• Definitions
• Innovation in Assessment Awards
• Meeting Minutes
• Members
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• Annual Activities
• Budget Advisory Committee
• Eight Strategic Directions
• Executive Summary
• Institutional Research
• Unit Worksheet
• University Assessment

Members

University Assessment Committee

Kathleen Alaimo, Ph.D.
Dean
College of Arts and Sciences

Kathleen Alaimo earned a Ph.D. in history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1989 and a M.A. in history from the University of Chicago in 1979. After several years as an assistant professor of history at Xavier University in Cincinnati, OH, Dr. Alaimo joined the SXU faculty of the Department of History and Political Science in 1992. She served as Department Chair for six years and as Program Director for the Women and Gender Studies Program for two years. Her scholarship includes publications on the history of youth and adolescence and the history of children's rights. She co-directs a faculty mentoring group focused on mission, participates in a working group concerned with student engagement, and serves on the General Education Task Force and Steering Committee. Dr. Alaimo is currently serving as the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

Kathleen Carlson, Ph.D.
Vice President for Research, Planning and Assessment

Kathleen Carlson earned a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology at Loyola University of Chicago, where she worked on quantitative research methods and computer-based statistical analyses across a fairly broad range of areas within the general discipline of psychology, including verbal learning, human memory and cognition, visual information processing, psychophysiology and survey research. In 1980, she began a career in institutional research and administration, where she has applied her research skills in both the public and private sectors of higher education. Dr. Carlson was an Associate Dean of a business school, with the rank of Associate Professor, for eight years before coming to Saint Xavier University in January, 1997. As Vice President of Research, Planning and Assessment, Dr. Carlson is an "ex-officio" member of the Assessment Committee, providing resources and technical support to the institutional assessment activities.

Alak Chakravorty, Ph.D.
Chair, University Assessment Committee
Assistant Professor of Physics
College of Arts and Sciences

Dr. Chakravorty has been teaching physics at Saint Xavier University since 2003. Prior to joining SXU, he was a senior research associate at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Dr. Chakravorty’s research interest is high-energy physics, the area of physics which probes the fundamental constituents of matter and energy, which he pursues at the nearby Fermi National Laboratory in Batavia, IL. Dr. Chakravorty is very interested in the topic of effective student learning in the sciences and, in conjunction with the Learning Center, has recently established the use of Supplemental Instruction (a comprehensive tutoring program) in the physics courses offered at SXU.

Greg A. Coutts, Ph.D.
Associate Dean
College of Arts & Sciences

Greg Coutts earned a Ph.D. in music theory from Northwestern University in 1991 and a Masters of Music degree in music theory/composition and vocal performance from Southern Illinois University in 1982.  Dr. Coutts joined the faculty at Saint Xavier University in January 1987 in the Department of Music, and has served as Chair of the department since 1997.  He has also chaired the Faculty Affairs Committee and served a term as Senator on the University Faculty Senate.  His scholarly interests include pedagogy of music theory and vocal/choral composition.  Dr. Coutts is currently serving his second year as Associate Dean for the College of Arts & Sciences.

Beverly Gulley, Ph.D.
Dean
School of Education

Dr. Gulley received her Ph.D. in Education from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, M.S. in Elementary Education from Indiana University, and B.A. in Religion from Wesleyan College in Macon, GA. She is a former faculty member at Southern Illinois University in early childhood education and, headed multi-year, multi-county grants in early childhood education and family education. She is currently Dean of the School of Education at Saint Xavier University, where she has served for over seven years. Dr. Gulley helped develop and has oversight of the Barbara Vick Early Childhood and Family Center and has many publications, including articles and two books. She has made numerous presentations at international, national, state, regional and local levels and has written and administered over $12,000,000 in grants from federal and state agencies. She chaired the Council of Chicago Area Deans of Education, the Illinois Association of Teachers of Early Childhood Education, and the Governor’s Task Force on Alternative Routes to Education. In addition, she has served on the Governor’s Council on Teacher Quality and the Governor’s Task Force for Universal Preschool.

Priscilla Hartwig
Associate Professor
School of Education

Priscilla Hartwig joined the faculty of the School of Education in 1992, bringing with her 22 years of teaching and administrative experience in the public school system.  She earned her doctoral degree from Nova Southeastern University in 1991 with a concentration in Educational Leadership. During her public school teaching career, Dr. Hartwig worked with adolescents in the field of human sexuality, which led to an early interest and scholarly inquiry in the AIDS prevention education field. She worked with the Centers for Disease Control to develop prevention curricula for educators in AIDS and in the prevention of birth defects related to poor pre-natal decisions on the part of young pregnant women. Both the New York Times and ABC Eyewitness News featured her work with young adults.  After moving to Illinois, she continued to present to and consult with educators in the adolescent health arena.  In addition, Dr. Hartwig brought a strong background in research methods, action research, educational and adolescent psychology, and program evaluation and assessment to her work at the University where she currently teachers courses in these fields. She has also served as Assistant Dean and Accreditation Coordinator for the School of Education.  Her current research interests involve findings from the field of neuroscience and the implications of these findings for the development of critical thinking, moral reasoning and constructivist pedagogy.

Hamid Mohammadi

Biographical information coming soon.

Nathan Peck

Biographical information coming soon.

Cathlin B. Poronsky, MS, RN, APN/CNP
Assistant Professor
School of Nursing

Cathlin Poronsky joined Saint Xavier University in August 2005 as a faculty member in the School of Nursing. She earned an MS from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a BSN from Loyola University of Chicago. She is a doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the College of Nursing 2007 online PhD cohort. Her research interests are mentoring, the role of the nurse educator, and the media image of nursing. Cathlin is an Advanced Practice Nurse and a certified Family Nurse Practitioner. She is the Co-Director of the Family Nurse Practitioner program and teaches graduate nursing courses. Prof. Poronsky has over 30 years of nursing practice in a wide range of healthcare settings and institutions. She currently maintains an off site clinical practice on a part time basis. In the School of Nursing, she served on the Evaluation and Research Committee during 2005-2006 and currently serves on the Graduate Admission, Retention, and Progression Committee, where she will assume the chair in January, 2008.

Carol Yukich, M.S.N., M.A., RN
Associate Professor
School of Nursing

Carol Yukich joined the School of Nursing faculty at Saint Xavier University in 1978. She earned her MSN from Saint Xavier University, with a focus on rehabilitation nursing, and a M.A. in communication studies from Governor’s State University. Her research interests are related to strategies to enhance learning in nursing students, as well as the phenomenological study of the resocialization of the LPN-BSN student to the BSN role. She initiated the development of the LPN-BSN Option in 1991, the first such option in Illinois. Currently, she is the Assistant Dean for the RN-BSN and LPN-BSN Options in the School of Nursing. Professor Yukich serves on the Advisory Board of the Chicago Board of Education's Practical Nursing Program and on the SXU Committee to refine the general education requirements for the School of Continuing and Professional Studies.  She has served on the Evaluation and Research Committee in the School of Nursing from 2002-2005 as well as and the Undergraduate Nursing Curriculum Committee from 2003-2007 where she has been Chair from 2003-2006.

Liang Zhao
Assistant Professor
School of Education

Liang Zhao earned his doctorate in Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education from State University of New York at Buffalo. He also holds an advanced certificate in Educational Technology. Liang Zhao joined SXU in 2004 and has been teaching courses in the foundation area: Educational Research Design and Development, History and Philosophy of Education, and the Teaching Profession. He is a member of the School of Education Assessment Committee and served as interim data manager before the NCATE accreditation visit in spring 2007. He also trains students and faculty on using LiveText, an electronic system that documents student academic achievements.