Contacts

	Rita R. Owens Executive Director for Academic Technology As Executive Director for Academic Technology, Rita R. Owens advises and represents the Academic Vice President on technology-related matters. She provides direction for student information systems as well as for eTeaching initiatives at Boston College. Currently she leads the University Core Systems project to replace all student information and peripheral systems. She also oversees the department of Instructional Design and eTeaching Services. She previously directed Academic Technology Services for the University. From 1996-2000 she was the Project Leader for Service Strategies at BC, during which time she led the transformation of BC’s student services by creating the Office of Student Services. She is a frequent presenter at AACRAO, EDUCAUSE, CUMREC, and the IBM Forum on Student Services as well as the BC representative for the IBM Best Practice Partners in Student Services. She has published several articles on her work as well as appeared on the SCUP/IBM/PBS broadcast, Planning for Student Services, Best Practices for the 21st Century. Rita is also a part-time instructor in the English department, teaching Business Writing.
	Elizabeth Clark Director, Instructional Design and eTeaching Services As the Director of Instructional Design and eTeaching Services (IDeS), Beth provides leadership and direction for IDeS, and the eTeaching services and initiatives at Boston College. Beth holds an MSW from Boston University and is currently pursuing her PhD in Higher Ed Administration at Boston College. Before coming to BC, she served as Director of Communications and Public Relations at Andover Newton Theological School, developing and managing their web presence and administering their eLearning program. Beth was also a web development consultant for a variety of non-profit organizations around the Northeast. Her professional background also includes federal and state policy analysis, and planning and program management for human service organizations, which has driven her interest for integrating technology into social service and academic settings. She serves on the Northeast Regional Computing Group (NERCOMP) Board of Trustees, the local affiliate of Educause.
	Cristina Joy Manager, Administrative Services Cristina holds a B.A. in English from Boston College. She is currently pursuing a Master of Arts degree in English. Cristina joined the Instructional Design and eTeaching Services department in 2004 as an undergraduate. As a Graduate Web Assistant in IDeS, she worked primarily with WebCT and Blackboard Vista course development as well as instructional design projects. Cristina started as the Manager of Administrative Services in November 2008 where she oversees the daily operations of the IDeS department and supports the Executive Director for Academic Technology.
	Jeanne Po Associate Director Jeanne holds a B.A. in English literature and history from Saint Edward's University as well as a M.A. in English literature from Boston College. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in the English department with a focus on Composition and Rhetoric. She has extensive experience integrating technology in academic settings, working as an instructional designer, a graduate web assistant, a graduate technology consultant, and as a freelance web designer. She has also taught in the English Department and for AHANA Student Programs. Jeanne’s current role as associate director is focused on managing instructional design staff and offering support to faculty in the evaluation, selection, implementation and use of instructional technology in the classroom. She is also a co-coordinator for the Boston-area EdTech group, a forum for staff and faculty of local institutions who are interested in instructional technology issues in higher education.
	Helen Healy Senior Course Management Administrator Helen holds a B.A. from University of Cork, Ireland and a diploma in marketing from Buckinghamshire College, London. Before coming to Boston College, Helen worked as a faculty liaison at MIT which involved helping faculty and instructors use technology in the classroom. Helen also worked at Harvard Medical School in a variety of positions ranging from Postmaster to software instructor. Helen's current role at Boston College will focus on helping instructors use technology in the classroom with a specific emphasis on WebCT.
	D'ondria Maxwell Course Management Administrator D’ondria holds a BS in Computer Science from Prairie View A&M University and an MS in Computer Science from Stanford University. Prior to joining BC, she acquired several years of industry experience working for leading technology companies such as IBM, Nokia and Verizon. With a combination of technical, analytical and interpersonal skills D’ondria progressed in her career from pure software development to systems analysis and design then ultimately into project management. A personal interest in technology in education led her to her current role in IDES where she is managing the migration of WebCT Campus Edition to Vista.
	Sarah Castricum Instructional Designer Sarah holds a BA in History from the University of Durham, UK and PhD in Theology from Boston College. Her interests in pedagogy and technology grew out of her experience as a teaching fellow and as a research assistant, helping to make resources for the study of church history available in online databases. She worked in RITS for two years as a Graduate Web Assistant before joining the staff full-time. The primary focus of her current role is project management, assisting faculty in the development of web-related tools to enhance teaching.
	Tim Lindgren Instructional Designer Tim Lindgren holds a B.A. in English from Wheaton College (IL) and is currently finishing his PhD in the English department at Boston College. His dissertation research focuses on blogging and how writers use new media to help foster a deeper sense of place. He has presented papers on technology and pedagogy at the Computers and Writing Conference, the International Conference on Teaching and Learning, and the Conference on College Composition and Communication. His published essays have appeared in Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy (Fall 2005), Coming into Contact: New Essays in Ecocritical Theory and Practice (2006), and Locations of Composition (2006). Before joining IDeS as a full-time instructional designer, Tim worked for three years as a Graduate Web Assistant during which he assisted faculty with WebCT and web design and developed websites using PHP/MySQL and Drupal. His ongoing interests include blogging in education, open source software, user experience, and locative media.
	Bill Porter Instructional Web Producer Bill holds a BFA in Computer Arts and Animation from UMass Amherst. He came to BC from Simmons College where he worked as a Media Specialist. Bill also has professional experience in video production, web design and animation. His current role as Instructional Web Producer is focused on designing and building web and multimedia projects for the academic community at BC.
	Jamie Walker Instructional Web Developer As a multimedia developer Jamie has spent the last 10 years immersed in the production of CD ROM, video, and web applications for companies in various industries, including health care, publishing, hi tech, and education. His involvement has been inclusive, from overseeing day to day operations, the solicitation of new work, and the building of project specifications to all aspects of project development and production. For the last 4 years his focus has been the development of database driven web sites and web applications using asp, asp.net, php, and Cold Fusion as the head of his own consulting business, Highrock Interactive. He holds a BA in Geology from Boston University and has toured internationally with the roots-rock band Swinging Steaks.
	Scott Kinder Academic Technologist Scott holds a B.S. degree in Mass Communications from Miami University of Ohio. He has been on staff at Boston College since 1983, and teaching WWW and Digital Media as an Adjunct in BC's Communications Department for three years. Scott is acting CEO of a software development firm that produces tools for qualitative data analysis. Besides his teaching, Scott currently manages several computer and media labs, and consults with faculty regarding multimedia content creation and administering surveys over the web.
	Lisa Taddeo eTeaching Resource Consultant, IML As a graduate of Cambridge's Youville Hospital School of Nursing, Lisa's career began in the medical field where she worked as a License Practical Nurse starting in 1981. Lisa has been a member of the BC community since 1986 when she joined Information Technology. She has had a number of positions in IT over the years, including Administrative Assistant for MIS, Office Coordinator in IPS and Technical Support Advisor for the IML. She currently holds the position of eTeaching Resource Consultant for the IDES department. In this role, Lisa is responsible for the Windows and Macintosh computer labs in the O'Neill Library, Campion and Gasson buildings. In addition, Lisa is primary contact for setting up Video Conferencing.
	Philip Day Graduate Support Services Manager, IML Philip holds a B.A. in Philosophy and German studies from the University of North Texas. He is currently working on an M.A. in Philosophy with a focus in Continental and Environmental Philosophy. Before joining the IDES staff he worked as a network technician and senior residential campus consultant for UNT's residential network. Philip is also a licensed and certified Pharmacy Technician, having worked in the field for several years while pursuing his undergraduate degree. His current role as Support Services Manager for the Interactive Media Lab has him maintaining, updating, and servicing the seven advanced computer labs largely from the server side; he is also in charge of the student employees who assist faculty and staff in using the classrooms. Aside from operatons directly related to the IML classrooms, Philip also updates and adds to the IML Wiki, and ensures that the various digitizing services that the IML offers to faculty and students are up-to-date and available for easy use.
	Austin Mason Graduate Student Assistant Developer Austin holds a B.A. in Medieval & Renaissance Studies from the College of William & Mary in Virginia and an M.St. in Medieval History from Oxford University. He is currently working on a PhD in history at Boston College with a focus on religious practices and material culture in Anglo-Saxon England. As a Teaching Fellow at BC, he teaches undergraduate history courses on globalization and material culture in the early modern and modern periods. Before joining IDeS as a web development assistant, Austin acted as the BC history department's “digital curator” for the Global History Archive, an online repository created by IDeS staff. Austin's current role is to support the development of web-based instructional technologies at Boston College.
	Jennifer Wade Graduate Assistant Jen holds a B.A. in philosophy and theology and a master’s degree in theology. She is pursuing a PhD in theology at Boston College with a focus in gender theory and spirituality. Her interest in technology and education grew out of her experience as a web site manager and as a teacher in secondary and higher education. Before joining IDES, Jen worked as a Graduate Technology Consultant at Boston College and as the Communications Director at the Washington Theological Consortium. In these roles she supported various computer platforms as well as designed and managed web technology. She also taught secondary school and presently teaches undergraduate courses in theology at Boston College. She is interested in technology that increases student collaboration and uses clickers and wikis in her classroom to this end. Jen supports technologies for faculty use such as the course management system Blackboard Vista and other IDES instructional applications such as MediaKron.
	Beth Healey Graduate Assistant Beth holds a B.A. in history from Providence College, and is currently pursuing a MA in history at Boston College. Prior to coming to Boston College in 2008, Beth worked for the program technology team at Facing History and Ourselves, an international, education-based nonprofit organization.
	Meghan Commins Graduate Assistant At Boston College, Meg double majored in Human Development and Economics and had a minor in Organizational Studies. As an undergraduate, she worked with IDeS to create the GenerationPulse website. Meg worked as a research analyst at a marketing and consulting firm and taught pre-school before returning to Boston College to pursue her degree in Mental Health Counseling.

Faculty Moderators

	Kit Baum Faculty Moderator Christopher F (Kit) Baum is a faculty moderator of the Faculty Micro Resource Center and associate professor of economics. He joined BC in 1977 after earning his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. Baum has served on strategic planning committees, academic computing committees, and the GORITS committee that proposed the creation of Academic Technology Services. With Michael Connolly, Baum proposed the Graduate Technology Assistant program, administered from the FMRC and the progenitor of the Technology Consultant program. He was appointed to oversee the creation of the Graduate Statistical Assistant program, now a part of Research Services. Baum has managed the development of technology resources for the Department of Economics for many years and has provided the technical resources for the Library's Virtual Data Center web-based access to statistical data sets. He is currently writing a book on the use of the Stata statistical package in applied microeconomic research. He teaches econometrics at the undergraduate and graduate levels and co-directs the interdisciplinary Minor in Scientific Computation in A&S.
	M.J. Connolly Faculty Moderator
	Richard Jenson Faculty Moderator Richard holds a Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Illinois, and has been a faculty member in BC's Department of Mathematics for over 25 years. His fields of interest include algebraic coding theory, combinatorics and computer science. As one of the original moderators of the Faculty Microcomputer Resource Center (FMRC), he has provided support for faculty members interested in exploring technological alternatives in both their research and teaching for nearly 20 years. Richard has helped establish and supervise the original GTA (Graduate Technology Assistant) program which has since morphed into today's TC (Technology Consultant) program providing distributed, departmental tech support for faculty. In addition, he has served on several faculty advocacy committees over the years acting as a voice for faculty technology concerns.