3. School Support for Teaching and Advising

3. School Support for Teaching and Advising

Advising for Majors within the School of Public Health and Health Sciences

Each department within the School of Public Health and Health Sciences employs advisors. These advisors help individual students develop academic programs within their respective majors. The contacts for each major/program are:

Public Health Sciences Undergraduate Major (includes Bios/Epi, EHS, and HPP)

Undergraduate Program Director – Sofija Zagarins (zagarins [at] schoolph [dot] umass [dot] edu (zagarins[at]schoolph[dot]umass[dot]edu))

Undergraduate Advisors – Brigid Williams (bwilliams [at] umass [dot] edu (bwilliams[at]umass[dot]edu)) and Jesse Hunsicker (jhunsicker [at] umass [dot] edu (jhunsicker[at]umass[dot]edu))

Honors Program Director – Elizabeth Bertone-Johnson (ebertone [at] schoolph [dot] umass [dot] edu (ebertone[at]schoolph[dot]umass[dot]edu))

Biostatistics & Epidemiology

Graduate Program Directors – Elizabeth Cook (edcook [at] schoolph [dot] umass [dot] edu (edcook[at]schoolph[dot]umass[dot]edu))

Environmental Health Sciences

Graduate Program Director – Alexander (Sasha) Suvorov (asuvorov [at] schoolph [dot] umass [dot] edu (asuvorov[at]schoolph[dot]umass[dot]edu))

Health Promotion & Policy

Graduate Program Director – Jennifer Whitehill (jmw [at] umass [dot] edu (jmw[at]umass[dot]edu))

Kinesiology

Undergraduate Program Director – Eliza Frechette (efrechette [at] kin [dot] umass [dot] edu (efrechette[at]kin[dot]umass[dot]edu))

Undergraduate Advisor – Leeanne Leclerc (leclerc [at] umass [dot] edu (leclerc[at]umass[dot]edu))

Graduate Program Director – John Sirard (jsirard [at] kin [dot] umass [dot] edu (jsirard[at]kin[dot]umass[dot]edu))

Honors Program Director – Tom St. Laurent (tstlaurent [at] kin [dot] umass [dot] edu (tstlaurent[at]kin[dot]umass[dot]edu))

Nutrition

Undergraduate Program Director – Claire Norton (cpnorton [at] nutrition [dot] umass [dot] edu (cpnorton[at]nutrition[dot]umass[dot]edu))

Undergraduate Advisor – Nicole Goldstein (nicolegoldst [at] nutrition [dot] umass [dot] edu (nicolegoldst[at]nutrition[dot]umass[dot]edu))

Graduate Program Director – Zhenhua Liu (zliu [at] nutrition [dot] umass [dot] edu (zliu[at]nutrition[dot]umass[dot]edu))

Honors Program Director – Lisa Troy (lisatroy [at] nutrition [dot] umass [dot] edu (lisatroy[at]nutrition[dot]umass[dot]edu))

Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences

Undergraduate Program Director – Gwyneth Rost (grost [at] umass [dot] edu (grost[at]umass[dot]edu))

Undergraduate Advisor – Katherine Hanson (khanson [at] umass [dot] edu (khanson[at]umass[dot]edu))

Graduate Program Director – Jill Hoover (jrhoover [at] umass [dot] edu (jrhoover[at]umass[dot]edu))

Honors Program Director – Jennifer Mack (jemack [at] umass [dot] edu (jemack[at]umass[dot]edu))

Online Programs

Director of Online MPH-PHP – Lawrence Pellegrini (lcpelleg [at] umass [dot] edu (lcpelleg[at]umass[dot]edu))

Director of Online MPH-Nutrition – Heather Wemhoener (hmoring [at] umass [dot] edu (hmoring[at]umass[dot]edu))

Director of MPH-PHP Worcester – Jackie Coghlin-Strom (jackie [dot] coghlin-strom [at] umassmed [dot] edu (jackie[dot]coghlin-strom[at]umassmed[dot]edu))

Each of the undergraduate programs/majors enlists students in the respective programs as ‘peer’ advisors.

SPHHS Academic Dean’s Office and the Office of Academic Success and Career Planning

The SPHHS Academic Dean's Office and the Office of Academic Success and Career Planning offer centralized resources for students in the School. We are dedicated to helping SPHHS students achieve their highest potential through thoughtful academic advising and career planning.

Office of Academic Success

Student Success Advisors support students majoring in Kinesiology, Nutrition, Public Health Sciences, and Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences who may be experiencing personal or academic difficulties. They also counsel SPHHS Exploratory Track students on transitioning to college and choosing majors. The Office of Academic Success:

  • Provides support to students, program directors, advisors, and instructors in each of the School's disciplines
  • Provides assistance to SPHHS undergraduates and graduate students experiencing extenuating circumstances and academic difficulty
  • Reviews academic requests (e.g., late course withdrawals, third repeat petitions, late course petitions, withdrawals from the University)
  • Advises and facilitates exploration of majors for SPHHS Exploratory Track students
  • Facilitates exploration of alternative majors if students are struggling to complete major requirements
  • Coaches and supports students who are not making satisfactory progress through their major or are referred through the Academic Alert Initiative

Instructors can also contact CSS if there are concerns about a student’s academic performance and well-being. Additional details about the Center’s services can be found on the SPHHS website at: https://www.umass.edu/public-health-sciences/academic-dean-and-student-success

Academic Dean is the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Academic Affairs – Gloria DiFulvio

Assistant to Academic Dean – Connie McCudden

Assistant Dean of Academic Success and Career Planning – Torin Moore

Student Success and Exploratory Track Advisors – Karin Cooley-Sanieski (ksanieski [at] umass [dot] edu (ksanieski[at]umass[dot]edu))

SPHHS Office of Career Planning

The Office of Career Planning is eager to partner with faculty to meet the career development needs of SPHHS students. They are always available to collaborate in the classroom with presentations on a variety of career related topics, including professional writing (resume and cover letter), internship exploration and preparation, career panels, networking, and more. Their trained Career Ambassadors can also provide individualized professional writing feedback for both graduate and undergraduate students and share with students examples of resumes and cover letters. Additionally, the Office has a faculty-focused webpage for a more complete list of ways instructors can partner with the office: https://www.umass.edu/public-health-sciences/career-planning

Director of Career Planning – Mary Ellen Liseno (meliseno [at] umass [dot] edu (meliseno[at]umass[dot]edu))

Assistant Director of Career Planning – Rachel Comerford (Rachel [dot] comerford [at] umass [dot] edu (Rachel[dot]comerford[at]umass[dot]edu))

Assistant Director for Internships and Employer Engagement – Aimee Gilbert Loinaz (aimeegl [at] umass [dot] edu (aimeegl[at]umass[dot]edu))