Department of Education and Counseling
February 2024
Dear Alumni and Friends of the Department of Education and Counseling,

Happy New Year and new semester! The new calendar year represents new beginnings, fresh starts and the promise of new learning, research and service opportunities. As we welcome a new semester, we also warmly welcome back to our department Helen Lafferty, PhD, who returns from her sabbatical serving as interim president of Youngstown State University.

The dawning of a new year also prompts reflection on the closing of the previous one. I am delighted to share this newsletter which provides insight into the activities of our students, faculty and alumni over the fall 2023 semester. In the fall, we celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the Master’s Plus Teaching Certification program and welcomed three new members to our department: Dana Brookover, PhD, assistant professor of Counseling; Sara Elliott '15 MS, counseling program coordinator specialist; and Jessica Schwartz, graduate education coordinator. The semester also included numerous conference presentations and publications by our stellar faculty and students, whose scholarly endeavors and service activities positively impact our university and the greater academic community.

Recently we have heard a lot about the impending acquisition of the Cabrini University campus by Villanova. We have received many inquiries about how this will impact our department. As Father Peter Donohue said in his November message, the University plans to use this next year to engage our community to determine the best ways to fully incorporate and utilize the Cabrini campus. Please stay tuned as we are actively exploring ways in which the Department of Education and Counseling can assist Villanova in honoring the legacy of Mother Cabrini and Cabrini University. I welcome your input on this endeavor — please feel free to contact me.

I wish everyone a new year and semester filled with many blessings for our students, alumni, faculty and staff.

With best wishes,

Teresa G. Wojcik, PhD
Associate Professor of Education
Chairperson, Department of Education and Counseling
Department News
Master’s Plus Teaching Certification Program Celebrates Twentieth Anniversary
On Oct. 7, faculty, students and alumni of the Master’s Plus Teaching Certification program gathered in the Villanova Room of the Connelly Center to commemorate two decades of initial teacher certification at the graduate level and to recognize the vision of the program’s founder, Professor Emerita Connie Titone, EdD. The event featured comments by program alumna Dolores Verdeur '87 CWSL, '05 MA, and the presentation of a crystal apple to Dr. Titone, who pioneered the Master’s Plus program. During the event, guests had an opportunity to reminisce about their time in the program and network. The planning committee included the former director of the program, Teresa G. Wojcik, PhD, the current director of the program, Lisa Marco-Bujosa, PhD and Dr. Titone.
Gifted Education Conference at Villanova 
The Department of Education and Counseling was pleased to support the annual SENG (Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted) conference at The Inn at Villanova in July 2023. Rachel Skrlac Lo, PhD, and recent Education grad alumna Kelly Blake ’23 MA participated in a Signature Panel Discussion titled, "Gifted Across the Lifespan - Achieving Beyond the Challenges."
New Faculty and Staff Join the Department
The Department of Education and Counseling warmly welcomes one new faculty member and two new program coordinators to assist with our graduate programs.
Dana Brookover, PhD
Formerly an adjunct instructor in the department, Dana Brookover, PhD, joins the Counseling faculty as an assistant professor. After serving as a school counselor in both Virginia and Pennsylvania, Dr. Brookover earned her PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2020. Her research focuses on equitable college and career readiness, as well as social determinants of health. She welcomes students reaching out to her if they are interested in gaining research experience in those areas. Dr. Brookover teaches Research and Evaluation Skills, Lab in Counseling Skills in the fall, and Lab in Group Dynamics, Practicum in School Counseling, and Human Growth and Development in the spring.
Sara Elliott '15 MS
Our new Counseling Program Specialist, Sara Elliott '15 MS, joins the Graduate Counseling team as the coordinator of practicums and internships. An alumnus of Villanova's MS in Counseling program, Elliott is thrilled to be back in a role where she can support students on their journey to becoming professional counselors. Formerly, Elliott served as the assistant director of Counseling and Applied Psychology programs at Rosemont College. In that role, she supported the MA in Counseling program's CACREP accreditation efforts, advised students on course registration, practicum and internship placements, and career counseling. Elliott also developed and taught multiple online accelerated, undergraduate psychology courses.
Jessica Schwartz
Jessica Schwartz joins the Graduate Education team as the new Graduate Education coordinator. Jessica started at Villanova in November 2007. For sixteen years, she served the Villanova community in the Bartley Print Center, which provides all the printing on campus for faculty, staff and students. From syllabi to theater programs to bound books, Schwartz had the opportunity to get to know campus from the infrastructure perspective. In May 2023, she moved to the academic services area of the University, first with the Department of Political Science and then supporting the Graduate Education programs as coordinator.
Student News
Chi Sigma Iota
Submitted by CSI Co-Presidents, Elinor (“Ellie”) Stanley ’24 MS and Leslie Ann Glossner ’24 MS
The Alpha Beta Gamma chapter of Chi Sigma Iota (CSI) attended and planned many events this past fall semester. First, members got together with the first-year students at the CSI-sponsored welcome picnic. CSI also hosted a happy hour for Counseling students at LaScala’s Fire in Radnor. The professional development chair hosted an informative and popular American Psychological Association workshop and teamed up with the social chair to create a successful mentorship program between first- and second-year students. Looking ahead, the community outreach chair is working on getting involved with Villanova's annual Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. There are more plans for the spring semester including social gatherings, a licensure panel and Counselor Education Comprehensive Exam study sessions.
Student Achievements

Oladimeji “Ola” Fatoki ’24 MA participated in the Graduate Student Research Symposium where he shared his research, “A Comparison of Three Approaches in Promoting Youth Civic Engagement Among University Students.” This study examined three methods of promoting youth involvement and collective action in addressing public concerns. The approaches were service learning, project-based learning and youth participatory action research. Mentored by Jerusha Conner, PhD, Fatoki conducted a systematic literature review of 30 studies published between 2017 to 2023. He synthesized the findings to determine the effectiveness of each approach in garnering support among youth and generating increased civic interest and engagement. Fatoki also received a 2023 Classroom Catalyst Impact Grant.

Nic Schoppe ’24 MA is president of the CLAS Graduate Student Council and Drew Doughan ’25 MA is VP of academic affairs of the Graduate Student Council.
Jared Grizzle ’24 MA is the inaugural president of the Graduate Student Council, representing all graduate programs at Villanova University.
Counseling student and graduate assistant Jacob Luna ’26 MS joined Krista Malott, PhD, and Stacey Havlik, PhD, in making two presentations in fall 2023 to Villanova faculty and staff on ways to support first generation college students.
Faculty News
Recent Faculty Publications, Conference Presentations and Recognitions
Dana Brookover, PhD, participated in the annual conference of the Association for Counseling Education and Supervision in Denver, Colorado, in October 2023, where she made two presentations: “A New Career Development Framework: Integrating the Social Determinants of Health and College Readiness Counseling" and “Anti-Racist Health Equity Focused School Counseling Internship: Process and Outcomes," joined by co-presenters Kaprea F. Johnson, PhD, Alex Gantt-Howrey, PhD, and Lauren Robins, PhD.

Jerusha Conner, PhD, co-published the results of a study conducted with an intergenerational team of scholars and based on the principles of critical collaborative research in the American Journal of Education, “What students and teachers do to build positive reciprocal relationships: A study co-led by youth and adult researchers.”

Edward Fierros, PhD, participated in the National Education Policy Center’s passing of the Educational Accountability 3.0 bill on Sept. 27, 2023.

Seth Matthew Fishman, PhD, presented a campus-wide session for the Villanova School of Business on the current state of higher education. Dr. Fishman was also featured in the Inside Higher Education article, “Academic Success Tip: Adapt In-Class Presentation Models,” on Sept. 5, 2023.
Stacey Havlik, PhD, published a news article in The Conversation, “Philly undercounts students who are homeless – here’s what parents need to know to advocate for their child.” Dr. Havlik also produced the second edition of the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth (NAEHCY) Single Point of Contact (SPOC) Resource and User Guide: For Professionals Supporting Youth Experiencing Homelessness Preparing for and Attending College. She also led a three-hour pre-conference session and gave a presentation at the annual conference of the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth in New Orleans.
Gerry Laskowski ’10 MPA was awarded a 2023 Spirit of Ryan Community Award for his commitment to promoting the traditions and values of Catholic education and Archbishop Ryan High School on Oct. 15, 2023.

Krista Malott, PhD, and Terence Yee, PhD, presented on decolonizing counseling at the annual conference of the Association of Counselor Education and Supervision in Denver, Colorado with colleague Shanee Barraclough, PhD, of New Zealand. This presentation was based on their recent publication, “Towards decolonizing diagnosis: A critical review and suggested alternatives,” published in the International Journal for the Advancement of Counseling.

Lisa Marco-Bujosa, PhD, Krista Malott, PhD, and Lauren Baker co-published an article in the Journal of Research in Science Teaching, “Why am I here?”: A phenomenological exploration of first-generation college student experiences in STEM majors within a predominantly white institution.”
Rayna Markin, PhD, was selected to participate in the American Psychological Association's therapy demonstration video series. Dr. Markin recently filmed the video, "Psychotherapy for Pregnancy Loss" as part of that series—pictured here with host Cheri Marmarosh. Dr. Markin’s book, Psychotherapy for Pregnancy Loss: Applying Relationship Science to Clinical Practice, was published by Oxford University Press.
Rachel Skrlac Lo, PhD, was featured on the “Words, Images, and Worlds” podcast last summer (Episode 260), where she discussed visual literacy, the possibilities of reading/writing/composing, and what has been learned during the pandemic. A book chapter co-authored by Dr. Skrlac Lo and Angela Wiseman, PhD, will appear in Arts-Based Research Across Textual Media in Education: Expanding Visual Epistemology, Volume 2. The title of their chapter is, “Bringing children’s play into literacy events: Critical multimodal discourse analysis as a tool for understanding arts-based activities.”

Madora Soutter, EdD, co-published an article with Shelby Clark, PhD, “Can grades be used for good? The complex and surprising relationship between assessments and intellectual risk-raking” in Zeal: A Journal for the Liberal Arts.

Anthony Stevenson, EdD, received the Oscar B. Cobb, Jr. Civil Rights Advocacy Award from the Mainline NAACP in November 2023, for his years of promoting civil rights.

Teresa Wojcik, PhD, served as a presenter during New Faculty Orientation in August 2023 where she spoke on “Teaching in the Spirit of St. Augustine.”
Alumni News
Alumni Notes
Anthony Albanese ’08 CLAS was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia on May 20, 2023.

Caroline Curnal ’22 CLAS started her coaching career in women’s lacrosse at the University of Pennsylvania.

Amanda Galczyk ’23 MA began work as an admissions counselor at Swarthmore College.
Anthony Albanese ’08 CLAS
Katelyn Kempft ’20 MS co-published an article, “‘You feel a lot of different emotions’: Examining a mindfulness-based small group for elementary school students” with Stacey Havlik, PhD, Christopher Schmidt, PhD, and Terence Yee, PhD, in the Journal of Child and Adolescent Counseling.

Amanda Palmer ’20 MA started a new role in Student Affairs at Purdue University.
Meghan Petsko ’21 MA gave a presentation during Villanova’s celebration of Native American and Indigenous Heritage Month in November 2023 based on her master’s thesis, "Stories of Resilience: Collecting Narratives on the Determination of Indigenous Women Seeking Graduate Degrees." Petsko offered several ways in which individuals can serve as allies to Native American and Indigenous communities, including reading Native news (e.g., illumiNative, Native Action Network), shopping Native, attending Native speaking events, supporting Native movements, reading Native authors, calling out atrocities and sharing what you learn with family and friends.
Enrique Rosado ’23 MA is the new assistant director of Fraternity and Sorority Life at Lehigh University.

Natasha Skorupski ’23 MA served as a teacher in summer 2023 at an English language and American culture summer camp in Suwałki, Poland sponsored by Eagle-Orzel Educational and Cultural Exchange, Inc. Skorupski teaches Latin in the Haverford School District.

Erin Spina ’20 MA was promoted to senior assistant registrar at Villanova University.

Tyson West ’21 MA returned to the Villanova Men’s Basketball team as their video coordinator.

Jaime Wheatcroft ’23 MS and Sylvia Salas ’23 MS co-published “‘It was hard to prepare without knowing what I was preparing for’: Latine youth experiences of a first-generation college-going group” in the journal, Professional School Counseling, with Stacey Havlik, PhD, and Krista Malott, PhD.

Betty Wilson ’23 MEd started a new role in the Villanova School of Business as assistant director of Specialized Master's Programs.
Alumni of the department are invited to share their news and accomplishments for inclusion in future editions of the Education and Counseling Newsletter.  
Save The Date
The department’s annual Cooperating Personnel Dinner will be held on Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in the Villanova Room of the Connelly Center.
Newsletter Editor: Teresa G. Wojcik, PhD
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