I am a graduate of CIE (M. Ed, 2005) and come from both Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation. After 20 years of working in education, I am now starting the Ph.D. program in International Education.

My professional experience in education is mainly from Kazakhstan. I started out as a school teacher of physics and mathematics, and then became a lecturer in research courses and also a higher education administrator (Registrar, Dean of Enrollment Management and Deputy to the President). At the same time, I was involved in a number of educational projects, consulting with UNESCO, UNICEF, the World Bank, AACRAO and other organisations, including national Ministries of Education, NGOs, educational institutions and bodies mainly in Central Asia (Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan), but also covering other countries such as the CIS (Georgia, Russian Federation), China, Sri Lanka, Slovakia, Turkey, United States, etc.

Being involved in a number of institutional, national and international projects (EFA, MDG, quality of education, rural education, girls’ education, out-of-school children, etc.) as well as in various capacity building efforts, I served as a contributor to reports, analytic studies and recommendations in these fields. Other publications involved issues in higher education (strategic enrollment management, international accreditation, implementation of the Bologna principles, institutional diversity, institutional autonomy). The most recent project I worked on was with UNESCO in India doing a SDG review looking at concepts of sustainable development, peace education and global citizenship in the national curricula for primary and secondary education.

I am glad to be back at CIE, UMass and Amherst with my family. We are looking forward to a productive, diverse and active journey in the coming years, with great learning opportunities through fantastic classes, faculty and classmates, engaging research, new technology, pro-active networking and professional practice, together with the wonderful people we meet each day!

While doing her dissertation research she also currently working as a Career Ladders Instructor and Researcher with the Partnership for Worker Education program at UMass Amherst.[3-20]