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 a 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. Active in the instructional and information technology professional development communities, Beth's past involvements have included co-coordinating the Boston-area EdTech group, serving on the Program Committee for and chairing the Northeast Regional Computing Program (NERCOMP) Annual Conference, as well as serving on the NERCOMP Board of Trustees.

Cristina Joy

Manager, Administrative Services

Cristina holds a BA and MA in English from Boston College. Through both her undergraduate and graduate studies, Cristina worked in Instructional Design & eTeaching Services in various roles supporting the university's learning management system and instructional design projects. Cristina began her current role as Manager of Administrative Services in 2008 where she oversees the operations of the IDeS department and computer labs and supports the Executive Director for Academic Technology. Additionally, Cristina's role focuses on managing the administrative uses of instructional technologies on campus and administering the Academic Technology Innovation Grant program.

Jeanne Po

Associate Director

Jeanne holds a BA in English literature and history from Saint Edward's University and a MA in English literature from Boston College. Her doctoral studies were in Composition and Rhetoric. During the course of her graduate studies, she taught in the English Department and for AHANA Student Programs. Jeanne has extensive experience integrating technology in academic settings though her work as an instructional designer, a graduate web assistant, a graduate technology consultant, and a freelance web designer. 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. Her promotion of instructional technologies in higher education has lead her to previously serve as a co-coordinator for the Boston-area EdTech group.

Helen Healy

Manager of Learning Technologies

Helen holds a BA 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 Blackboard Vista.

Peter Hess

Learning Technologies Administrator

Peter has a BA in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Before coming to BC he was an Instructional Designer at Emerson College; he has also done instructional technology support at Brandeis, MIT, and Ithaca College. Prior to his work in IT, Peter did TV production work and was a television studio technician. Several years ago, Peter started the Education Technology Group as a vehicle for people who work with instructional technology to share information and get to know each other. Peter likes keeping up with new developments in instructional technology, and even more helping people use established technology effectively.

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 for two years as a Graduate Web Assistant before joining the IDeS as a full-time instructional designer. She supports faculty in their use of educational technology and through project management, assisting in the development of web-related tools to enhance teaching. She has presented these resources at events such as the MERLOT International Conference and the New Media Consortium Summer Conference.

Tim Lindgren

Instructional Designer

Tim Lindgren holds a BA in English from Wheaton College (IL) and his PhD in English from Boston College (2009). Tim has worked for IDES since 2002, first as a graduate assistant and then full-time as an instructional designer. While a graduate student, his dissertation research focused 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 NMC Conference, Mobile Learning in Higher Education (NERCOMP SIG), 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). His ongoing interests include usability, open source software, social media, Drupal, and mobile technologies.

Jamie Walker

Instructional Web Developer

As a multimedia developer Jamie has spent the last 15 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. His focus in the last four years has shifted from 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, to working with the Drupal framework and php/mysql-based application development for IDeS. He holds a BA in Geology from Boston University and has toured internationally with the roots-rock band Swinging Steaks.

Gabriel LaRusso

Instructional Web Producer

Gabriel has a BS in Architectural Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. While there he broadened his design skill set by including courses in graphic design and film. Accolades include a scholarship to study abroad for a semester immersed in Chicago with a focus on financial space designed on field research that is realized in a group context. Prior to joining the team at Boston College IDeS he served as Media Coordinator at Tufts University and as Project Leader in a website redesign for the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at UWM. Earlier work history includes positions at various architecture firms including The Kubala Washatko Architects where he conceptualized new dealership designs for Harley-Davidson and Buell Motorcycles. Gabriel’s current role is to provide creative generation, improved user experience and branding identity for IDeS media including web, film and print.

Scott Kinder

Academic Technologist

Scott holds a BS in Mass Communications from Miami University of Ohio. He has been on staff at Boston College since 1983. Scott has taught as an Adjunct in BC's CSOM, Communications departments and is currently teaching in the Lynch School of Education. Scott is the CEO of ResearchWare, Inc., a software development firm that produces tools for qualitative data analysis. Scott does research and development for the department and is involved with testing and implementation of new teaching technologies.

Lisa Taddeo

Academic Technology Resource Specialist, 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 Academic Technology Resource Specialist for the IDES department. In this role, Lisa is responsible for the Windows and Macintosh computer labs in the O'Neill Library, Campion and Carney buildings. Lisa also supports Video Conferencing. In addition, Lisa works with the Manager of Administrative Services with regard to procurement, payroll, budgeting, meeting scheduling, and administrative assistance with Blackboard Vista.

Anastacia Pathiakis

MediaKron Project Manager

Anastacia joined IDeS in January of 2012 and is responsible for overseeing The MediaKron Project, which will bring the MediaKron application to five colleges and universities in the New England area, while enhancing its usage at Boston College. She holds a BA in Psychology from the University of Rochester and an MA in Child Study from Tufts University. She comes to IDeS with 12 years of experience in the planning, design, and production of museum-based educational interactives and multimedia learning environments for local, national, and international museums, including Boston Children’s Museum, the National Park Service, and the Youth Museums Exhibit Collaborative. She currently serves on Boston Children’s Museum’s Technology Task Force, and is interested in the advancement of educational technologies in teaching and learning.

Jaye Schneider

TMKP System Administrator

Jaye started her career as a consultant with AMS in Washington DC where she tested financial applications and trained users for the Department of Interior and the House of Representatives. She moved to Boston in 1996 and led quality assurance initiatives at Fidelity Investments for several large web-based software projects. Prior to joining the BC IDES team, Jaye was focused on building her own quality assurance consulting business, with the aim of helping small companies add process and testing to their website projects. In her current role at Boston College, Jaye will be the technical liaison for the MediaKron project. Jaye holds a BBA from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and an MBA from Babson College.

Arielle Eagan

Graduate Assistant

Arielle holds a BA in Human Development and Sociology from Boston College and is now a second year MSW student in the Graduate School of Social Work. She hopes to specialize in Pediatric Oncology Social Work and someday work in this field.

Christo Koutroulis

Course Management Graduate Assistant

Christo is pursuing a MTS at the School of Theology and Ministry. He studied History and Comparative Literature at Cornell, after which he worked in finance for a number of years before coming to BC. His interests are in early Christian history and patristics. He hopes to pursue doctoral research after BC.

Randy Aust

Graduate Instructional Designer

Randy holds a BA in Theology and Religious Studies from the University of San Francisco. Prior to coming to Boston College, he taught theology for three years at Santa Margarita Catholic High School in Orange County, CA. He is currently pursuing a MTS at the School of Theology and Ministry, and hopes to return to the high school classroom when he's done.

Samantha Orsagh-Yentis

Graduate Assistant

Samantha holds a BS in Psychology from Tulane University. She is currently pursuing her masters in Mental Health Counseling in the Lynch School of Education. After graduation from Boston College, Samantha hopes to counsel children suffering from maladaptive behavioral patterns and families of trauma.

Bryan Blakeley

Graduate Assistant

Bryan holds a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies from Wheaton College (IL). Before coming to BC, he worked in a variety of Information Technology capacities for the insurance industry, including server administration, hardware repair, and software support. He is currently pursuing a MA in History at Boston College and hopes to specialize in Early U.S. History in future doctoral studies.

Damon Pryor

Graduate Technology Specialist

Damon holds a BS in Psychology with a concentration in Clinical Psychology, Sociology, and Computer Engineering from Rochester Institute of Technology. He is currently pursuing his masters in Mental Health Counseling in the Lynch School of Education. After graduation from Boston College, Damon hopes to obtain his doctorate in Counseling Psychology.

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 PhD 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.

Richard Jenson

Faculty Moderator

Richard holds a PhD 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.