improvement, and return-on-investment analysis.
Learning Innovation
Instructional design, educational technology, AI integration, online learning, learning experience design, and research-to-practice translation.
Professional Journey
Since January 2023, I have served as Program Director for Scholarships and Supplemental Academic Services in the Office of Undergraduate Education at THE Ohio State University, setting strategic direction for a unit that combines academic success support, financial aid and scholarship guidance, and stewardship of donor scholarship funds for 3,000+ students. A defining piece of this work has been preparing students and staff for an AI-influenced academic landscape, alongside strengthening the unit’s broader data and analytics infrastructure and partnering on academic reform efforts like the HHMI-funded Chemistry curriculum transformation.
From 2008 to 2023, I worked at Ohio State University at Newark and Central Ohio Technical College as a Learning Specialist, with a concurrent faculty responsibility for teaching Learning and Motivation Strategies for Academic Success. I worked directly with students, individually and through the Peer Assisted Learning programs, on study skills, self-regulation, and executive-functioning strategies that shape academic persistence. My work also extended into university governance through a Presidential appointment to the University Staff Advisory Committee and a chairship of its Inclusive Excellence Subcommittee.
Before returning to higher education, I spent 2004 to 2008 in corporate learning and development at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, managing two employee learning centers and later developing training as an Instructional Designer. My focus there sharpened around adult learning as a career strategy: coaching employees pursuing degrees and credentials, building prior-learning-credit portfolios, advising on career pathways aligned to market trends, and introducing a research-based framework for measuring ROI on workforce educational investment.
My career began in journalism and public communications at the University of Puerto Rico in Mayagüez evolving from Assistant Copy-writer to Editor, until culminating in my appointment as UPRM’s Director of Media and Community Relations — an early lesson in leading teams and budgets at the institutional level. I’m also very fond of my years working as a Graduate Assistant in admissions and recruitment at Michigan State University.
Selected Leadership Impact
Ohio State University — Program Director, Scholarships and Supplemental Academic Services (2023–Present)
- Expanded tutoring capacity by approximately 300% by growing and diversifying the peer educator cohort
- Directed strategic and operational leadership of academic and financial support services for 3,000+ students, including stewardship of donor scholarship funds
- Strengthened data collection and analytics systems to improve program assessment and institutional decision-making
- Partnered on the HHMI-funded curriculum transformation initiative
- Reclassified roles in Scholarship Services to enhance staff recruitment and retention
- Co-developed standardized, equity-aligned scholarship award rubrics with the Scholarship Manager
- Redesigned tutor and peer educator training framework around learning science, AI integration, communication, reflection, and pedagogical content knowledge.
- Created an accessible online academic-success environment serving more than 2,100 students.
- Maintained service continuity and team stability during closure and major organizational transition.
Ohio State University at Newark / Central Ohio Technical College — Learning Specialist & Associated Faculty (2008–2023)
- Appointed by Ohio State’s President to the University Staff Advisory Committee (2018–2021); chaired its Inclusive Excellence Subcommittee
- Represented COTC on the Strategic Planning Council (2017–2019) and Ohio State/COTC in the Ohio Association of Community Colleges’ Equity Champions Initiative (2021–2022)
- Taught Learning and Motivation Strategies for Academic Success (EPSY 1259) for more than 13 years
- Built and led an Academic Peer Coaching program and participated in the campus’s first learning community
- Recruited, trained, and supervised the Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) leaders
- Trained tutors and peer educators in compliance with CRLA accreditation
- UMKC-certified Supplemental Instruction Supervisor; EDUCAUSE Learning Technology Leaders Institute alumnus
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (2004–2008)
- Achieved a 100% increase in employee participation in educational activities, improving ROI on the organization’s education and training investment
- Designed and introduced a research-based framework for applying ROI metrics to workforce educational investment
- Managed two employee learning centers serving 2,000+ staff across two regional offices, including computer-literacy training and prior-learning-credit portfolio support
- Converted paper-based training curriculum into an online learning environment
University of Puerto Rico in Mayagüez (1991–2001)
- Directed a $1 million consolidated budget and a team of 12+ communications professionals as Director of Media and Community Relations
- Consolidated the university’s graphic, printing, and editorial departments into a single administrative unit
- Helped secure a multi-million-dollar intergovernmental and corporate agreement supporting Puerto Rico’s Techno-Economic Corridor
- Received the 1999 Union of American Women Award for outstanding work in academic journalism
Current Areas of Focus
- Student success systems and academic-support strategy
- Peer educator development and discipline-informed training
- Learning analytics and program improvement
- Responsible integration of artificial intelligence into learning and decision-making
- Open Educational Resources
Leadership and Educational Philosophy
I view student success as both a human commitment and an institutional design challenge. Students benefit from encouragement and individual support, but they also need clear pathways, timely information, effective learning environments, well-prepared educators, and systems that make support easier to find and use.
My leadership approach combines focus on the learner with attention to the system. I seek to build programs that are evidence-informed, collaborative, sustainable, and adaptable—and to use technology in ways that strengthen rather than diminish human learning.
Education
Master of Arts in Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education
Michigan State University
B.A. in Hispanic Studies
University of Puerto Rico – Mayagüez