CESS is proud to celebrate our outstanding faculty and staff whose leadership, teaching, scholarship, service, and dedication have been recognized with awards in 2026. Their achievements reflect the many ways CESS faculty and staff strengthen our college, the University of Vermont, and so many communities far beyond our campus. Join us in congratulating this year’s award winners and learn more about the work that makes each honoree a unique contributor to CESS' collective impact.

Cassandra Townshend

CESS Staff Recognition Award

As Co-Director of the Vermont BEST/PBIS Project, Director of Project AWARE, and I-Team Director at the Center on Disability and Community Inclusion, Cassandra Townshend works across programs dedicated to supporting students and educators.

With more than two decades of experience as a consultant, coach, trainer, school social worker, behavior specialist, therapist, and special education leader, Cassandra has helped build systems that advance students’ social, emotional, and behavioral well-being. She is also a certified Crisis Prevention Institute trainer with extensive experience in de-escalation, positive behavior interventions and supports, and crisis intervention.

Cee Carter

2026 Patricia A. Prelock Award for Excellence in Online Teaching for Full-Time Faculty

Assistant Professor Cee Carter brings critical Black Feminist methodologies to the study of raciality, economy, law, policy, and knowledge production in education.

Carter’s scholarship and teaching reconsider how educational equity is pursued in U.S. K–12 schools, tracing the influence of federal law, statewide accountability systems, and district partnerships. Carter's work also centers critical literacy practices and curriculum co-created with educators and young people.

Cynthia Reyes

D.H. Lawrence McCrorey Award for Inclusive Excellence

Professor Cynthia Reyes connects teaching, research, and service through a sustained commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion as well as family-school partnerships, digital literacies, educational policy, and language.

Her community-engaged scholarship has focused especially on partnerships with immigrant families. In 2023–2024, she received two Fulbright Canada awards, serving as a research chair at both the University of Waterloo and the University of Alberta. Before entering higher education, she taught in a bilingual Spanish-English classroom and in adult English-language education.

Danielle Jatlow

2026 President’s Distinguished University Citizenship and Service Award

Clinical Assistant Professor Danielle Jatlow has spent more than 20 years working with adolescents, young adults, and families in community, clinical, and public-service settings.

Her career has included supporting youth experiencing housing insecurity in San Francisco, helping youth and families affected by medical issues in New York City, and developing a mentoring program for adults returning to their communities after incarceration. She holds an MSW from Columbia University School of Social Work and completed post-master’s training at the Ackerman Institute for the Family.

Jacqueline “Jackie” Weinstock

2026 President’s Distinguished University Citizenship and Service Award

Associate Professor Emerita Jacqueline “Jackie” Weinstock is a lifespan developmental psychologist whose teaching and scholarship explore how individual development and sociocultural conditions shape people’s lives across adulthood and aging.

Her work spans LGBTQ+ development, relationships, and communities as well as healthy aging, social-justice programs and training, and college student development. Throughout her career, she has championed critical thinking, connected knowing, and community engagement through service-learning.

Julia Stein

2026 CESS Staff Recognition Award

As Academic Affairs Coordinator for the Department of Education, Julia Stein provides operational leadership and support for the department’s chair, directors, faculty, and staff.

Julia contributes to strategic program planning, accreditation data-gathering, departmental events, website maintenance, and the department calendar. As co-chair of the DOE Community Council, she also helps foster an active and engaged community. A Vermont native and UVM graduate, Julia began her education career with the Burlington School District.

Kristabel Stark

John A. Abruscato Award

Assistant Professor Kristabel Stark studies the working conditions and emotional experiences of special educators, drawing on qualitative and quantitative methods as well as her own experience as a special educator.

Her scholarship seeks to strengthen teacher preparation and in-service support so special educators can meet students’ individualized goals while sustaining their own well-being. She has received funding from the Spencer Foundation and the American Educational Research Association and teaches courses in special education assessment, disability issues, and the emotional dimensions of teaching.

Rachel Cronin

2026 CESS Staff Recognition Award

Rachel Cronin serves as Assistant Director and HR Manager for the Center on Disability and Community Inclusion and as Vermont’s data coordinator for the National Information Reporting System of the Association of University Centers on Disabilities.

Her service to CESS includes past work on the CESS Staff Advisory Council and her current role on the CDCI Leadership Committee. Rachel earned bachelor’s degrees in Business Management and English Literature from Emmanuel College and an M.A. in English Literature from UVM.

Tiffanie Spencer

Outstanding Staff and Faculty Award from the Mosaic Center

As Assistant Dean of Advocacy, Access, and Strategic Impact, Tiffanie Spencer leads efforts to expand diversity, equity, and inclusion across CESS.

Spencer builds partnerships with local and national organizations and campus colleagues to create pathways of success for faculty, staff, and students from historically underrepresented backgrounds. Her work touches recruitment, admissions, orientation, town halls, racial affinity spaces, assessment, graduation, faculty engagement, and curriculum and program development.

Tricia Brown

John Dewey Educator’s Award for Teaching Excellence

Senior Lecturer Tricia Brown teaches in UVM’s Middle Level Education and Secondary Education programs, advises and supervises students in practicum experiences, and coordinates the Secondary Education Master of Arts in Teaching program.

Drawing on expertise in STEM education, universal design, and place-based education, Tricia brings experience as a middle and high school science teacher and innovative-learning district resource teacher. She is pursuing a Ph.D. in Natural Resources with a focus on transdisciplinary and sustainable leadership.

Melissa Rocco

2026 Peter Northouse Outstanding Teaching Award

Senior Lecturer Melissa Rocco of the Department of Education was honored by the Association of Leadership Educators for her contributions to advancing leadership education through outstanding teaching and learning.

Her research, teaching, and practice use transformative and liberatory approaches to challenge dominant leadership narratives and center identity, equity, and justice in leadership education. Rocco teaches courses in leadership and identity, social action and change, curriculum design, developmental theory, and professional practice in higher education.

These award winners embody the talent, care, creativity, and commitment that define the CESS community. Their collective impact can be seen in stronger learning environments, more inclusive institutions, meaningful scholarship, responsive programs, and deeper partnerships.

Congratulations to each of our 2026 award winners!