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Center for First Year Experience & Learning Communities Staff

Pam Person, Director Pam is an experienced academic director with a talent for designing successful programs that integrate students’ academic, community, and professional interests.  Since 2002 Pam has served UC as the first full-time director of learning communities; in 2004 she was tapped to expand the university’s first-year experience initiatives.   She has been a key contributor to the development of Integrated Core Learning, UC’s signature approach to undergraduate education.  In recognition of her work and its impact upon the University of Cincinnati, Pam was selected in 2007 as an Outstanding First-Year Student Advocate by the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition.  Her broad leadership experience combined with her expertise in curriculum design, experiential learning, and student development has bolstered her ability to create programs that have a lasting, positive impact upon student persistence and academic achievement.  Prior to joining UC Pam served as Director of Career Services at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and in leadership roles at Southeast Missouri State University, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, and Virginia Tech.  Pam’s advice to first-year students is to get engaged in university life and to follow your passion for learning without fear because focusing one’s interests and goals will open doors to opportunities currently unimagined.
Gregory Metz, PhD., Assistant Director His primary responsibility is to support Peer Leaders and contribute to the continuous improvement of Learning Communities. Greg has a Ph.D. in Sociology from Rutgers University, and in his academic work he has studied student experience and change processes in educational institutions. He has extensive professional experience as a college level Dean including coordination of advising programs, design and implementation of college transition programs, and supervision of educational opportunity programs for first generation college students. Greg has also taught extensively at the undergraduate and graduate levels in both Education and Sociology, and taught high school history as well. He lives in Wyoming, Ohio with his wife (Sharon) and daughter (Lauren), and enjoys basketball, playing guitar and listening to a wide array of music.
Amanda Cluxton, Executive Staff Assistant A 2007 graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.  She graduated with degrees in French and International Studies. She is originally from Dayton, Ohio. Recently, she has returned from Saumur, France where she was teaching English at a French middle school. In her free time, Amanda loves being outdoors. She enjoys playing tennis, hiking, and learning new languages. Amanda is very excited to be a part of the Center for the First Year Experience & Learning Communities team. She wishes all the UC first year students the best of luck this year!
Jennifer Dively, Graduate Assistant A second year graduate student in the field of audiology Jennifer's primary role is the Center's expanding website. As a 2002 University of Cincinnati graduate from the McMicken College of Arts & Sciences, Jennifer takes great pride in giving back and contributing to the Bearcat community through her work in the Center. Her advice to new students is to take advantage of all the wonderful resources and opportunities that UC has to offer.
Erika Garcia Gonzalez, Graduate Assistant
Michael Starr, Graduate Assistant A Fourth year graduate student working on a PhD in materials science with a focus on polymers.  He received his bachelor of science in materials science and engineering from the University of Cincinnati in 2003.   Having worked full time in the aerospace industry for two years following his bachelor’s degree his decision to return to school in pursuit of advanced degrees was readily greeted with an open mind and a greater appreciation for the educational process. His main area of study is focused on chemical characterization methods for materials and surface properties pertaining to adhesion.  He is in his second year working with the learning communities program and his main role is to provide assistance to FYE staff and peer leaders, focusing on engineering PLs, as well as providing an additional voice for the engineering college within the learning communities program.
LuCinda Coder, Peer Leader Captain A fourth year student majoring in Middle Childhood Education with a focus in mathematics and science. She is in her fourth year with the Learning Communities program as well. As a first year student she was in the Liberal Arts and Traditions learning community, and then in her second year she worked diligently as a Peer Leader for a psychology based Learning Community. Her third year she worked as one of our Peer Leader Captains and will be continuing her position during her fourth year. LuCinda became interested in working with the program after a few short months of being in a learning community. She enjoyed her experiences as a student in a learning community and gained so much from it, that she wanted to not only share her experiences with other first year students but also help them to succeed in their first year here at UC as a Peer Leader. Now as a Peer Leader Captain her passion for helping others, being a leader and role model, and helping others succeed in all aspects of life provides her the tools to help other Peer Leaders. LuCinda admires the program and believe that it provides so many benefits for students.
Katie Richardson, Peer Leader Captain A third year student in the College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services working towards a degree in Secondary Education English with a certification in Creative Writing. This is also Katie’s third year with the program. She was in a Learning Community her first year, was a Peer Leader of a Learning Community last year, and is looking forward to her first year as a Peer Leader Captain. As a first year student, Katie really felt like her Learning Community got her really connected to campus even though she lived off campus. Katie is so thankful to help continue the program that has had such a large impact on her life and is a firm believer that it contributes to an enjoyable, successful first year at UC.
Michelle Prinzo, Peer Leader Captain  A  third year  student double majoring in  Early Childhood Education and Communication. This is Michelle’s third year with the learning community program. She was in a learning community her first year, a Peer Leader for the Early Childhood Education 1 learning community last year, and is now one of the four Peer Leader Captains.  Michelle has enjoyed her experiences with learning communities thus far, and is excited to use what she has learned to impact Peer Leaders and their First Year Students.
Caitlin Vagedes, Peer Leader Captain A fourth year, Secondary Education major with a concentration in English.  She is very involved all over campus, especially in CECH.  Her favorite program here at UC is the Learning Communities program and that is why she decided to get involved.  She was a student in an LC and benefited so much that she decided to become a Peer Leader.  After holding that position for two years she decided to become more involved and applied to be a Captain.  She is very excited to make this one of her greatest memories of her last year at UC.

 2009-2010 Peer Leaders:                                              
                                                                                                         (click to enlarge)

Business in the 21st Century	Jonathan Scott
Communication	Lacey Bradley
Envisioning Art & Design I	Caroline Bigner
Envisioning Art & Design II	Heather Silverman
Exploring Nursing	Karoline Thorvaldsen
International Affairs	Stacey Breen
Interpreting Statistics	Lyndsi Gilbert
Journalism	Amanda Ackerson
Major Choices: A & S	Hannah Lewis
Pre-Law	Antonia Carbone
Psychology	Po-hun Chou
Sciences and Pre-Health I	Maria  Boyden
Sciences and Pre-Health II	Kyaira Renner
Sciences and Pre-Health III	Oliver Rogers
Sciences and Pre-Health IV	Julianna Fadare
Sciences and Pre-Health V	Alexandra Warner
Sciences and Pre-Health VI	Benjamin Stoyak
Sciences and Pre-Health VII	Patrick Reardon
Sciences and Pre-Health VIII	Timothy Ratterman
Understanding Sexuality	Karen Taylor
Advanced Medical Imaging Technology	Samantha Guard
All Allied Health	Kim Schwartz
Communication Sciences & Disorders	Danielle Smith
Health Sciences & Clinical Lab Sciences	Richard Lacher
HLSC & Pre-Med I	Daniel Drachman
HLSC & Pre-Med II	J'ai Watson
HLSC & Pre-Med III	Bridget Brown
HLSC & Pre-Med IV	Amanda Compton
Nutrition & Dietetics	Jessica Zaccagnini
Criminal Justice I	Josiah Leeman
Criminal Justice II	Dion Webb
Criminal Justice III	Megan Reid
Early Childhood Education I	Allie Hansen
Early Childhood Education II	Lauren Guban
Health Promotion & Education	Jayme Alexandar
Middle Childhood Education	Emily Riesenberg
Secondary Education I	Kimberly Nixon
Secondary Education II	Alysia Totten
Secondary Education III	Clayton Adams
Special Education	Evie Kontopos
Aerospace Engineering I	Robert Charvat
Aerospace Engineering II	Krista Kirievich
Biomedical Engineering I	Stephen Chrzanowski
Biomedical Engineering II	Pooja Kadambi
Chemical Engineering I	Katie Lackman
Chemical Engineering II	Douglas Hennig
Chemical Engineering III	Jonathan Gordon
Civil Engineering I	Alex Riordan
Civil Engineering II	Daniel Cuffman
College of Engineering I	Caleb Gillespie
College of Engineering II	Zachary Wells
College of Engineering IIIA/IIIB	Ashlee Youngpeters
College of Engineering IV	Morgen Schroeder
College of Engineering V	Sweta Patel
College of Engineering VIA/VIB	Phillip Niekamp
Computer Science	Lauren Anderson
Electrical & Computer Engineering I	Laura Boehm
Electrical & Computer Engineering II	Daniel Ruggiero
Electrical & Computer Engineering III	Michael Ottman II
Electrical & Computer Engineering IV	Bo Wang
Freshman Engineering Program I	Olivia Rengering
Freshman Engineering Program II	JeRome James
Freshman Engineering Program III	Anna Meibers
Freshman Engineering Program IV	Kevin Say
Freshman Engineering Program V	Kaitlyn Sarmento
Mechanical Engineering I	Jay Payne
Mechanical Engineering II	Michael Reilman
Mechanical Engineering III	Anthony Berman
Mechanical Engineering IV	Michael Linger
Pre-Social Work	Meredith McMiller