Michael Saenz |
Michael Saenz has been in higher education instruction, student development, and student retention for over ten years and currently work as an Assistant Director in the Student Success Center at the University of Texas at Dallas. In this capacity, he oversees peer tutor and mentor training and certification, including the Peer-Led Team Learning program, Supplemental Instruction, Peer Tutoring, Academic Success Coaching, Writing and Communication Lab, and Financial Literacy Peer Coaching program. He also works as a lecturer in the Department of Communication Studies and serves on the CRLA Leadership Team as the IMTPC Coordinator and IMTPC Application Review Team. |
Shawn O'Neil |
Shawn O'Neil is the Assistant Director for Academic Skills with the Tutoring and Academic Skills Program at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where he supports students in learning how to learn and how to manage their time and priorities. He has been involved in CRLA's International Tutor Training Program Certification at almost every level-- as a tutor, tutor-trainer, tutor coordinator, and ITTPC reviewer, and ITTPC associate coordinator for the last two years. Currently he is serving as the ITTPC Coordinator. He is also the former CRLA Mid-South regional director. He has Masters degree in Education and is working on a second Masters degree in Training and Development from North Carolina State University. |
Jennifer Smith |
Jennifer has been a contributing staff member in the College of Natural Sciences at UT Austin since 2003, and has served as an undergraduate instructor since 2011. Jennifer’s research and practice center on leadership, incentive-based scholarship, undergraduate peer mentoring, and the experiences of underrepresented undergraduate populations. |
Melissa Thomas |
Previously, she was the Director of the Center for Student Learning at the College of Charleston where she provided leadership and management to all the learning assistance programs and services provided to students by the Center. Before that Melissa founded and managed a graduate student academic support program, including being a P.I. for a multi-year grant that provided writing tutoring to graduate students. She also has served as Past President of the College Reading and Learning Association and has three chapters published in the CRLA Tutor and Mentor Training Handbook. Melissa’s research interests include common read programs, motivation inside and outside the classroom, critical thinking in action, applied ethics, group communication, assessment, and student success. Melissa holds a Juris Doctorate (J.D.) from the University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication from the University of Texas at San Antonio. |