EHE Staff Spotlight

In your own words, describe what you do at the college?

I'm responsible for setting up and maintaining our foundation data model, which is pretty much all of the work tags that you use when you're processing things. We refer to it as the infrastructure, and so I have to maintain infrastructure, make sure it makes sense so that we're able to run reports and make strategic decisions based on  the data that we're pulling.

I serve as a supervisor and mentor for our finance officers. I like to allow them to have autonomy in their roles, so I’m really just a resource. If they have questions, they can come to me. If there're pitfalls that I can see, I'll alert them. But ultimately, I want them to be able to run their own departments, make their own decisions and come to me if they are feeling a little unsure and if they have questions. I provide reports and guidance for faculty members whenever they have some bigger picture questions, and if we need to  conceptualize at a higher level. I hope I'm a good resource for reporting for our entire fiscal team.

What do you enjoy most about working with EHE?

Right now, our fiscal team is the strongest that it's been since I've been with EHE. Every member of our team is highly valued. They all bring different things to the table, so I really enjoy being able to touch base with them and get their perspective on things.

I also have enjoyed having the freedom to be creative in reports and different strategic plans that we've been putting together over the last year or two. I've been called into conceptualize new processes, new ways of thinking, and that has been really enjoyable.

I've also been given the opportunity to really dive into Tableau and to create dashboards. And that has been really enjoyable. So, I appreciate having the flexibility and the freedom in EHE to be able to show my creativity. It's not like in art form, but it’s about numbers, and that's what I enjoy.

How has your role evolved over time?

When I started with EHE, I was with the Department of Teaching and Learning. I was the fiscal officer. That's where I really learned a whole lot about different ways of budgeting and conceptualizing processes and workflows. Then I moved into my current role, I think in 2018, and it started as more of an operations role, so doing the same thing that I was doing in Teaching and Learning, but at the college level.

Fast forward to today, and I'm almost 100% budgeting, strategic plans, looking at the numbers and how we need to work with our work tax, so that we're able to get meaningful data out of the system. It’s really transformed into less of a daily operation and more of a projections type of role.

What is your proudest moment at EHE?

I'd say being able to put together dashboards that allow us to project 5, 6, 7 years into the future. Previously we were working from a lot of different Excel workbooks. So, being able to combine all that data in one space and feeling comfortable and using the system to produce dashboards that our dean and faculty can access, and it makes sense to them — that is a proud moment.

What’s one thing people don't know about you that they would be surprised to find out?

I'm in two bowling leagues. I picked up a bowling ball for the first time, I think, in summer 2021, and my average went from 58, which is terrible, to 141, which is reasonable. So over four years’ time, I've been able to really improve, and I'm beginning to enjoy it. It's all a game of physics, and I think that’s what keeps me interested.

Who or what inspires you daily?

I have a 20-year-old daughter. She's a sophomore in college, and just watching her and seeing the decisions she's making and how she's kind of going back or pointing back to things that I've taught her over the years is inspiring. You never know who's watching and who's listening. So, to see her grow and to see some of her decisions manifest into who she is today is very inspiring.

Do you have any hobbies or interests you'd like to share?

Bowling and also boxing. I started that during or right before the pandemic, and it's really turned into a big social aspect for me. I've made a lot of friends there. I am a respected member of my gym, and it really has become something that I prioritize. I've also  embraced having peace in my life. So, just enjoying my own company has been something that I'm really embracing as of late. That's been really enjoyable to just be okay with being okay, just being by myself and in my peace. That’s something that I'm starting to do regularly.

In your own words, describe what you do at EHE.

My title is faculty affairs specialist, and I focus on the promotion and tenure process. I help to make sure that we communicate all the procedures and rules for promotion and tenure, that, at all the different department levels, everyone is having a fair and equitable review and that we're meeting OAA standards. I also help to process any other faculty paperwork for the college, such as faculty professional leaves, special assignment leaves and any other faculty processes that come through.

What do you enjoy most about working with EHE?

I really enjoy the people that I've been able to work with, meet and interact with in my current position. Working with Tasha Snyder is really great. She is a really good partner and very helpful for making sure that we have everything done. She's very efficient in knowing what our office does. I was new in this position last year, so she was very helpful in teaching me how to set standards. She’s a really good mentor for that. I really enjoy working with her.

What do you think makes EHE unique?

There's a lot of different things that make EHE unique. I've been with the college for the past, I think, six years, and I would say that it has a different feel. There are places where the people make it really great, and it's also exciting to be able to fulfill the Ohio State vision and mission of educating the next group of people and the next generation of those interested in learning. We're all living the university mission and vision by helping to create better communities with education.

How has your role evolved over time?

I started in 2018 as a program assistant within the chair’s Office of Educational Studies. I was there for nine months and got a foundation to understand the college, the role of the chair's office and the administrative portions of what happens in that department.

Then there was an opening for the next position up as assistant to the chair in the Department of Teaching and Learning. I'm someone that really likes to learn and challenge myself, and I applied for that position with the foundation that I had grown within Educational Studies. I was selected for that job and switched over.

That was definitely a learning curve. I was able to get a good grasp on the administrative structure within the department and then helped to support everything that goes through the chair's office within T&L. I went above and beyond to try to help the department grow.

Last year, this position (faculty affairs specialist) was posted, and I was looking for a new challenge and growth. I had learned the foundations of promotion and tenure from Ed Studies and Teaching and Learning. So, I went for it and was selected for the position, and again, I’ve continued to grow within the college and find new opportunities.

Is there anyone or anything that inspires you daily?

I think my family inspires me, between my parents and my sister and her husband and my husband, they really inspire me to be my best and encourage me to be my best. They taught me to always bring whatever I can to the situation and give grace to people as they're learning and as we work together. We're all humans, and we're just trying our best. I think I really bring that or try to bring that to work and life situations. We can work together and be kind and get the job done, as long as we're doing it together.

What's one thing people don't know about you that they would be surprised to find out?

I feel like when I've talked to people that they are somewhat surprised that I am an extreme extrovert, because at work, I tend to do my job and be helpful, but sometimes I'm so focused on getting the job done or getting tasks done, that I'm not as social. But I am an extreme extrovert.

What is your proudest moment at EHE?

I would say that my most recent proudest moment is maybe getting through the promotion and tenure process for the first year and my role last year. We had 12 cases, which is not a whole lot, but I was able to learn a new system and navigate my new role, get everything done in the way that OAA needed it, and make sure that those who did have reviews felt supported.

Do you have any hobbies or interests you’d like to share?

I work a lot with people, again, a super big extrovert. So, I do lots of volunteering with my church, but then also volunteer as a 4-H volunteer in Fairfield County. I grew up doing 4-H, and I think that mentoring is a super huge part of helping to prepare the next generation. I spend a lot of time with kids helping them learn leadership skills, skills to take into the workplace, or prepping them for college and higher education opportunities with 4-H projects or showing animals. I think that's super rewarding, and my husband and my family are all part of that as well. I think that's a really fun kind of hobby.

Describe in your own words what you do at EHE?

I'm both tier one and tier two support. Basically, I'm just the first line of defense. I'm usually one of the first people that speaks to people when they have a problem, whether they're calling in, emailing or submitting a form on the web page. If they have some kind of issue, they'll submit a ticket or a problem one of those ways.

Describe what it’s like working with your team.

I've been here since I was a student worker, so just seeing our team kind of evolve over time has been really cool. Our team is probably the best it's been. Currently, it's very easy to turn to one of my colleagues if I need help, if I don't understand something. It's a very relaxed environment. It’s easy and natural to say, hey, I need help with this, or have you experienced this in the past? I'm kind of hitting a dead end.

What do you enjoy most about working at EHE?

The environment. Like I mentioned, the team is the best it's been since I've been here. I also like that with some of these bigger colleges that are kind of bundled under the central IT umbrella, EHE has its own dedicated IT service desk. I have an opportunity to build more personal relationships with the people who call in for support.

There are multiple instances where someone's called in, and I can remember what happened the last time. So, it's like an ongoing conversation where I don't necessarily need to dig up old tickets and read through all the work notes. I remember the problem they were having so I can hit the ground running and build off the knowledge I have from previous interactions.

How has your role kind of evolved over time?

I started out as a lab monitor when we had a lot more classrooms back in the day. That slowly evolved into being a student worker with the service desk where I was shadowing the technicians and jumping on the phones.

That's how I got a lot of my early experience — working in the help desk environment, developing my tech troubleshooting skills. When a position opened for a full-time position, I applied. It was lucky that I already had that experience, because it was easy for me to transfer from being a student technician into a full-time technician.

Every college is different, even in terms of their IT needs. What people need in engineering is a lot different than arts and sciences or education. It was nice that I was already familiar with the environment, moving into it.

What is your proudest moment at EHE?

I don't know if I have a singular moment that stands out, but I really like developing those relationships with people where they'll say, hey, thanks again for helping me with this thing. It's nice to have that recognition, whereas in a bigger environment, you might not have those kinds of interactions with people that you've helped in the past.

There are definitely times where someone has come in super stressed about a problem, and if I'm able to fix it, you can tell that they are genuinely appreciative. It's always a good feeling to be able to provide them with the service and actually fix the problem that they're having. Those moments collectively would be my proudest moment.

What's one thing people don't know about you that they would be surprised to find out?

I like to run a lot and kayak. I try to stay active, because a lot of my job does involve me sitting at a desk all day. So, my wife and I try to run 5Ks in our spare time, just to stay active and keep from sitting all day.

Who or what inspires you?

I'm inspired a lot by the people around me, because it can be a stressful job, but I know that I'm not the only person who's going through this or maybe running into a problem. Seeing my colleagues persevere makes me want to be a better technician, too. That helps keep me motivated to stay at their level and stay at the top of my game.

Our technician when I got here, Robert, had been around for so long, and he still had such a great sense of humor. He was also very knowledgeable and someone I kind of try to emulate. Even when things were stressful and exploding all around him, he always stayed positive. My dad is like that too. He's a technician as well, and he and Robert hit it off earlier on when they worked together, because they have kind of similar personalities. I would say both of them are inspiring.

Do you have any other hobbies or interests that you'd like to share?

Aside from running and kayaking, I like to go on walks with my dog. I'm also into typical geek hobbies — watching movies and playing video games. My friends and I also do a weekly bar trivia night. I like to try to stay social when I can.

In your own words, describe what you do at EHE?

As chief administrative officer, I oversee the Office of Finance and Business Services, which is a great team. I find myself being what I would call the strategic partner not only to our executive leadership team and the dean, but also to our staff members who help to process all types of functions within the college. That includes the fiscal staff, HR staff and the graduate manager. I like to say that I work for them because they are kind of the wheels that keep things turning.

My job then is to help them realize goals, to realize our team goals and to unblock anything that will disrupt those changes. We walk away from team meetings saying, okay, this is what we're going to do. They come to me for help getting through and managing any issues that come up.

I'm here to make sure that we reach our goals, whatever those are, from the dean's perspective and leadership’s perspective, so we're seen as a fantastic college within this university, and so we’re going to leave a lasting mark in some way. 

Wherever I can show up, whether that's helping with building a new building, making sure we hire as many grad students as we can or meeting a financial goal, that's my role. What can I do? How can I help? That's how I approach my job every day.

One of my biggest goals this year is to streamline things and help people find what they need. Since Workday, people have trouble knowing where to look or how to find things. I'm working with my team to make sure that the information is readily available. Our job is to give you some really easy things that you can understand without having to dig too deep. I try to make things easier for everybody. … I want to make sure you can get what you need done, but I’ve got to make sure that it's done within policy. I never really seek to say no. I say, okay — even if we can't do it that way, maybe we can do it this way.

What do you enjoy most about working with EHE?

My team. I look forward to getting things done with them. They're excellent. They really brighten my day. That includes my internal team, but even the executive leadership team. I would also say the people, not just my team, because we're all doing really good work. It's very interesting to connect with people. I relate well to them,  and I'm always intrigued about how they get to where they are in life and what they're doing. What made you decide to do this? I tend to try to get to know people from different levels, not just seeing them as a colleague, but as a person, and knowing that they have all types of things going on in their lives and that they choose to show up every day here with me. I enjoy seeing people get joy out of doing the work that they do.

How has your role evolved over time?

I've been at the University for 24 years, and about 14 of those have been in the College of Education in two different departments. I worked in Ed Studies, and I also worked in administration. Now I'm working at the college level. When I first took on this job in 2018, I was a senior fiscal officer, which is a little bit different from a chief administrative officer. I was just fiscal those first two years. But as the needs of the college and the leadership changed, that evolved into the chief administrative officer position.

What do you think makes EHE unique?

The number of people who come through our college. We have education all the way to kinesiology, (and human ecology including fashion and retail studies — that's the breadth of the work that we do.

I'm always shocked by how much we have going on in our college. We have a childcare center. The number of people that you run into who say, that was my college — it just touches so many people. We have one of the largest alumni bases in the whole university. So, to me, it is the unique factor for our college that we have so much knowledge under this one umbrella. We’ve had a garden, like a farmer's market in human nutrition at one point.  I think it's good to know that our college is doing all these things.  

What's one thing people don't know about you that they would be surprised to find out?

In my younger years, I used to sing and perform with an ensemble group. I did that in my past, and I'm interested in doing it again. I'm an artist. I love a lot of art. I don't really draw freehand or anything like that, but I'm really good with doing colors, painting and things like that.

What is your proudest moment at EHE?

I would say that one of my proudest moments is from EHE’s Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement (now EDGE). I received the [Susan La Flesche Picotte] Community Educators and Leaders of Distinction Award (in 2017), and that was really nice. It’s always nice to feel appreciated. It was a very big moment for me. I remember inviting my family, my husband and kids to come and see me receive the award.

Do you have any hobbies or interests you’d like to share?

I'm an avid reader. I love to read all kinds of things. I don't really have a new focus, but I just read different things. I just went through a period of reading Greek mythology, which was pretty interesting. My goal this upcoming year is one or two books a month.

Describe in your own words what your job is at the college. 

I am the program director for the Sport, Fitness and Health Program. That is a non-degree program open to everybody on campus. These are four-credit classes, so they contribute toward a student's academic progress, and we focus on just what our title says: sport, fitness and health. 

We have 30 instructors, and we serve about 3,200 students a semester, so about 6,400 students a year. We get students from every college across the university, and we're also a favorite amongst Program 60 (free tuition program for residents over 60 years old) participants. I've been here for 26 years at Ohio State, and this program has been my life's work, my passion, and I feel like we do some really great things for students. 

One of my greatest joys is actual teaching. I'm an administrator, first and foremost, but I also teach, not because I have to, but because I want to. My undergraduate degree was in education. My graduate degrees have all been in exercise physiology, but there's something about being able to work with students that allows me to get a firsthand idea of what they need and want. How can I help you be more successful? Not only in their major but as a person. 

This is going to sound incredibly corny, but I truly mean this from my heart. It is an honor for me to directly work with and influence the students, because these students are the future. To have an impact on them in a positive way  and people pay me to do that every day — I get so jazzed about it.

What makes your department unique?

We offer over 60 courses and multiple sections of each — from women's self-defense to men's and women's basketball, from yoga to introduction to health, drugs and alcohol, or cancer prevention. There are two classes that I'm most proud of that we've been doing for the last several years. One is stress management for students. Several years ago, we had a summer where three students separately tried to take their lives. After the third one, I realized our students needed something we were not providing. I went through the course catalog for the entire university looking for something that I could refer my at-risk students to. There wasn't anything. So, I developed a three-credit course that teaches students cognitive and physical tools to help manage stress while they're here and beyond. We teach them how to reframe events, how to stop negative thoughts. One of the great things that we teach is kindness to others, because it has a tremendous impact on the person doing the acts of kindness. We combine that with special yoga poses meant to help release stress. 

Even though we're just health and activity classes, we're making a difference for our students. I keep a folder of all my emails from students about not only my classes, but my other instructors’ classes, and what a difference we've made in their lives. That is what has kept me loving my job for 26 years. I don't know too many people who can say that they can't wait to get to their job every day, even after this long. We love our students. We go above and beyond for them daily, because that's how we make a difference. 

The other thing that really sets us apart is we are the benchmark program. We've been doing it for a while, and we have a good strategy.  We send out a survey every semester to all the students currently taking our classes, and we ask, “What are we not offering that you really want to see us offer?” If we've got multiple students asking for a particular thing, we do our best to develop it. It takes paying attention not only to our students, but also to fitness trends and what's popular right now.

I'm excited about developing a weight management class, because having done some research, I realized that we’re not getting to a part of the population. They're too intimidated or they're too self-conscious, and I have a special place in my heart for those folks. 

I am working with the Student Health Center, its Student Counseling, as well as a couple of faculty in Human Development and Family Sciences, to attract these students and help them feel safe, give them some confidence about their bodies. How can we help them adopt some healthy strategies that bring their weight into a healthy range? This is going to be a multidisciplinary class, pulling from everybody who's willing to help these students get what they need, so they're not afraid to sign up for a class. Then maybe the next semester, they will sign up for that pickleball class or for that strength training class. 

What do you think makes EHE unique?

One thing that I think makes us great is how diverse we are, not only in our personnel, but also in what we offer. Just in my Department of Human Sciences. You've got human nutrition, kinesiology, human development and family science, and consumer sciences. 

Then there’s Teaching and Learning and Ed Studies. I have always been an advocate for wellness. If you think about all the pillars of wellness in our college, they include things like financial wellness and social wellness. We cover them all. I think that's what sets us apart in EHE. And I’ve met some of the most devoted faculty and staff that I've ever worked with.

What is it like working with your team?

I have six full-time instructors who not only teach in their area of expertise, but also serve as peer mentors. They have the responsibility of taking a new, part-time instructor and teaching them about pedagogy and about what works best in the classroom, depending on what they're teaching. Then they serve as a resource for that new instructor for the first year or two of them working for us. 

Those full-time instructors are amazing, and I have some of the best in the country. Seamus Riley, who does all of our team sports, is internationally known for his involvement in soccer and men's soccer. He teaches that, plus 100 other things. They're some of the highest quality people I've ever met, both in their areas of specialization and as human beings. 

I have 26 part-time instructors who come from the community. I've either recruited them or they came to me and said, “Hey, I'm an elite pickleball player. Do you have any pickleball classes you need taught?” I just hired someone for spring who worked with the professional soccer team as a strength and conditioning coach for years. The wealth of knowledge that she's bringing is mind blowing.

Program manager, Alexandra Butts runs our day-to-day operations. She is also our course scheduler. I employ two student assistants who manage our social media presence. They know how to influence, and we're starting a new marketing campaign with them this year where they'll go to all of our classes, try them and report on them. They're goofy and they're funny and they're addictive. You can't help but want to watch them.

What is your proudest moment at EHE?

When we do exit interviews with our graduates, and we give them the opportunity to name one person who has impacted them, I've gotten several of them. Those are worth more than all the other awards hanging in my office because they came from a student who said, “This person helped me.” That's all I've ever really wanted to do, is to serve these students in the best way I can. 

How has your role evolved over time? 

When I first started at OSU, I was the manager of all the exercise science labs. Then, due to budget, I got moved to the Sport, Fitness and Health Program. I was teaching a lot of classes, and that was great. I loved it. Then it evolved into more management, which was also good, because then I got to have input into what we did with the program. 

When I became the director, my responsibility was to make sure this program stays as the benchmark for universities in the United States. We want to make sure that we're doing it better, and we're serving our students beyond everyone's expectations. So, not only do I get the privilege of doing that, but I've gotten the privilege of recruiting people to help me do that. Since I've been here for 26 years, I'm starting to realize I'll probably not be here forever, although I would if I could. But 10 years from now, when I a retired, I want to make sure that I've handed the baton to people who share that passion and want to see this program do even more amazing things. I feel like I have a great team. 

Do you have any hobbies or interests you’d like to share?

I love to cycle, and I love to kayak. I play the drums mostly in my basement, but I play them every day because it brings me great joy. And beyond that, I love philosophy and quantum physics. I like to read. 
 

Describe in your own words what your job is at the college. 

At EHE, I am a back-end application developer specializing in data science and full-stack web development within the Office of Information Technology (OIT). I developed a role-based suite of multifunctional apps for the Office of Accreditation, Placement and Licensure (APL) using Laravel, Vue.js and MySQL.  

The platform also integrates Tableau Desktop and Server for data reporting. Additionally, I used R to automate Institutional Data Policy (IDP) training status checks, which helps users access Tableau Server accounts.  

This large-scale project serves over 100 programs within the university and more than 150 external universities. My PhD in Educational Studies and Learning Technologies, focusing on learning analytics, educational statistics and data visualization, has equipped me with the skills necessary to effectively complete these tasks. 

How do you connect with the mission daily?  

I support EHE's mission by providing end-to-end solutions in business processes.  

On the front end, I enhance data collection and presentation through website development and Tableau dashboards. On the back end, I ensure secure and efficient data procedures, automate data flow and integrate multiple data sources through APIs (a set of rules and protocols that allow software to communicate with each other).  

I facilitate collaboration with fellow data experts to transform complex data into actionable insights, helping the college make informed decisions in educational services and directly contributing to EHE's innovation and excellence. 

What do you think makes EHE unique? 

EHE uniquely integrates technology and education, fostering both innovation and diverse learning opportunities. The college effectively combines practical application with theoretical knowledge and is a leader in technological advancement. 

My familiarity with the higher education environment, combined with my expertise in data science and full-stack web development, supports these objectives from data collection and analytics to visual reports. This comprehensive approach helps advance technological innovation and ensures data security at EHE. 

What’s one thing people don’t know about you that they would be surprised to find out? 

A surprising aspect of my background is that many of my skills are self-taught. I began self-learning programming and Japanese in 1991 as an eighth-grader and continued with self-learning web design and development in 1996 during my sophomore year in college. 

As president of my department’s student association in both high school and university, I honed my leadership skills. Since 2001 to this day, I have worked in both commercial and academic sectors in web design and development. In the commercial settings, I have served as a senior leader with decision-making responsibilities and project management expertise across several companies. 

Additionally, I taught Japanese part-time in Taiwan for four years, starting in 2001, and founded Taiwan’s first online Japanese radio broadcast. Fluent in English, Japanese, Chinese and Taiwanese, I excel in multilingual environments. Although I am not in a faculty position, I continuously engage in research on generative AI and online self-regulated learning, reflecting my commitment to educational technology. 

What is your proudest moment at EHE? 

 My proudest moment at EHE was receiving the 2024 EHE Outstanding Staff Team Award for my work on the APL apps. This recognition highlighted the positive impact my efforts had on improving data management across various programs and universities. 

 Additionally, I take pride in pioneering the integration of OSU Salesforce CRM APIs within the university. Working with the Office of Technology and Digital Innovation (OTDI), I developed ideas and applications that were successfully brought to production for the EHE Marketing and Communications Team. This represents another accomplishment. 

Describe in your own words, what your job is at the college?  

I am a senior academic advisor who specifically works with our education licensure programs in the college. My job consists of advising students on course scheduling that aligns with their curricular requirements, referring students to campus resources, discussing long-term goals, assisting with university procedures and many more things. I also handle undergraduate commencement for EHE, which consists of processing our graduation applications, managing our degree certification process and other responsibilities related to the actual ceremony day each semester.  

What is your team like?  

I always love to give a shoutout to our Office of Undergraduate Education team because we all do such amazing work, from recruitment, to advising, to career development. We are also often the first people that students meet at Ohio State, and we definitely take that responsibility very seriously. Although we may all do different work on a day-to-day basis, our goal is to make sure that students have a good experience in EHE.  

How do you connect with the mission daily?  

Something I think about very frequently in my position is, “How can we make our program(s) better to serve our students?” It could be simply considering if an online format for a course would better suit our students, or it could be a more systemic or systematic issue that we can address. Finding these solutions aligns with EHE’s mission to enhance our student populations, relationships with external partners, etc., to continue to keep our college at the top across Ohio, the U.S. and around the world.  

What do you think makes EHE unique? 

One thing I think makes EHE unique is the variety of programs that we offer. We have programs that focus on education, but then we range all the way to programs that focus on health/exercise, fashion and the hospitality industry, to name a few. However, the one thing that pulls everything together is working with people. Helping people and improving our society is something that all of our programs have in common, and I think that is really cool and important. 

How has your role evolved over time? 

I have definitely had a very robust evolution of my roles in EHE over the years. I started out as an intern with the college after graduating from the Human Development and Family Science Program. I was then able to be a temporary advisor for a little bit before I was hired as a full-time advisor 1. From there, I have been able to progress to my current senior academic advisor role. Through it all, I have grown so much as a person, professional and advisor, and I wouldn’t have it any other way!   

What is your proudest moment at EHE? 

I think it would be so hard to pick a singular, proudest moment because of the amazing students and colleagues I get to work with every day. However, one thing I take pride in is when a student comes to me with a problem or question, and they leave that meeting saying they “feel a lot better.” I always want to leave a positive impact on every interaction I have, so that definitely reiterates to me that I am doing important/meaningful work!  

What do you enjoy most about working with EHE?  

I enjoy working with my colleagues in the Office of Equity, Diversity and Global Engagement as well as you know, faculty and staff who we collaborate with across the college. I feel with any work that you do, the people that you're dealing with can make it really impactful work. Or they can sort of bring it down, make the work more challenging, and therefore, less impactful. 

So the fact that I can work with people who are really good at what they do and also very kind and collaborative is a huge highlight for my work here. I enjoy that I'm able to work in both the international and local community engagement. It’s neat that my job crosses both.

What do you think makes EHE unique?  

What makes it unique or what makes us special is the variety of disciplines that are under the umbrella, the College of Education and Human Ecology, as well as the various centers and units that all work together to think about education in so many different ways. I think we have a really large reach across Columbus and Ohio and even into the international space because of the different work that so many people are doing.

What is your proudest moment at EHE?  

I really enjoy working recently with Dr. Jenell Igeleke Penn on the project ROOT Summer Institute. We've done that for two years, and working with students, younger students, high school students, has really been such a joy to have them to come into this space. Typically, in my work, I'm working with adults.  So, it's been not only a great partnership between myself and Jenell, but also, most important is the work that we've done with the students and spending time with them. Being able to serve them has really been a highlight of the past several years. 

Another proud moment that I've most enjoyed has been similar — working with the elementary school students as part of our Equity and Justice Read Around project.  We put on an art show with students and student artists in February during Experience EHE Week. So, I work with my people and others in EDGE to do that, but we get to go to the schools, and read with the students and do art with the students, and then they showcase their work. So those two student-centered experiences, those two programs, are just so much fun and so fulfilling. I just love working with my co-workers on it, as well as working with the kids.

How has your role evolved over time?  

I started as a graduate student, and I got my doctorate in multicultural and equity studies. Then I was a postdoctoral researcher with Reading Recovery and soon came over to EDGE. I started off as director of Partnerships and Engagement, and then my role evolved to having oversight over International and college community partnerships. That’s how I got to senior director of Partnerships and Engagement. I’ve seen the student side of EHE, having been here as a student, and then as a researcher, and then, now in my administrative role, helping to direct programs and partnerships.

Do you have any inspirations you’d like to share?  

I'm inspired by my kids. They help remind me to see the good and to keep learning. And, you know, to be curious, and to care about the world. So that's helpful. Sometimes being in an office and facing challenges, it can seem like the brighter side of things can be more difficult. So, when you see (children), and you bring good energy to them, it's a nice uplift to face the new day with that positive, curious and caring spirit.

What’s one thing that people don’t know about you that they’d be surprised to find out?  

A lot of people know that I like to eat, so people might be surprised that I don't like to cook as much as I like to eat. I will say that most people who I've worked with see me thinking about food while I’m at work. I don’t like to cook, nor am I good at it. 

Do you have any hobbies or interests you’d like to share?  

I write and publish picture books. My imprint is called Daydreamers Press. I'm releasing a nonfiction picture book called Step by Step, How the Lincoln School Marchers Blazed a Trail to Justice. It's about 19 Black mothers and 37 Black children in Hillsboro, Ohio, who marched in 1954 for two years to integrate their school.

In your own words, can you describe what it is that you do for the college? 

I serve as a marketing analyst and writer for the college. I share my time between the Office of the Dean and Literacy Collaborative. In my work as a communicator, I promote the college and its values, achievements and offerings. From developing feature stories to newsletters to social media, I engage with stakeholders and collaborate with a creative team to create multimedia content.

What do you enjoy most about working with EHE? 

I really enjoy the people who  work at the college. There is a collective drive for excellence, and that spirit can be felt in everything we do. This creates great synergy for us to share knowledge, support each other and work toward our goals.  

I am honored to be a part of a college that provides opportunities for those who need it most.  The inclusion practices that it fosters help everyone feel a sense of belonging, awareness and understanding.     

What are you passionate about?  

I am passionate about spreading the word about finding hope and opportunity through education. I'm also a huge advocate for literacy because reading and writing are a part of who I am. Literacy helps us all gain a deeper understanding of what makes us human, and it definitely shapes destiny  — it's the most valuable gift that someone can provide a young person as they begin their life's journey. I deeply appreciate the power literacy has to empower.  

Who or what inspires you every day? 

My children. They give me a profound sense of purpose. I am forever inspired to leave a positive legacy and make lasting impacts.  

How have you grown professionally in your position? 

I have had opportunities to master new communication tools and platforms and have expanded my content creation abilities to include short video production. 

How has your role evolved over time? 

As a college communicator, my role has evolved significantly over time in response to technology, communication trends and the needs of the college. It has expanded and become more dynamic. I have enjoyed learning new skills to blend my traditional skills with modern digital expertise. 

What's your proudest moment at EHE? 

I am proud of a recent investment grant award that the Keep Books program received from the United Way of Central Ohio. This was my first time in this arena, and it is a direct result of being part of an environment that pushes me out of my comfort zone.   

I researched funding opportunities and submitted a Letter of Intent and full proposal with the United Way of Central Ohio’s Success by Third Grade Initiative. 

The LOI phase was the most competitive the United Way of Central Ohio has had. They received applications from 109 agencies for 147 programs.  

Keep Books was among only 86 agencies — representing 114 programs — to be selected to submit a full proposal.  

Through this award, our program will provide up to 80 classrooms of pre-K-2 children with access to much needed, high-quality extra reading books for classrooms and at home. This initiative will also provide books focused on health, nutrition and safety to the MOMS2B program that works with low-income expectant mothers. 

What's one thing people don't know about you that they would be surprised to find out? 

I was a student of Muay Thai for about 13 years. I trained with a grandmaster from Thailand.  I feel fortunate to have met the grandmaster that I trained with and all the people in the school who touched my life.  

Do you have any hobbies or any other interests you'd like to share? 

I love music. I am a closet singer and play a little guitar. I have a very eclectic taste. Living in New Orleans and Nashville made way to attend many festivals and shows — I have been fortunate to see some of the greats.  

Describe in your own words what you do at the college? What interests you about this work?

I have a unique position where for half of the job, I work with online courses in Family and Consumer Sciences  Extension, and then the other half I work with the web services team doing web updating and web development.

My role has kind of evolved into a digital accessibility evaluator where I evaluate websites for accessibility, and then I make a report of what needs to be fixed. Then we work on fixing the issues. I've always found information technology and websites fascinating. I wanted to become a web developer, and I enjoy updating academic websites and college websites. When I was a student, I worked in a computer lab and was introduced to some people that did web development. I gradually fell into doing web development that way.

What do you think makes EHE unique?

EHE encompasses an amazing breadth and scope of different disciplines. There seems to be always something new to discover about work and research going on in the college.

What is your proudest moment at EHE? 

In recent years, it might have been when I passed the exam for the IAAP Web Accessibility Specialist (WAS) certification. I was also proud of how well our web development team kept things going during the pandemic and continued to make progress in developing websites for EHE during that time. 

What do you enjoy most about working with EHE?

I think there's always something different. There's so many different disciplines and aspects of EHE that no day is the same. There's always something new to work on. There's a lot of new challenges and opportunities.

How has your role evolved over time? 

My role in the EHE side of my job has evolved into an accessibility evaluator for the college. I earned a couple of new certifications to prepare for this role, like the IAAP Web Accessibility Specialist (WAS) certification.

Do you have any inspirations you’d like to share? 

I’m inspired by the work of maintainers of the Drupal project like Dries Buytaert and Angie Byron. I enjoy attending Drupalcon l camps. I feel the Drupal project has greatly benefited website creation and design in higher education by providing a collaborative open-source platform for developers and content creators.

What’s one thing that people don’t know about you that they’d be surprised to find out?  

I’ve taken classes in CGI (computer-generated imagery) and 3D modeling and have designed virtual environments. In high school, I wanted to be an architect and did an architectural internship.

Do you have any hobbies or interests you’d like to share?

I’m interested in Vespas and motor scooters, and I sometimes go to scooter rallies. Sometimes I go on scooter rides with VepsOhio around central Ohio.

Describe in your own words what you do?

I am the Director of EHE’s Office of Accreditation, Placement and Licensure (APL). Our office oversees work related to those three functional areas for Ohio State’s educator preparation programs as well as professional development contracts for in-service teachers. We collaborate with and support over 100 program offerings in both EHE and other colleges across the university. I’ve worked in the APL Office since 2016 when I started as a project director for accreditation and mandated reporting. I joined Ohio State after teaching and working with P-12 public schools for over a decade.

Can you describe what it’s like working together as a team. What is unique about your team?

The APL unit is a unique team of professionals with a variety of skills and expertise, including teaching, student advising, consulting, data analysis, auditing, operations and technical experience. When we’re developing a new process or overseeing a cross-functional project, we look at the challenge from a variety of perspectives, all of which add value and help result in a better outcome.

A commonality amongst our team members is our commitment to exceptional communication, responsiveness and efficiency. We work with a large volume of requests, inputs and outputs throughout the year, and we prioritize supporting our stakeholders with access to the information they need.

What do you enjoy most about working in the college?

For me, my colleagues in EHE and across the university are what I enjoy most about working here. I know this may be a common answer, but I believe that is a testament to its truth. Everyone that I interact with is willing to help each other, collaborate and do more in the pursuit of excellence. They genuinely have the best interest of students and Ohio State at their core, and it’s reflected in their daily actions.

How do you connect with the college’s Core Values?

The EHE Core Values of excellence and innovation are key to APL’s work. We have high expectations for accuracy and timeliness with the services we provide to students, staff and faculty as well as our external partners. We consistently look for opportunities to transform, rethink our approach and team up with others on unique solutions to the shifting needs of our stakeholders and broader community.

How has your role evolved over time?

My role has evolved as our data collection and management structures have developed through strong collaboration with EHE OIT staff. The APL Data Team’s work has shifted from processes centered around data contained in Excel files to the development and implementation of a streamlined application. This system allows our data to be organized into tables on the back end with up-to-date information directly from our users. Our reporting is also evolving with the use of interactive Tableau dashboards connected to those data sources.

This technological shift has allowed me to learn about relational databases and structured query language (SQL) that were new to me when this project started. Our day-to-day functioning relies heavily on our data analysts and OIT expertise, and I value learning from them.

Do you have any hobbies or interests you’d like to share?

For hobbies, I enjoy exploring new restaurants and parks around Columbus, cheering my children on at sporting events, and baking family recipes.

Describe in your own words what it is that you do?  

I oversee alumni engagement and donor relations for the college, and I've been in the role for the past four years. Prior to that, I was the executive director of Global Engagement for the college.  

I was given an opportunity to join the Advancement team about four years ago, and it was a wonderful opportunity to have another form of direct impact on the important work that we do. I was excited about that, and it's been an absolutely wonderful experience. 

Describe your experience with EHE 

EHE is a wonderful place to work for a couple of reasons. One is that the work that we do, in touching people's lives and preparing the future generations of stewards of our society, is so central to just about every aspect of life. So that is really important to me — the mission and goals of the college itself.  

The fact that we are committed to ensuring opportunities for inclusion and inclusion for everyone is also core to why I love being in EHE. Also, I would say the people always make all the difference in any kind of work that you do. From faculty to students, to alumni to donors, and so importantly, all of the staff across the college that I get to interact with — that is what brings me joy every day. 

Who or what inspires you daily?  

I have profound respect for our colleagues in so many different departments, whether it's in scholarship, undergraduate student affairs or our MarCom team; just the content expertise of our faculty. Everybody impresses me deeply with their content expertise and their professionalism.  

I have to give a special shout out to the team in Advancement. It is a wonderful, wonderful team. Every person is a high performer and collaborative. I would say that Pablo (Banhos), our boss, has built an extraordinary team of committed individuals, and he has created with these individuals a culture of customer service and teamwork. It is truly one of the most inspiring and fulfilling teams I've ever been a part of. 

Everyone is mission focused, mission driven and focused on the change that we're making in the world. Especially under the dean's leadership, it’s such an exciting time to be working with and to represent EHE. It makes me proud.  

What is your proudest moment at EHE? 

Well, this is actually as a student, I would say. I was the head of a partner organization on a major teacher quality partnership grant a number of years ago, and through that work, I became a doctoral student. When I defended my dissertation, my two daughters were there. My parents, research collaborators and my faculty advisors were there, and I think that I was so proud of that moment. 

That’s just because of what it all represented in terms of the relationships of the people who got me to that point. I carry that forward with me in all of my work in the college every day. So I'm a very, very proud alum, and it's kind of fun now, to be overseeing alumni engagement.  

How do you connect with the core values or the mission of the college daily? 

That's hard because I think that to answer in a simple sort of anecdotal way, because I think the core values are so much of who we are, that it's not like you perform an activity and you sort of check the box. These values are central to everything that you do in every way you look at the world. 

The values are also a philosophical or theoretical way of looking at the world and approaching our work and interacting with our stakeholders. All of them. So, we try to bring excellence in everything we do in terms of, for example, customer service, the products that we create, the ways we tell our stories of excellence in collaboration with MarCom. Diversity and inclusion are so fundamental, and equity. They’re so fundamental to everything.  

What's one thing that people don't know about you that they would be surprised to find out? 

I feel like I'm an open book, but I love to practice kickboxing, Muay Thai and jujitsu.  

Can you describe what you do as an Early Head Start coach?

As an Early Head Start coach, my primary goal is to help teachers improve their teaching practices. I go to about five childcare centers and five in-home childcare providers and work with them when looking at their curriculum, their interactions with children and how their environment is set up. 

Mainly, my purpose is to make sure that they're engaging in developmentally appropriate practices with children, making sure that the curriculum aligns with that, and that their environments reflect the families that are in their program because Head Start is very heavy on the family side. Even before being in Early Head Start, we realize that parents play a huge role in their child's development and learning. They are their child's first teacher, and we're the facilitators in helping them with that. 

I just make sure that overall, when I go out of the classrooms, that the classrooms are reflective of who the children are and that the teachers are using practices that respect the children as individuals because even though they're young, they're still individuals that deserve respect, and that they respect their families as well.

What made you choose this field of work?

I really love kids, ultimately. Even when I was younger, I remember my cousins and just loving them. They were these little human beings, and they were always happy. I always wanted to make sure that the love that I have for children, I was able to display it not only in my family, but outside of my family. So, I started in early childhood education about 14 years ago. I was working as a toddler teacher. Granted, at that time, I had no idea what it meant to be in early education. I thought, “Oh, I get to play with all these really cute babies all day, and I'll make sure they're fed and taken care of.” But I then understood the learning aspect that came with it and having to teach them. 

You're teaching them how to regulate, what it means to learn, how to go to a stranger — you're teaching them all these different aspects. I originally got my bachelor's degree in business marketing, and then I got my master's degree in early childhood leadership and advocacy. It was a big change, but I learned a lot.  What I really wanted to do was be very impactful with young children, but then also get their parents to understand that just the simple things you do every day are part of teaching them how to be a preschooler or kindergartener. As time went on, I just wanted to be able to utilize the knowledge that I learned and teach others, too, because sometimes it's seen as being hard. It is hard work, but it's very rewarding to see our future leaders of the world grow up. I wanted to make sure that everyone understood their importance, and how loving them, caring for them and seeing them for who they are is going to benefit them in the long run.

What do you enjoy most about working with EHE? 

I enjoy being able to have conversations with different individuals. Our team is small, but to be able to interact with researchers who collect all this data and to be able to say, “Hey, this is what we're learning about language with children, and this is what we're seeing if we make these certain changes — it will help with their language development.” 

I like being able to collaborate with other individuals who are fully immersed in their work. Maybe I'm not in that realm, but to be able to have those conversations about even the different practices that I can do as a coach to help the teachers with their children. I feel that especially with the Schoenbaum Family Center, we're very heavy on language development because we understand how important it is for children to be able to not only understand it, but also to express language. A lot of the conversations we have are about the importance of literacy. 

I appreciate the collaboration that I have with different individuals who are different entities throughout early childhood education, because I feel like it does help guide my work on what I need to be doing or if there's certain data that we need to collect. I and won't be as immersed as the researchers because I feel like they have a whole different kind of approach to it than we do. But at least it could get us speaking the same language if we know these are things that we need to look for, to make sure that we're continuously helping the developmental trajectory of the children that we serve.

Who or what inspires you?

I have a lot of individuals that inspire me. My father passed away when I was younger, so all I had was my mom, my aunt and my grandmother. My mom and my aunt are probably the most selfless people I've ever met in my life. They see the good in people, even when those people don't see the good in themselves. That helps me approach everyday life with individuals even when I'm having very tough conversations with people where I'm saying, “I know you understand me, but it's just hard for you to move past this tough situation.” 

Being able to see the good in individuals, to help them, is important. Stacy Orbaker (the other Early Head Start coach) is also a very selfless person, but she always works very hard to make sure that she's checking herself and her biases before even helping someone, which I think is very reflective for anyone to do in this current state of mind. So, having that type of colleague, my family, people around me do certain little things every day — they inspire me to be the best that I can be and to look at situations differently than I would otherwise. It is now 2024, and children are different. I think the way we learn is different. The way information is presented to us is different. So, I just try to take little nuggets from everyone that I'm around to help build myself into a better person and to be able to assist those that need it.

How do you connect with the mission or the core values of the college daily?

The one thing that I really admire about EHE is the forefront of diversity. The college in itself is diverse, but even with us, there are predominantly Black or brown children in our programs. The same is true for families. Even in that, it is still making sure that we're connecting to what their cultures are. That’s something that I do a lot. I want to make sure that any time I'm talking to a family or a teacher, that they feel comfortable with me and that they feel welcomed and seen. And I'm not trying to project what I think they should be doing onto them. That comes with a lot of relationship building to be able to have those conversations, but also to see people for who they are. 

That’s my approach with all the families and teachers I interact with. They hold value. I see the teachers, and I see the parents as the experts. I am there to supplement and to help. I’m also a Black individual, and I want to be seen as such, so diversity and inclusion are probably the highlight of my work. I want individuals to feel seen and to understand that they bring so much more value to this conversation. 

What do you think makes EHE unique? 

Just the diversity and the individuals and being able to comingle with so many different sectors of EHE. I do feel like even with the actual diversity, equity and inclusion program, I know that if I wanted to reach out to them to say, “Hey, this is the work that I'm trying to do, and I need help,” I can do that. 

Even with the dean, there was a time he came around and talked about EHE and about trying to figure out how it relates to the very specific building that we were in and the core values. He has a lot of important things to do, but he took time to come and talk to us because he recognized the type of work that we're doing. Having someone higher up in the college who's like, “I value what you all are doing and what’s going on. Let's have a conversation.” It means a lot because that means that he actually cares. He's not there just because of his title, so, that makes us feel seen. He is, like, “Yes, I want to make these changes within the college and within our program. So, let's have a conversation.” 

What is your proudest moment at EHE?

I have a couple. Being able to go from being a teacher in the classroom to now being an educational coach is a proud moment for me. It was a huge transition to go from working with kids all day to working with adults and kids. It took time to adjust but I'm proud of the place that I'm at, where I can have conversations with teachers. I feel like they value what I say and recognize that I know what I'm talking about. 

Another moment is something that we realized when observing classrooms and having conversations with teachers — it’s that teachers were having a hard time talking about what diversity meant in their classrooms when it came to their children. So, I created what we called book highlights. We took culturally inclusive books and purchased them for the year for all of the classrooms and created these templates (in honor of Rudine Sims Bishop, the “mother of multicultural literature), so that they can read a book, and then they can implement different activities within their classrooms to help talk about diversity or display diversity in their classroom. 

They can also share these books or templates with parents to take home, too. One thing that we realized is that even though we have diverse children, the teachers are not as diverse, and they didn’t know how to talk about these things. We had to get them to understand the importance of having these conversations because they're not going anywhere. Being able to build up their competence in their capacity to be able to implement these different activities in their classroom has been really successful. Now every month, they ask, “When are we getting our book?” A lot of them have not seen these books before, which is really nice to give them the opportunity to teach diversity through the literacy lens instead of having these one-on-one conversations that they were thinking they needed to have. 

Do you have any hobbies or interests?

I really enjoy working out. I like lifting heavy weights. My husband and I really like to lift together, which is really nice. I have three children, and two of them are still in school. My daughter plays a lot of sports, and I really enjoy watching my children play sports, too, just for the competitive lens of it, because I competed, and my husband competed. So, I like watching my kids have fun. 

What is your experience with the culture of EHE?

I've seen a lot of changes over 25 years, and we've moved to a more flexible view of staff and equity. I see less of a hierarchy and more of a collaborative where everybody contributes around the table.

What is your experience working for EHE?

I'm on multiple teams because, being on soft money, it's based around projects. So whoever's involved in the project becomes a team. I would say that overall, it is professional, collegial, and people are valued for their contributions to whatever the initiative is or whatever the project is. I would say that I feel cared for and seen. 

What is unique about your job or your team?

Because of the profession that I chose, which is teaching, I feel like I'm a bridge between our partnering sites and our core Ohio State team. I'm a bridge between new teachers in the field and their administrators or their faculty here and programs that they're in. I observe new career-tech teachers for Dr. (Chris) Zirkle, as well as work here in the center on other federal grants. When somebody asks me what I do, my easiest answer is, “I train teachers how to teach” because there are so many nuances to my job.

I think my role is unique because I work with budgets, allocating resources, managing people, managing technology, trying to make things work efficiently and effectively and managing a large federal project with millions of dollars. It encompasses a lot of different things. And I hear people say, “I want a job like yours,” and I'm like, “I don’t think there is another job like mine.” I think it's unique because it combines so many different activities.  

Do you have anyone or anything that inspires you?

My faith is a big inspiration. I think that's more what I look to than people. I have great mentors in my life for specific things. But as far as inspiration, my husband and I established a 501(c3) to do mission work. That’s where I see my next steps — serving others and making a way for others to live more, whether that's through more and safer education. We do a lot of sponsoring of students in Belize to get educated because their education system is very different than ours. They have to pay to go to elementary school. So, there's no public or free education in Belize. It's a privilege to go to school. So, serving others is where my passion lies, whether that be local, state, national or international. 

My other passion is caring for the aging. My parents are elderly, and I see such a technology gap that the elderly have, from banking to medical, etc. Everything's based online and through portals, using passwords. I don't know how elderly people manage if they don’t have family or a strong network close by to assist. COVID has taught me about the struggle for that age group. I think it's the teacher in me. I have the skill set to either offer my services or get them to the right services where they can get assistance or get help.

What is your proudest moment at EHE? 

One was when I first took this job. My father was actually the director of the center, and I did a summer internship, a summer experience, because I was teaching school, and they needed some project work done. They asked me to come on full time. I didn't report to him, however. I can remember being called into his office in my role, and it was just weird having your parent be your boss. That was something that my siblings and I don't share, and I don’t know how many people really get that experience, but my father was so well respected that it was a proud moment for me to be able to be on staff and under his leadership. I'd always heard about his work, but until then, I’d never been under his leadership in a work setting. 

Another proud moment would be when Dr. Zirkle went to the chair of the department to push that he wanted me in the schools, observing teachers. Had he not pushed for that, I'm not sure it would have happened. That was probably in 2018, So, I've been working with him since then, observing teachers and being out in the career-tech schools, which is my background. That's my passion, too. That’s what I love to do, being out and seeing teachers and students, being able to help them hone their skills. That's probably one of my proudest moments, when he went to bat for me and said, “This is who I want, so let's make it happen.”

How do you connect with the core values or the mission of the college daily?

We always have the strategic goals aligned with our strategic plan of the center. That dovetails our work. So, I ask myself: How am I connecting to the community, doing outreach? How am I furthering the image of Ohio State? How do I operate, who do I come into contact with? Then we make sure the activities that we do on our projects also align with the center and the college and the university. When you have those conversations at the management level, it's easier to do your daily work, because it's all aligned. We talk about it often. We make sure that when we're doing new initiatives, or we're talking about new opportunities, that we connect in those ways. 

One of the big thrusts with our center is working with translational research and putting research into practice. So, we ask, “What does that mean and how does the practice align with those strategic goals and further the research, the scholarly publications and all the things that are important to the college and the university

What's one thing people don't know about you that they would be surprised to find out? 

I play handbells. Our current church doesn't have a handbell choir, but I grew up in a church that did, and I played for a good many years. I got to the point where I could hold four bells at a time, which is hard to do. Usually it's one in each hand, and I could ring two in each hand. 

What have you gained from working at EHE? 

I've gained a huge network that now expands far beyond the university or even Columbus. It has allowed me the opportunity to travel. We have partners in Puerto Rico, so it's allowed me to travel there. I’ve given presentations in Washington, DC, so it's allowed me travel and gain experiences and networking opportunities that probably are the most beneficial to me that I'll carry with me the rest of my life.

What does excellence mean to you?

In my former world, I would say that excellence was perfection, but I don't believe that anymore. So many times we've had to get things done and out the door that may not have been perfect. But I think excellence is when you do the very best that you can. It meets the criteria, whatever that particular thing is. It doesn't necessarily mean it has to be perfect. I've let the perfection in my world go and look more at does what I do meet the function and have I given it my best try? If the answer's yes, then that's excellence to me.

Do you have any other hobbies or interests that you would like to share? 

I have lots of hobbies and interests. I love to craft and do puzzles. I love to find an organization that has a need and fulfill that need. I love crocheting or knitting or selling some kind of craft item, but I like to craft for the sake of crafting, too. I love the coloring app and find that very soothing. I'm a people person, so I'm involved in a lot of groups. I sing, I used to play the piano. I don't play that much anymore, but music’s a big part of my life. 

What do you enjoy most about working with EHE? 

What keeps me engaged in the grants administration work I support is learning about everyone’s research, what they question, how they approach and of course what is learned and what comes next. It’s especially gratifying when I am involved for the entire “life” of the grant – — starting with a response to a funding opportunity, or discussion with an investigator, through the development and submission of the application, reading through reviews, then (hopefully) notification of an award, assisting with each project’s unique needs and seeing the results of everyone’s effort. 

What is unique about your team?   

I am struck by the special dynamism of the research enterprise at the college’s centers. It’s multidisciplinary, diverse, collaborative and mission driven. That dynamism resonates in so much of what we do, and translates to a wide and diverse research portfolio of service grants; training grants; large, multi-year studies; supplemental projects; research collaborations; and connections across Ohio State and with other national and international institutions and researchers.   

Who or what inspires you?  

My parents. Both were first in their families to go to college; both were smart, strong, independent individuals with vastly different personalities, but their union and everything they accomplished together was an object lesson for me in the fact that something can be greater than the sum of its parts. Their memory and legacy lives with me every day. Thank you, Jane and Harold.  

What do you think makes EHE unique?   

The breadth and scope of what EHE encompasses amazes me, and the many and surprising connections/interactions — both formal and informal — EHE has with everyday living.  

What is your proudest moment at EHE? 

I would never want to experience another pandemic, but in retrospect, how we as a college survived and learned together is both a point of pride and a source of hope for me.   

Provide an example of what excellence means to you.   

I think excellence means demonstrating that you care in whatever you choose to undertake. And always being a conscientious steward of resources.   

Hobbies or interests you’d like to share. 

I love learning something new, and that love manifests itself in my enjoyment of travel, reading and food.