2019 News Stories
College of Education Welcomes New Faculty for 2019-20 Academic Year
TAMPA, Fla. (August 15, 2019) — The College of Education is proud to welcome new faculty for the 2019-20 academic year. These individuals bring with them a diverse set of research interests and experiences that demonstrate their commitment to high-impact research, student success and innovation in the field of education.
Evan Dart – Associate Professor
Dr. Evan Dart joins the College of Education as an associate professor in the School Psychology Program. Prior to joining USF, Dr. Dart was an associate professor in the School Psychology Program at the University of Southern Mississippi. His research interests include behavior assessment, class-wide behavioral interventions, peer management interventions, and the visual analysis of single-case data.
Mandie Dunn – Assistant Professor
Dr. Mandie Dunn joins the College of Education as an assistant professor in the English Education Program. She received her Ph.D. in Curriculum, Instruction, and Teacher Education from Michigan State University in May. Her research interests include English teacher identities, teacher education through partnerships with preservice and inservice Secondary English teachers, and the social and emotional learning of English language arts educators.
Veselina Lambrev – Assistant Professor
Dr. Lambrev joins the College of Education as an assistant professor in the Doctor of Education (Ed.D) in Program Development. Prior to joining USF, Dr. Lambrev spent eight years teaching and advising at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, in the areas of leadership, research, evaluation, and socio-cultural contexts of education. Her research interests include educational leadership, transformational leadership, communities of practice, and the education of Romani people in Europe.
Kahlila Lawrence – Instructor
Dr. Kahlila Lawrence joins the College of Education as an instructor in the School Psychology Program. She previously served at USF as an adjunct instructor in the program. Dr. Lawrence has experience coordinating professional learning opportunities for Title 1 Elementary, Middle, and High Schools, and she is passionate about supporting students and empowering educators to live well physically, mentally and emotionally.
Stacy-Ann January – Assistant Professor
Dr. January joins the College of Education as an assistant professor in the School Psychology Program. After earning her Ph.D, she completed a 2-year postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Prior to joining USF, Dr. January served as an assistant professor at the University of South Carolina. Her research interests include prevention within multi-tiered systems of supports and/or problem-solving frameworks, and how to improve data-informed decision making in schools and identify evidence-based interventions that target children's academic and/or social/behavioral skills.
Meghan Odsliv Bratkovich – Assistant Professor
Dr. Odsliv Bratkovich join the College of Education as an assistant professor in the Foreign Language Education Program. She earned her Ph.D. in Teacher Education and Teacher Development from Montclair State University in May. Dr. Odsliv Bratkovich has teaching experience in various countries, including Indonesia, Romania, and the Dominican Republic. Her research interests include preparing mainstream teachers for educating English language learners, second language assessment and formative assessment practices.
Oscar L. Olvera Astivia – Assistant Professor
Dr. Olvera Astivia joins the College of Education as an assistant professor in the Educational Measurement and Research Program. He previously served as a postdoctoral research fellow in the School of Population and Public Healthat The University of British Columbia in Canada. His areas of expertise include structural equation modelling, linear mixed models, item response theory, Bayesian inference methods, and copula distributions.
Alexandra Panos – Assistant Professor
Dr. Panos joins the College of Education as an assistant professor in the Literacy Studies Program. Prior to joining USF, she served as an assistant professor of elementary literacy at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Dr. Panos’s research interests include media literacy, childrens' literature, spatial and geographic practices of education, and the complex interdependencies of schools and their communities.
Patriann Smith – Assistant Professor
Dr. Smith joins the College of Education as an assistant professor in the Literacy Studies Program. Prior to joining USF, she served as an assistant professor of language, diversity and literacy studies at Texas Tech University. Dr. Smith’s research examines the ways that language and cultural differences function across contexts and cultures to impact literacy teaching and learning. Additionally, her work examines the cross-cultural and cross-linguistic challenges faced by Black Caribbean immigrant adolescents and educators and explores how literacy curriculum can be adapted to support these individuals in U.S. educational systems.
The College of Education is pleased to also welcome a new visiting faculty member for the 2019-20 academic year:
- Denise Chenoweth – Visiting Instructor, Mathematics Education