February 13, 2023
Dear colleagues,
It was a pleasure seeing so many of you at Thursday’s all-staff meeting, and I was so glad that many of you arrived early or stayed afterward to say hello to each other—and to me. Thank you also for the opportunity to share more with you about strategic planning for the months and years ahead, and for coming to learn more from our guest presenters about new policies and practices now underway.
We have had many comings and goings since I last wrote to you in August, and some of our new colleagues who attended on Friday were able to introduce themselves in person. To give you a fuller picture of the arrivals and departures since August, here is an overview from departments and offices around campus.
Residential Colleges
In the residential colleges, four heads have announced that they will be stepping down at the end of this academic year: Charles Bailyn of Benjamin Franklin College, Steve Davis of Pierson, Laurie Santos of Silliman, and Margaret Clark of Trumbull. A new Operations Manager, Rachel Lyke, just joined Branford College, and the Trumbull College dean's office welcomed Alice Kustenbauder as its new Senior Administrative Assistant. Nicole Wade, previously Senior Administrative Assistant in Yale College, started in November as Senior Administrative Assistant in the Jonathan Edwards head of college’s office. In Timothy Dwight, Kim Rogers started in October as Senior Administrative Assistant in the head of college ‘s office, and Samantha Moore as TD’s Operations Manager in November. Morse welcomed its new dean, Blake Trimble, on February 1.
Yale College Arts
In Yale College Arts, Susan Youssef has begun in her role as Film Advisor for Collaborative Arts and Media. Susan is known for her features, documentary, and shorts that have been programmed at film festivals such as Cannes, Venice, Toronto International, and Sundance. She is also a Fulbright Fellow and the recipient of numerous other awards and fellowships.
Undergraduate Admissions and Financial Aid
Undergraduate Admissions welcomed Danielle Tait in October as Senior Assistant Director; she joins Yale after several years of admissions work at MIT and Bucknell. Alyssa Corvi joined undergraduate financial aid in November; she came to New Haven from the Wesleyan Financial Aid office. Dani Gentile has left admissions for a position at the Human Nature lab, and Scott Wallace-Juedes is leaving to become the Assistant Vice President of Global Financial Aid at New York University.
CIPE
The Center for International and Professional Experience (CIPE) has three recent arrivals: Sara Spearis Director of Academic Affairs for Yale Summer Session. Sara comes to Yale from Rutgers, where she oversaw leadership development programs and worked in faculty affairs, and previously served as Assistant Dean for first-year students at Rutgers. Elizabeth Keane is Recruiting Coordinator for Employer Relations for the Office of Career Strategy. She is coming from Yale Law School, where she managed the operations of the Liman Center. Giselle Jaramillo Tsikaridis is Senior Administrative Assistant at the Center for International and Professional Experience. Also coming from Yale Law School, Giselle most recently served as a Senior Administrative Assistant working with faculty and the Arthur Liman Center for Public Interest Law. CIPE is saying farewell to Jeanne Follansbee, who is retiring, and Rebekah Westphal, who has accepted a position as Dean of Admissions at The American School in London.
Yale Schwarzman Center
Last fall, Yale Schwarzman Center welcomed Rachel Fine as its new Executive Director, as well as other new staff: Rob Chikar as Production Manager, Jessica Cotter as Associate Production Manager, Madison Grady as Senior Administrative Assistant, Christian Ponce as Assistant Manager of Ticketing and Community Experience, and Carolynn Richer as Associate Production Manager.
Business Office
The business office has welcomed Kelly Walsh as Financial Assistant and Fawaz Alwash as Financial Analyst & Manager of Stewardship. Brian Howard, who has so ably supported the residential colleges' and dean's office's IT needs for several years, will be moving on to another opportunity here at Yale. Rob Rocke, who has been at Yale for over 25 years, will be taking over IT support from Brian.
Yale-NUS College
New to our meeting is Angela Kuhne, who joins us from the Yale-NUS College Liaison office, where she serves as the Associate Director.
Student Affairs
Student Affairs has made some additions and changes for the spring and summer. Chamonix Adams will begin in the summer as an Assistant Dean for Yale College and the new Director of the Office of Gender and Campus Culture and the Alcohol and Other Drugs Harm Reduction Initiative. Chamonix is currently working as a school counselor and plans to finish out the year in their current role before transitioning back to Yale. Eilaf Elmileik in the interim will serve as the full-time interim director for OGCC and AODHRI. During much of 2022, Eilaf served as a part time interim director for both offices but will now be able to take on the role full time. Eilaf will be stepping down from her current role as assistant director of student affairs to take on this added responsibility. Haja Kamara served as a part-time interim Assistant Director for OGCC and AODHRI starting at the beginning of the 2022 fall semester in addition to her role as a Wellness Specialist for YC3. Haja will continue in this position until a new assistant director is hired. The assistant director position is still accepting applications, so please send any excellent candidates you know of to Andrew Forsyth, who is leading the search.
Charmayne Allan will be stepping into the role of Assistant Director of Student Affairs. Charmayne joined Student Affairs in 2022 as a Senior Administrative Assistant responsible for supporting student organizations, the Executive Committee, and special projects. She will now be able to transition her excellent work with student organizations into this new role, where she will be focusing on student groups full time. Amber Cunningham is working as a part-time Administrative Assistant supporting the FroCo program, with a background in marketing and experience as a graphic designer and copywriter. Teri Barbuto has graciously agreed to return from retirement to cover while Kelly Lampart is on parental leave until mid summer.
Warner House
Finally, here in Warner House, Julie Sweigard accepted a new position at the start of this month as Assistant Director of Administration and Operations in the Office of the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Cyndi Erickson, whom many of you know from her over 20 years of service in Berkeley College, is providing interim support during the search for Senior Executive Assistant. And less than a week ago, Michelle Pagan started as Senior Administrative Assistant at Yale College. Michelle earned both her Bachelor and Master of Business Administration degrees from Monroe College and comes to Yale with long experience in higher education offices.
With the spring semester now well underway, I send you my best wishes for the coming weeks and months—and my gratitude for the work you do to support our students.
Sincerely,
Pericles
Pericles Lewis
Dean of Yale College
Douglas Tracy Smith Professor of Comparative Literature Professor of English