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 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
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
Key Strategic Advisors
- 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
Institute Contributors
- Johanna Benavides, Assistant Professor, Accounting & Business
- Ashleigh Brogna, Adjunct Professor, Psychology
- Kendall Eskine, Assistant Professor, Psychology
- Laura McEvoy, Health & Wellness Coordinator
- Brandi Perri, Assistant Professor of Sociology
Videos & Motion Graphic Design
- Carolyn Guttilla, Professor & Chair, Communications
Institute student Interns
Current
Previous
- Luisa Nascimento
- Mia Campos
- Ashley Smith
- Madison Colleton
- Katerina Cipriano
- Anthony Neptune
- Max Morrongiello
Motion Graphic Design Interns
2026
- Oumaima Attioui, University of Massachusetts, Lowell
- Annalee Barbar, University of Massachusetts, Lowell
2025
- Isabella Faulkner, University of Massachusetts Lowell
- Ngoc Thuy An Nguyen, University of Massachusetts Lowell