Current Members
Appointed members have voting responsibilities and serve a three-year term beginning on August 1. They attend monthly Council meetings for approximately two hours which typically occur during normal University hours and are considered University business. USAC members also serve on at least one sub-committee within the larger Council to focus on specific goals and tasks.
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Terra Ingram Terra Ingram works for the newly created Sustainable Agriculture, Food and Environmental Science Institute (SAFES) as the Administrative Staff Coordinator/Business Manager. She and her team are working hard to build collaboration across the various departments in the College of Agricultural Sciences and the University to integrate teaching and research while working external partners to determine industry needs. She has worked for the University since December of 2006 and was previously employed by the Smeal College of Business and Penn State’s World Campus. She has an Associate’s Degree in Business Administration-Management & Marketing from South Hills School of Business & Technology, her Bachelor of Science from Saint Francis University where she majored in Organizational Leadership and her Master’s Degree in the Psychology of Leadership from Penn State. She is an alumna of Pennsylvania’s Leadership Program, RULE Class XIII, and has served as part of the management team to help mentor and develop subsequent classes. |
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Rachel Galloway Rachel Galloway is the current Assistant Director of the Center for Spiritual and Ethical Development at the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center. She has been a Penn State Student Affairs employee since August 2012 and previously worked for the Office of Student Activities and the Office of Residence Life at Penn State. Rachel has a bachelor of arts degree in music from Lebanon Valley College and a master of science degree in clinical and counseling psychology from Chestnut Hill College. She is serving her fourth year on the Council and is part of the Communications Committee. She is previously served as a co-chair of the Inclusion, Equity, and Diversity Committee and the Secretary of USAC. |
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Bengy Romig Benjy Romig is a consultant for Identity and Access Management, Office of Information Security through the Office of the President at University Park campus. He has been employed with Penn State since 2000, serving in various IT roles across the university. This is his fifth and final year as a member of USAC and serves as Past-Chair. |
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Lynne O'Cain Lynne O'Cain is the Administrative Coordinator to the Sr. Associate Dean for Science Education and Project Coordinator for the Science Education Collaboratory in the Eberly College of Science. She has been at the University since 2005 and has 40 years of diverse administrative experience managing of numerous offices in support of senior leadership and high-ranking military personnel and government officials. She is an Air Force veteran who has served as a mentor to PSU Veteran students. She is a self-directed, lifelong learner who enjoys sharing her knowledge with faculty and staff and views each day has an opportunity to make a difference. She is serving her third year on the council and is currently the Co-Secretary. |
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Billy Jo Yuhaniak Billie Jo Yuhaniak is the Administrative Coordinator to the Chancellor at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus. Billie Jo has been employed with the University since 2004, and she is a proud Penn State Alum with a B.S. in English with a minor in Business. This is her third year serving on USAC. She currently serves as co-secretary and is a member of the Logistics Committee. Billie Jo also completed the Penn State Master Gardener program in 2020 and is a practicing Master Gardener. |
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Dr. Nivedita Nagachar After a decade of Research & teaching career at Penn State, Nivedita Nagachar is now a counselor at the office of Undergraduate Admissions. Nivedita is the Co-Chair of the Inclusion, Equity and Diversity Committee and the Secretary-Elect. This is her second year serving on USAC. |
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Elizabeth Fegert As a Business Consultant for the Penn State Small Business Development Center (SBDC), Elizabeth supports student and community entrepreneurs who are looking to start, grow, or manage a successful business. She holds a B.S. in Secondary English Education and M.Ed in Educational Leadership from Penn State University and is an adjunct instructor in the Smeal College of Business. |
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Susan Bedsworth Warner Susan Bedsworth Warner is the Development Communications Specialist with the College of Agricultural Sciences. She has been with the University since 2009, serving in various public relations roles. Susan has a bachelor of arts degree in public relations from Penn State and master of arts degree in communications from Johns Hopkins. This is her second year with the USAC. |
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Erin Loy Erin Loy is a Research Engineer at the Applied Research Laboratory. She has been at Penn State since 2009 and holds a BA in Environmental Geosciences and a Masters degree in Civil Engineering/Environmental Fluid Mechanics. This is her third year on USAC. |
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Elizabeth Edmondson Elizabeth Edmondson is an Administrative Coordinator in the Eberly College of Science. She has been with Penn State since 2018 and is serving her third year on USAC. She holds a Bachelor of Art's in History from Penn State University and is in her third year of the Master's of Public Administration program with World Campus. |
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Linda Klimczyk Linda Klimczyk is the Process and Portfolio manager for Library Strategic Technologies. This is her second year serving on USAC and she is happy to be able to expand her contributions to Penn State through this important university-wide effort. |
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Debbie Flaig Debbie Flaig is serving her third year on USAC and is a member of the Awards & Recognition and Logistics Committees. She has worked at the Altoona campus for 15 years within the Continuing Education office. She is the Interim Director of Continuing Education and Career Services and serves as the Adult Enrollment Coordinator as well as the Director of Kids College. She has her Masters in Lifelong Learning and Adult Education with an emphasis on Global and Distance Learning. |
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Stephanie Andaloro Stephanie Andaloro has worked at the Wilkes-Barre Campus since 2007. She currently serves as the Assistant Registrar/Assistant to the Advising Center. She collaborated alongside other staff members with determination and commitment for the initiation and implementation of the Staff Advisory Council at the Wilkes-Barre campus where she completed her service as Chair. Stephanie is serving her second year on USAC. |
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Karen Armstrong Karen Armstrong is a World Campus Career Counselor with a background in mental health counseling. She has over 10 years of experience in diversity and inclusion focused program development. In her spare time she engages in social justice community outreach working to empower multiply marginalized groups. This is her third year as a member of USAC. She is serving on the Inclusion, Equity, and Diversity Committee. |
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Crystal Barna Crystal Barna is a Grants Officer for Subawards in the Office of Research Affairs at the College of Medicine. She has been with Penn State since 2009. Crystal received her Honorable Discharge from the Army in 2007 and began her commission as a Notary Public in 2015. She has completed the Administrative Professional Series 1 and 2 certification programs, the Project Management certification program and the Penn State Commission for Women Mentoring program. Crystal currently serves as the Committee Chair for the Office of the Vice Dean for Research and Graduate Studies Staff Advisory Council, Chair-elect for the Marketing & Communications Committee and website team lead for Penn State Commission for Women Hershey campus. She is also chairing a group to start a Staff Advisory Council for the College of Medicine. This is her second year on USAC. |
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Jill Dickun Jill holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Penn State, and is a Penn State New Kensington alum. Jill was an adult learner and now assists our adult learners and student veteran population. She also helps traditional-age first year and transfer students navigate the application process. She is currently chair of Staff Senate at the New Kensington Campus. Jill is a mom of four very active children, and when she is not working she is attending soccer practice and spending time on her family and dogs. Jill and her husband also enjoy exploring University Park and reliving their glory days, vacationing to the beach, and camping. |
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Gretchen Paules Gretchen Paules is the Interim Director and an Analysis & Planning Consultant in IT Strategy & Planning for Penn State IT. She has more than 20 years of senior leadership experience in industry in the retail, non-profit, and technology sectors. Gretchen holds two master's degrees, a Master of Science in Information Technology and an MBA. She is currently pursuing her Doctor of Business Administration. Gretchen has been employed at Penn State since July 2018 and this is her third year on USAC. |
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Christy Shaw Christy Shaw is an Assistant Director of Grants and Contracts in the College of Health and Human Development. She has been with the University since 2007 and looks forward to bringing her positive and passionate energy, as well as her knowledge of Penn State to the Council. She is honored to be among other staff that advocate for the voice of Penn State staff. Christy is an alumna of Penn State with an A.S. in the Physical Therapist Assistant curriculum and a B.S. in Organizational Leadership with a minor in Labor and Employee Relations. Christy is serving her third year on the USAC. |
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Mary Jo Stevenson Mary Jo Stevenson is Administrative Support Assistant for Student Affairs at Penn State Mont Alto. She has been with Penn State since 2018 and with USAC since 2020. She is a member of the Awards Committee. Mary Jo and her husband of 32 years have 2 grown sons and enjoy traveling. |
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Alice Puzarowski Alice Puzarowski is currently a proposal and award generalist for the Grants and Contracts Office at Penn State Behrend. She has been with the University in 2015, and previously worked for the Black School of Business focusing on course scheduling, curriculum, and master support. She is a proud Penn State Alumna with a B.A. in General Arts and Sciences, Science/Mathematics option. Alice completed the Administrative Professional Series Level I and Level II certificate programs, and recently completed the Inclusive Leadership Certificate Program. She is currently pursuing a Master of Project Management through World Campus. In her free time, Alice is the chapter advisor for the Epsilon Theta of Alpha Sigma Alpha. This is her first year serving on USAC. |
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Amy Bockis Amy Bockis is excited to be joining the USAC team this year. She was hired by the Public Health Sciences team at the College of Medicine in Hershey after 14 years working with medical students in the Office of Student Affairs also at the College of Medicine. She has been a part of the Penn State family since graduate school in 2003. Amy has a BS in Anthropology and an M.Ed. in College Student Affairs: College Counseling. Her professional interests include understanding and enhancing advising relationships, evaluation & performance feedback, and the improvement of institutional structures in higher education. Her personal interests include any activity that is in the great outdoors, specifically kayaking and hiking, latin music (viva la salsa), and raising three kids and four cats. |
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Chris Adams Chris Adams (she/her) is a member of the Division of Development and Alumni Relations as a Senior Analyst with the Prospect Management and Analytics department. Chris provides strategic support and data analysis to front-line fundraisers and related DDAR staff for the management and identification of prospects to assist with the cultivation and solicitation of donors. Chris has a BS degree in Finance from Penn State University and a MBA degree from Temple University. Chris is serving on the Awards & Recognition and History Committees. This is her first year on the council. |
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Craig Praul Craig Praul is the Director of the Penn State Genomics Core Facility in the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences. Craig received his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from Penn State and has since then spent more than 25 years working at University Park in various life science research positions. This is his first year serving on USAC. |
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Emily Kissinger Emily is the marketing manager for research in the College of Medicine marketing and communications office. Emily started at Penn State in 2010 in the Office of Strategic Communications. She has 20 years of marketing experience in higher education and health care marketing. She has a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Evansville and a graduate certificate in organization development and change operational excellence from Penn State. This is her first year on USAC. |
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Ilhan Kucukaydin Ilhan Kucukaydin is the web manager with the Marketing and Strategic Communications at Penn State Harrisburg. Ilhan has been with the University since 2002, serving in various web and digital media roles. He has been an active member with the Harrisburg Campus’ diversity committees including Outreach and Programming and Training. Ilhan has a doctoral degree in adult education from Penn State. |
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Mary Ohashi Mary Ohashi is the Survivor Advocate and Case Manager for the Gender Equity Center. She has worked for the University since November 2019 and was previously employed by Outreach and Online Education's Office of Inclusion, Equity, and Diversity and with World Campus Student Affairs. Mary has over 20 years of experience providing legal advocacy to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. She is a Penn State Alum with a Bachelor of Science in Rehabilitation Education with a minor in Chemical Dependency Counseling. This is her first year serving on USAC. |
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Michelle Weber-Colon Michelle S. Weber-Colón is a National Board Certified educator with a Bachelor of Science in Spanish Education and a Master’s Degree in Educational Psychology with 20+ years experience. Her previous roles include the Coordinator of Student Programs, Character and Leadership development at Milton Hershey School where she had the opportunity to hold a supervisory role in developing and implementing student leadership curriculum, activities and a mentor program for over 600 students and staff. In addition, Michelle is a proud mother of three phenomenal cauricans (caucasian+puertoricans), a Spanish Professor at Lebanon Valley College, a health enthusiast and Penn State alumna. Having been born in Spain and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Michelle acquired a unique skill set to understand the complexity of Student Engagement within diverse educational communities. Michelle’s current position as Assistant Director to the Office of Student Engagement is to provide leadership and support to a team of exceptional staff educating and supporting diverse student populations. Her office team is dedicated to providing equitable and educational resources, activities, experiences and opportunities for our students to become engaged within their time at Penn State Harrisburg. |
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Tiffany Valdes-Madera Tiffany has a Bachelor's degree in Communications with a minor in Cultural Studies from City University of New York (CUNY) City College. She joined the Penn State Family in June 2021 as the Lehigh Valley Campus Faculty Affairs Coordinator. Tiffany oversees all things faculty affairs related such as hiring, payroll, onboarding of new faculty, as well as administrative assistant to the Director of Academic Affairs. Prior to joining PSU, Tiffany was a stay at home mom for 6 years and was heavily involved in various school district committees, as well as her kid's elementary school that focused on DEI efforts. This is her first year on USAC. |
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Valerie Martinez Valerie Martinez is excited to support her colleagues and peers through the Penn State University Staff Advisory Council. She earned a Bachelor's degree in Family Studies from Mississippi University for Women and a Master's degree in Social Work from Tulane University. Maintaining a focus on the promoting others’ quality of life, Valerie's experience includes non-profit community development, military family support services, and higher education student support. She is currently a Career Counselor with Bank of America Career Services at University Park where she works one-on-one with undergraduates, graduate students, and recent alumni to identify and pursue career goals. When not working, her life is filled with music, baking goodies for her coworkers, and two very demanding dogs named Roux & Rhea. |