The Institute for Trauma, Adversity, & Resilience in Higher Education is lucky to have the support and active professional contributions of the following individuals.
Director
Trauma Institute Higher Ed
MassBay Profile
email: jtietjen@massbay.edu
Jeanie Tietjen, PhD, (she/her)
Dr. Jeanie Tietjen is Professor of English at MassBay Community College, and founded and directs the Institute for Trauma, Adversity, and Resilience in Higher Education. The Institute promotes an understanding of the profound impact trauma and adversity have on academic resilience in higher education as well as how a strengths-based, trauma-informed campus and community support student success. She served on an 18-month consensus study “Supporting the Whole Student: Mental Health and Well-Being in Higher Education” with Washington D.C.’s National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and contributed an article “Naming the Urgency: The Importance of Trauma-Informed Practices in Community Colleges” in the edited collection on Trauma Informed Pedagogies: A Guide for Responding to Crisis and Inequality in Higher Education. She earned her doctorate from the Department of English at Brandeis University in 2016, and her dissertation examined representations of excremental violence in Holocaust literature. She has taught for over 20 years in diverse settings: two and four year colleges, prisons and homeless shelters, residential treatment facility for adolescent girls. She esteems the diversity, resilience, and commitment to best educational outcomes in community college from students, faculty, staff, administration and community stakeholders.
Affiliate Fellows & Scholars
email: uuzoeghelu@massbay.edu
Dr. Ugo Uzoeghelu
Dr. Uzoeghelu serves as an Associate Professor of Health Sciences and an Affiliate Fellow & Scholar with the Institute for Trauma, Adversity, and Resilience in Higher Education at MassBay Community College. He is also an Epidemiologist at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Dr. Uzoeghelu holds an MD from Nnamdi Azikiwe College of Medicine, an MPH in Infectious Diseases Epidemiology from the University of North Texas, and an MSc in Clinical Investigation from Harvard Medical School. He is certified in Public Health (CPH) by the U.S. National Board of Public Health Examiners (NBPHE).
Dr. Uzoeghelu has dedicated his career to advancing health equity in the prevention and treatment of HIV/STIs and other infectious diseases. Currently, his work involves applying technical expertise and clinical research findings to develop and implement trauma-informed strategies that reduce HIV/STI risk and vulnerability. This includes maximizing the uptake, retention, and adherence to crucial HIV/STI interventions within communities disproportionately affected by the epidemic in the U.S. This commitment to understanding and mitigating vulnerability also informs his keen interest in evaluating the impact of trauma on student success in higher education.
email: estapleton@massbay.edu
Dr. Liz Stapleton
Dr. Stapleton is an Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education and an Affiliate Fellow & Scholar with the Institute for Trauma, Adversity, and Resilience in Higher Education at MassBay Community College. She obtained her doctorate in Educational Studies from Lesley University, with a focus on the intersection of traumatic stress, early childhood, and attachment theory. Liz’s research examines how preschool teachers’ perceptions of young children’s behavior can impact relationships within the classroom community, and through examining these perceptions, how teacher preparatory programs may better prepare preschool teachers for the field. Her passions include supporting systems-change within the field of early education to provide trauma-sensitive learning environments for young children and their teachers. Liz’s current research project analyzes held beliefs and attitudes related to trauma-sensitive teaching among early educators across Massachusetts.
Ph.D., Lesley University, Educational Studies
M.Ed., Bridgewater State University, Special Education
B.A., University of Massachusetts Amherst, Liberal Arts & Young Children’s Learning
Certificate of Early Education Leadership, Harvard Graduate School of Education
Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics, Phase 1, The Neurosequential Network
Licensed Social Worker Associate, Massachusetts
Coordinator of Research Interns & Institute Contributors
Ashleigh Brogna, Adjunct Professor, Psychology
Laura McEvoy, Health & Wellness Coordinator
Videos & Motion Graphic Design
Carolyn Guttilla, Professor & Chair, Communications
Development & Communications Specialist
Joanna Myerson
Institute Interns
Current:
Luisa Nascimento
Previous:
Mia Campos
Ashley Smith
Madison Colleton
Katerina Cipriano
Anthony Neptune
Max Morrongiello
Motion Graphic Design Interns
Isabella Faulkner, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Ngoc Thuy An Nguyen, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Faculty Learning Community Academic Year 2025-2026
Trauma-Informed Higher Education Pedagogies & Practices
Tracy Amaral-Tracey, Assistant Professor, English
Daiane Antonio, Associate Professor, Early Childhood Education
Ashleigh Brogna, Assistant Professor, Psychology
Clarissa Codrington, Assistant Professor & Department Chair, English
Kuang-Ming Covitz, Associate Professor, Anatomy & Physiology
Jennifer Cullen, Assistant Professor, Behavioral Health
Dolores Goyette, Professor, Surgical Technology & Health Sciences
Carolyn Guttilla, Professor & Department Chair, Communications
Joanna Herrera, Assistant Professor, English
Deborah O’Dowd, Assistant Professor, Practical Nursing
Tina Ramme, Adjunct Faculty, STEM
Elizabeth Stapleton, Assistant Professor, Early Childhood Education
Jeanie Tietjen, Professor, English
Ugochukwu Uzoeghelu, Associate Professor, Health Sciences
Matthew Walsh, Professor, English
Supported by:
Dr. Rebecca Heimel, Dean for Teaching & Learning
Dr. Courtney Jackson, Provost & Vice-President for Academic Affairs
Dr. Susan Maggioni, Assistant Provost
Key Strategic Advisors & Consultants
Dr. David Podell, President
Dr. Courtney Jackson, Provost & Vice-President for Academic Affairs
Dr. Elizabeth Blumberg, Vice-President for Student Development & Dean of Students
Nina Keery, Dean of Humanities & Social Sciences
Abigail Detweiler, Manager of Grants Administration
Internal Advisory Board
Coming soon
External Advisory Board
Coming soon
Partners & Alumni
Coming soon