College of Education and Social Services

Department of Leadership and Developmental Sciences

Faculty, Staff, and Our Research - Department of Leadership and Developmental Sciences

Our Chairperson

Jane E. Atieno Okech, Ph.D.
Professor, Chair

Jane Okech Welcome to the Department of Leadership and Developmental Sciences (DLDS). As you explore our academic programs, you will find an array of provocative courses of study leading to undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degrees, each designed to provide a transformative experience and to prepare graduates committed to transfiguring our schools and society.

At the undergraduate level, we offer a program in Human Development and Family Studies, as well as a sequence of course work in American Sign Language and Deaf Cultures. Our five master’s degree programs include Counseling (School and Clinical Mental Health Counseling Programs), accredited by The Council for Accreditation for Counseling and Related Education Programs (CACREP), Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Foundations of Education, Higher Education and Student Affairs Administration, and Interdisciplinary Studies. At the doctoral level, our program in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies offers two tracks that leads to the Ed.D., and Ph.D., degrees.

I invite you to also learn about our renowned faculty, their scholarship, professional service, and pedagogical practices.

Our Faculty

Judith A. Aiken - Associate Professor (Judith.Aiken@uvm.edu)
Judith Aiken
PRIMARY AFFILIATION: EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP & POLICY STUDIES
Areas of Expertise: Inclusive excellence; Ethical leadership; Leadership preparation

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Tracy Ballysingh - Assistant Professor (Tracy.Ballysingh@uvm.edu)
Tracy Arámbula Ballysingh
PRIMARY AFFILIATION: HIGHER EDUCATION AND STUDENT AFFAIRS ADMINISTRATION
Areas of Expertise: P-16 access/equity; First-generation college students; Socio-cultural and historic contexts of education

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Holly-Lynn Busier - Senior Lecturer (Holly-Lynn.Busier@uvm.edu)
Holly-Lynn Busier, Ed.D.
PRIMARY AFFILIATION: EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND POLICY STUDIES
Areas of Expertise: Epistemology; Disability studies, intersectionality and social justice issues; Social, historical, and philosophical foundations of education

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Kelly Clark Keefe - Associate Professor (kclarkke@uvm.edu)

PRIMARY AFFILIATION: EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND POLICY STUDIES
Areas of Expertise: Feminist, critical and arts-based qualitative methodologies; Body studies in educational contexts; Epistemic injustice

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Nicole Conroy - Lecturer (nicole.conroy@uvm.edu)
Nicole Conroy, Ph.D.
PRIMARY AFFILIATION: HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND FAMILY STUDIES
Areas of Expertise: Family studies; Gender studies; Human development and identity; Interpersonal violence; Social justice

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Jillian C. Donnelly - Lecturer (Jillian.Donnelly@uvm.edu)

PRIMARY AFFILIATION: AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE
Areas of Expertise: American Sign Language

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Jason C. Garvey - Assistant Professor (jcgarvey@uvm.edu)
Jason Garvey, Ph.D.
PRIMARY AFFILIATON: HIGHER EDUCATION AND STUDENT AFFAIRS ADMINISTRATION
Areas of Expertise: Campus and classroom climate; LGBTQ collegians; Survey design and quantitative methods

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Anne Geroski - Associate Professor (Anne.Geroski@uvm.edu)
Anne Geroski, Ed.D.
PRIMARY AFFILIATON: COUNSELING - SCHOOL COUNSELING
Areas of Expertise: Counseling skills; Work with children and adolescents; Parenting intentions

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Deborah Hunter - Associate Professor (Deborah.Hunter@uvm.edu)
Deborah Hunter, Ph.D.
PRIMARY AFFILIATION: HIGHER EDUCATION AND STUDENT AFFAIRS ADMINISTRATION
Areas of Expertise: Educational policy; Higher education; Student affairs

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Sean Hurley - Associate Professor (Sean.Hurley@uvm.edu)
Sean Hurley, Ph.D.
PRIMARY AFFILIATION: EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND POLICY STUDIES
Areas of Expertise: Adult learning; Assessment and evaluation; Early childhood; Educational policy

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Jennifer Jewiss - Research Assistant Professor (Jennifer.Jewiss@uvm.edu)
Jennifer Jewiss, Ed.D.
PRIMARY AFFILIATION: DEPARTMENT OF LEADERSHIP AND DEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCES
Areas of Expertise: Assessment and Evaluation; Research Methods

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Vijay Kanagala - Assistant Professor (Vijay.Kanagala@uvm.edu)
Vijay Kanagala, Ph.D.
PRIMARY AFFILIATION: HIGHER EDUCATION AND STUDENT AFFAIRS ADMINISTRATION
Areas of Expertise: Diversity, access, and equity; Educational policy; Higher education; Immigrant and refugee populations; Multiculturalism; Race and racism; Research methods; Social justice

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Kieran M. Killeen - Associate Professor, Associate Dean for Graduate and Non-Degree Programming (Kieran.Killeen@uvm.edu)

PRIMARY AFFILIATION: EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND POLICY STUDIES
Areas of Expertise: Educational Finance; Educational Policy; Leadership; Research Methods; Rural Studies; Student Mobility

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Aaron Kindsvatter - Associate Professor (Aaron.Kindsvatter@uvm.edu)
Aaron Kindsvatter, Ph.D.
PRIMARY AFFILIATION: COUNSELING - MENTAL HEALTH
Areas of Expertise: Adult Learning; Mental Health

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Tammy Kolbe - Assistant Professor (Tammy.Kolbe@uvm.edu)
Tammy Kolbe, Ed.D.
PRIMARY AFFILIATION: EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND POLICY STUDIES
Areas of Expertise: Assessment and Evaluation; Educational Finance; Educational Policy; Higher Education; Special Education

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Nicholas Lalanne - Lecturer (Nicholas.Lalanne@uvm.edu)

PRIMARY AFFILIATION: AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE
Areas of expertise: American Sign Language

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Robert Nash - Professor (Robert.Nash@uvm.edu)

PRIMARY AFFILIATION: EDUCATIONAL STUDIES
Areas of Expertise: Scholarly personal narrative

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Jane Okech - Professor, Chair (Jane.Okech@uvm.edu)
Jane Okech, Ph.D.
PRIMARY AFFILIATION: COUNSELING - MENTAL HEALTH
Areas of Expertise: Clinical supervision; Diversity, access, and equity; Ethics; Group co-Leadership; Group leadership; Group psychotherapy; Multiculturalism; Social justice

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John S. Pirone - Lecturer (John.Pirone@uvm.edu)
John S. Pirone, Ed.D.
PRIMARY AFFILIATION: AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE
Areas of Expertise: Disability and inclusion; Diversity, access, and equity; Social justice

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Dana Riger - Lecturer (Dana.Riger@uvm.edu)

Dana Riger

PRIMARY AFFILIATION: HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND FAMILY STUDIES
Areas of Expertise: Couples and Family Therapy; Family Systems Theory; Human Sexuality; Human Development; Social Media and Online Dating

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Lawrence Shelton - Associate Professor (Lawrence.Shelton@uvm.edu)
Lawrence Shelton, Ph.D.
PRIMARY AFFILIATION: HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND FAMILY STUDIES
Areas of Expertise: Adolescent development; Family studies; Gender studies; Human development and identity; Restorative justice; Universal design

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Lance Smith - Associate Professor (Lance.Smith@uvm.edu)
Lance Smith, Ph.D.
PRIMARY AFFILIATION: COUNSELING - SCHOOL COUNSELING
Areas of Expertise: Clinical supervision; Diversity, access, and equity; Human development and identity; Multiculturalism; Race and racism; School counseling; Social justice

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Sherwood Smith - Lecturer (Sherwood.Smith@uvm.edu)

PRIMARY AFFILIATION: HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND FAMILY STUDIES
Areas of Expertise:Adult learning; Diversity, access, and equity; Human development and identity; International and Global studies; Multiculturalism; Race and racism; Social justice

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Larry Stephen - Lecturer (Larry.Stephen@uvm.edu)

PRIMARY AFFILIATION: AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE
Area of expertise: American Sign Language

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Jacqueline Weinstock - Associate Professor (Jacqueline.Weinstock@uvm.edu)
Jacqueline Weinstock, Ph.D.
PRIMARY AFFILIATION: HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND FAMILY STUDIES
Areas of Expertise: Adult development and aging; Sexual and gender identities; Friendships

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Julie Ann Welkowitz - Practicum and Internship Coordinator (Julie.Welkowitz@uvm.edu)

PRIMARY AFFILIATION: COUNSELING - MENTAL HEALTH
Areas of Expertise: Narrative practices; Clinical & systems consultation; Model development within schools to support youth with emotional and behavioral challenges

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Lee Burdette Williams - Interim HESA Program Coordinator (Lee.Williams@uvm.edu)

PRIMARY AFFILIATION: HESA
Areas of Expertise: Academic partnerships; Learning communities; Student culture