Pacific University locations will open two hours late Wednesday, March 1, in alignment with local school districts. Campus facilities will open two hours later than their normal operations. Classes scheduled to start before 10 a.m. will be canceled or online at normal times. Check with your programs or faculty. The two hour-delay also applies to Pacific clinics and the Early Learning Community.
Leif has served as Dean of the College of Education since 2014 and is continually energized by the creativity, intelligence, and compassion of the faculty and staff.
Silvana completed her Bachelor in Education at the end of 1996 in her native country of Argentina, and received her Master of Arts in Education from Pacific University in 2019 where she also completed her ESOL endorsement. Since living in the US, Silvana as an educator has focused on bilingual programs, language learners, and oral language development from an immigrant and BIPOC perspective and experience.
Jennifer currently works as the Executive Assistant to the Dean, and Data, Accreditation, & Licensure Specialist for the College of Education. Her office is located on the Forest Grove Campus.
With particular expertise in math, assessment, and preparing Teacher Residents for their first teaching jobs, Annmarie conducts weekly graduate seminars, coaches Teacher Residents in their classrooms, and serves as liaison to other teacher training programs.
Bryan joined the faculty of the School of Learning and Teaching in the fall of 2016. He is an assistant professor whose work centers on the nexus of special education and multicultural education, especially as this applies to the use of Functional Behavior Assessment in inclusive school settings. He has experience as an educator at all levels from pre-kindergarten to graduate school in both regular and special education environments. Immediately prior to starting at Pacific, Bryan was a fixed-term professor of special education at St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minnesota (2010 to 2014) and then worked for two years as a special education teacher in the Hillsboro, Oregon school district (2014-2016).
Cailie joined the School of Learning and Teaching team as a student worker while she was a freshman at Pacific University. She returned as the Student Services Administrator for the Forest Grove School of Learning & Teaching campus in 2021. She oversees student services, office/facilities management, and a variety of administrative duties.
Dr. Jill Dolata is an Associate Professor in the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders. Dr. Dolata is interested in the role social communication plays in early language development with particular focus in early identification, assessment of expressive language, and measurement of language outcomes in the population of children with neurodevelopmental disorders.
Kate has worked at Pacific University’s Forest Grove campus as the School & Community Partnership Coordinator for the School of Learning & Teaching since March 2016. Her current role includes coordinating placements and placement processes for teacher candidates and practicum teachers, as well as fostering partnerships with K-12 schools and community organizations.
Jesse is a Eugene native and a Pacific Alumnus. After graduating from the MAT 5th Year Program in 2004, he served as a science and technology teacher at a local middle school before returning to Pacific in 2006. As an educational technology specialist, he is responsible for hardware and software setup, equipment checkout, Pacific account administration, and website maintenance. Jesse also provides support for videoconferencing, antivirus and system updates, and student laptops.
Caitlin Fitzgerald is a Clinical Assistant Professor and the Director of Clinical Education in the School of Communication Sciences & Disorders at Pacific University. She is dedicated to supporting graduate students in their development as clinicians through a community-based model that values service, collaboration, advocacy and diversity. Her clinical background is in pediatric medical settings, with a particular interest in feeding and swallowing disorders.
Dr. Peter Flipsen Jr. has been at Pacific since fall 2013. He earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Alberta in his native Canada and then went on to receive his Master’s degree in in Speech-Language Pathology from Michigan State University. After practicing for four years as a speech-language pathologist in Fort Nelson, British Columbia (at mile 300 on the Alaska Highway), he returned to school and obtained his doctorate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is certified as a speech-language pathologist in both the United States and Canada.
Lisa recently joined Pacific University’s Eugene campus as the School & Community Partnership Coordinator after 20 years of teaching in Lane County Schools. Her current role includes coordinating placements and placement processes for teacher candidates and practicum teachers, as well as fostering partnerships with K-12 schools and community organizations.
Melissa is pleased to serve as an Assistant Clinical Professor in the School of CSD, supervising graduate students in the delivery of speech-language services in the Pacific University Psychology and Comprehensive Health Clinics. She teaches in the graduate and post-baccalaureate program, and is a coordinator of an interprofessional practice course with the College of Health Professions.
Arbor Center for Teaching alumna Lauren Kristensen has taught for almost 10 years in Portland Public Schools and West Linn/Wilsonville School Districts. She is an instructional coach and mentor for Arbor Center for Teaching residents.
Josie Kochendorfer is the assistant director of graduate & professional admissions for Forest Grove. She is the admissions counselors for the School of Learning and Teaching and the Speech Language Pathology program.
Martha completed her B.A. in History from Portland State University in 2008, received her M.A. in teaching from Concordia University in 2009, and is currently in process of earning her Ed.D from Lewis and Clark College, expected completion in 2022. Martha is a teacher educator interested in diversifying and sustaining the teacher workforce in the state of Oregon. She specializes in anti-racist and abolitionist pedagogy with the goal of validatating the lived experience of BIPOC students in the educational system. This year she joins Pacific in a full-time tenure-track position.
Katie Lardy joins the School of Communication Sciences & Disorders as Student Services Manager after working for nine years in the Career Development Center at Pacific University as the Assistant Director and Pathways Coordinator.
Mary is an Assistant Clinical Professor who finds tremendous joy in working with and from students. Her professional interests include clinical education, language/literacy interventions for school-age students, service delivery in school settings, collaboration, and high quality professional learning.
Priscila Narcio, (she/her) is a proud Latinx, first-generation graduate. Priscila completed her AAOT from Chemeketa Community College, her B.S in Human Development & Family Sciences and her Ed.M in College Student Services Administration from Oregon State University. She has been involved in the Corvallis and Salem area communities with grassroots organizing for several years. Currently, she is the Woodburn Campus’ Student Services Coordinator, where she supports undergraduate students pursuing an Oregon Preliminary Teaching License and actively recruits community college students with a focus on historically marginalized student populations. She is bilingual and bicultural and has a passion for navigating the higher education application and transfer process. She has experience in grassroots organizing, immigrant rights advocacy, and higher education equity leadership. Her research interests and practical experience has been supporting undocumented/DACAmented students through higher education.
Dr. Jason Niedermeyer is an assistant professor of education for the Eugene campus with expertise in educational philosophy and the science of learning. He has had recent publications in the journals International Dialogues in Education, American Biology Teacher, and Advances in Literacy and Language Studies on topics ranging from the role of storytelling in education, the power of wonder in the classroom, and the cognitive benefit of reading slowly. Prior to coming to Pacific, Jason spent two years as an instructional mentor for Salem-Keizer school district, the same district where he served as an English and science teacher for fourteen years. Jason is married to a fellow educator, Vanessa, and they have two sons, CJ and Ryan, who he coaches in football and baseball.
T. Anil Oommen serves as the Director of the School of Learning & Teaching (Eugene), as an Assistant Professor, Professional Development School Liaison, and Program Coordinator for the Bachelor of Education in Teaching and Language Learning.
Trey Peterson joins the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the start of 2022 as an administrative assistant. With a background in economics, he is thrilled to bring both an analytical eye and a problem-solving approach to the department.
Dr. Kimberly J. Pfeifer is an Assistant Professor of Education for the Forest Grove campus. She has taught in numerous K-12 educational settings within the US, Israel, and South Korea. Both her teaching and research center antisexism and antiracist pedagogy. Specifically, her research interests include working with preservice teachers around issues of inequity. Kimberly recently published a book as part of the Routledge Research in Teacher Education series entitled Dismantling Educational Sexism through Teacher Education: Engaging Preservice Teachers in an Anti-Sexism Curriculum. In addition, she has published within the Journal of Culture and Values in Education focusing on enacting liberatory educational practices within higher education.
Shana is the Financial Manager for the College of Education, overseeing all aspects of the College’s financial accounting and budget processes. She is passionate about creating collaborative, trusting relationships within the College and across the University. She is also a member of the Pacific University Staff Caring Committee.
Dr. Steve Rhine comes to Pacific University after serving as Professor of Education at Willamette University for 19 years. He received his doctorate from UCLA in Administration, Curriculum and Teaching Studies. Before entering teacher education he taught high school mathematics and was a counselor in Los Angeles, California.
Dan joined the faculty of the School of Learning and Teaching on the Forest Grove campus in the summer of 2020. He prioritizes embedding social-emotional learning and equitable teaching practices into his courses and supervision work. His classroom teaching experience includes teaching ELA (English Language Arts) at the middle school and high school level in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Prior to joining Pacific, he served as a university supervisor at the University of Denver where he earned a PhD in curriculum and instruction.
Dr. Andrew Saultz is an associate professor of educational policy and the director of the PhD Program in Education and Leadership. He researches the politics of education, how school choice impacts racial and socio-economic segregation, and the intersections between educational, health, and economic policy.
Dr. Sellers holds a Ph.D.in Educational Policy Studies from Georgia State University and teaches courses in Educational Foundations, Disability Studies, Research Methods, and Special Education. She currently serves as the Coordinator of Pacific University’s Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Education & Learning and as Chair for Pacific's minor in Disability Studies. Before coming to Pacific, Dr. Sellers served as Executive Director of Special Education for Fulton County Schools in Atlanta, Georgia. Her research focuses on curricular and structural (in)equity in schools, teacher identity, and educational policy and its impact on disabled students and families. Dr. Sellers has also conducted research and published articles on the history of disability and special education, particularly in the southern U.S. When she isn’t in her office, look for Dr. Sellers on her bicycle, at a Portland Thorns game, or digging in her garden.
Helen has served as the Director of the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders since August of 2016 and has the pleasure of working with enormously talented faculty who are committed to student learning and to moving the field of speech-language pathology forward through research.
Amanda Stead is an associate professor in the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders. She is also the coordinator of the school's simulation program and is credentialed as a Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator (CHSE). Her passion for working with dementia patients comes from personal family experience and from her experiences in long-term care settings. It is her personal goal to educate students and the community about the important role speech-language pathologists play in the care of patients with dementia and in end-of-life care.
Jordan Tinsley has been a member of the CSD faculty since 2020. She brings her background in medical speech-language pathology to teach clinical skills to the next generation of SLPs and to help coordinate community-based student placements. Jordan's professional interests include voice disorders, gender-spectrum voice & communication, and using simulations to supplement clinical learning.
Linsay is the Student Services Administrator for the School of Learning & Teaching on the Eugene campus. She joined Pacific in 2017 and oversees student services, field placements, office/facilities management and a variety of administrative duties.
Linda Venenciano is a professor of education on the Eugene campus, where she teaches and supports early childhood through high school preservice teachers. Her scholarly work focuses on the teaching and learning of mathematics and she currently serves on the editorial board for the journal, Investigations in Mathematics Learning. Linda is a former mathematics teacher and has taught students from first grade through undergraduate. She has previously served as Interim Director and as a faculty member at the University of Hawai‘i’s Curriculum Research & Development Group.
Jongsun Wee is an associate professor in the School of Learning and Teaching at Forest Grove campus. Prior to coming to Pacific University, Jongsun taught at Winona State University in MN. Her experiences as a classroom teacher, a reading clinic supervisor, a teacher-educator, and a multilingual immigrant inform her research, which has been focused on reading and discussing diverse children’s literature.
Dr. Zijdemans Boudreau completed her doctoral studies at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, Canada, specializing in applied cognitive science, learning technologies, and human development. She has been involved in teacher education since 1995, teaching courses such as Critical Perspectives in Education, Educational Research, Human Development & Applied Psychology, & Educational Technology.
