Monday, October 26, 2026

Lifelong Learning Staff Updates

Welcome to the team!

Liza McLatcher- Career Success Program Coordinator

Liza McLatcher (they/them) is thrilled to join the Lifelong Learn team from their previous role as Communications and Events Coordinator at CU, bringing nearly four years of experience in lifelong learning and community engagement at the University of North Texas and Brown University, where they progressed from administrative support to Associate Director.

As the Career Success Program Coordinator, Liza will support the design, delivery, and continuous improvement of career planning resources across CU’s regional sites. Committed to approaching every role with warmth, curiosity, creativity, and care, Liza is eager to deepen relationships within the CU Community and offer meaningful support where they can.

Liza relocated to Rhode Island in 2025, and they are so grateful for the home they've found in Providence. Still, they travel back to Texas to be with their growing nephews (pictured) as often as possible! In their free time, they can be found thrifting, cycling, journaling, listening to audiobooks & podcasts, or working on a sewing project. 

Caitlyn Blankenship - Learning in Public Program Coordinator

"My name is Caitlyn (she/her), I have been a part of the CU family since 2020 - graduated class of 2022, graduating inspired a new passion for my education and I pursued my masters in Youth Development from Rhode Island College, class of 2024.

Like many of our students, I started out at a college that I didn't finish. I found that traditional education didn’t align with my values or support my needs, or the needs of my family. Not having my degree held me back from promotions and other opportunities, so during the first of the pandemic I decided to go back to college. I have since worn many hats here at CU, from being an alumni mentor to multiple cohorts, a Big Ten Specialist, first semester and core course instructional faculty, including the prison education program in Rhode Island, a faculty convener and now the Learning in Public Program Coordinator.

Outside of CU, I have over a decade of experience working in the community, focusing on K-12th grade youth through environmental conservation based STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) programs and antiracist work. I love providing learners (young and old) with new opportunities and experiences, the beach is my happy place and I have three cats at home!"

Session 2 Reminders

Engagement Alerts & Checking your Roster

Moodle Support Resources

Lab Faculty Corner

Advising Workshop Reminder

November 12: Preparing Students for Capstone

This advising session is open to all lab faculty but particularly designed to support lab faculty with students in their 3rd semester and beyond.

Registration for the Spring Semester Opens on November. Lab faculty are encouraged to meet with all cohort students to review their degree audits and plans for the spring semester. Advising resources are available in the Faculty Support Site.

Digication

NEW Lab Faculty resource

Lab Faculty tour of Digication video resource

Updated playlist resource for students

Creating a LIP Portfolio without the Digication Template

Questions about Digication?

Contact lips@collegeunbound.edu

Reminders

Week 12 is Project Push Week!

Visit the Project Push Week site & stay tuned for Week 12 updates!

Faculty Bios, Photos, & Credential Updates

At CU we pride ourselves on community, and you are an important part of our community. For that reason we are requesting that you use this link to complete a form to share a little about yourself and update your credentials.

The form should only take about five minutes to complete and the information will be used to update our website. We "CU" and want to make sure everyone else does as well.

Connect with your faculty conveners!

Conveners and your community of practice is one layer of support for faculty at CU. As conveners reach out and create spaces to collaborate, we encourage you to connect.

Use the form below to share a spotlight!

We also would love to collect and share back out any lessons, tips, resources, or stories from your community of practice.

Student Support Resources & Links

Please highlight and share this new flyer resource on CU tech support with your students.

Student Success at CU has a landing page for access points to student support resources, including a general help form, referral form, and accommodations registration.

Student Help Request

Students seeking support can complete this help request form to get in touch with a member of the Student Success Team.

Faculty Referral Form

If there are significant concerns about a student, faculty can refer a student for support from the Student Success Team using this form and a member of CU’s Community Cares team will follow-up. 

Engagement Alert Form

If a Student has not attended or engaged in any coursework for 2 consecutive weeks, please complete this Engagement Alert Form and member of CU's Academic Support team will follow up.

The Lifelong Learning Team

Sylvia Spears

Provost & VP for Lifelong Learning

Karen Casper

Associate Provost for Administration Advising, and Academic Support

Abby Crew

Assistant Provost for Curriculum Development

Ijeoma Njaka

Assistant Provost for Transformational Teaching & Learning

Tiffany Reaves

National Director of Lab Faculty

Matthew Sutherland

Assistant Registrar

Emma Chavenson Munsch

Data and Reporting Specialist

Gwendolynn Jones

Learning Systems Specialist

Liza McLatcher

Career Success Program Coordinator

Caitlyn Blankenship

Learning in Public Program Coordinator

Hanna Lichtenstein

Administrative Systems Coordinator