Service to RIT
2023
UNIVERSITY
Appointed to Faculty Senate.
Appointed to Curriculum Committee.
Appointed to NASAD Steering Committee.
Helped Josh Owen, Vignelli center organize speakers and events, specifically Debbie Millman.
SCHOOL/COLLEGE
Spoke in Clay Patrick McBride’s photo class re: branding.
Attended Women Leadership Conference, RIT (invited).
Was invited by student (Serina Lin) as her mentor for the Outstanding Student Award.
PROGRAM
Hosted After Effects workshop.
Hosted 2-day workshop with Associate Professor and Program Chair Carol Fillip to help students with ongoing project.
2022
UNIVERSITY
Member of the DEIJ subcommittee
Represented RIT at the a2ru conference in Ann Arbor Michigan, Panelist at conference.
Editor for new publication for a2ru, “Traditions Innovations”.
Serving as a reviewer of T/AD proposals for monetary awards.
SCHOOL/COLLEGE
Met with Josh Owen of the Vignelli Center for Design Studies weekly throughout the year to discuss promoting the Vignelli Center
Provost’s T/A/D (Technology/Art/ Design) New Course Development Award for 2022 Review Committee. Worked with other committee members to choose award recipients.
Co-chair of search committee for Motion Position
Creative director of CAD Elevate brochure all summer and fall
Appointed to the editorial board of Tradition Innovations
NPD Rochester
Guest lecturer in Clay Patrick McBride’s class
Serving as a member of Industrial Design lecturer search committee.
PROGRAM
Open House for accepted Students
Guest critique in Nancy Bernardo’s Motion II class
Pearl Academy (INDIA). Co-taught a class of Pearl students with Associate Professor/Program Chair Carol Fillip for 8 weeks. We had some of our Graphic Design students serve as guests in the class to offer feedback to the students in India.
Ran four sessions for College and Careers for Graphic Design; 61, 50, 40, and 27 students in each of the four sessions.
Helped out at Academic Day
Design Week organizer. Organized 5 days of speakers, demonstrations, and lectures.
Headed the open house for Graphic Design
Saw 5 students at Connect and Critique
Organized over 250 portfolio reviews over 5 days as part of Professional Practices with various leaders from the industry
2021
UNIVERSITY
Serving on T/A/D committee (Technology, the Arts, and Design)
Met weekly with the T/A/D committee, to discuss and formulate the criteria for T/A/D sponsored activities within the RIT community. Invited by Provost Ellen Granberg to be on a small committee that will review T/A/D proposals, to qualify for possible funding.
Serving on DEIJ (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice) Subcommittee for Faculty/Staff Recruitment, Retention and Development. Bring awareness of diversity on campus and to encourage implementation of diversity in teaching, in addition to hiring.
COLLEGE/SCHOOL
Command g Design Lab: Worked with Program Director/Associate Professor Carol Fillip and Professor Lorrie Frear to facilitate the oversee Command g Design Lab, our student-run design studio. We worked with clients and students, meeting weekly (even throughout the summer) to complete projects for clients.
Vignelli Research Case Study Book: Working with Josh Owen and the Vignelli Center for Design on creating a template for research projects completed through the Vignelli Center. This book is a print-on-demand book, and will create a library of research projects.
PROGRAM
Graphic Design Accepted Student Open House; Helped Program Director host open house; Presented to students and parents
Guest speaker for Graphic Design Club: How to Code your Own Online Portfolio
Keuka College Program Audit; I was asked by Keuka College to consult with the Art Department and the Communications Department to advise them on the formation of a new program, to combine their Graphic Design concentration with their Communications program, Visual Communication Design. I did extensive interviews with faculty from Art, Communications, Business, and English. I proceeded to write an audit of the existing programs and how the new program would fit in with their current offerings.
Hosted College and Careers (2 sessions). Showed high school students what Graphic Design is and what we do in our program
Student Orientation
Graphic Design Open House
cRITique: performed 5 high school portfolio critiques and gave feedback, and accepted some students into the Graphic Design Program.
After Effects Bootcamp. Along with Associate Professor Nancy Bernardo two days of an After Effects Bootcamp for students who wanted a refresher of After Effects.
Eureka! Helped Professor Lorrie Frear facilitate the Eureka! presentations. This multi-disciplinary project had students from across campus working together to brainstorm solutions to help the Washington Grove project.
Guest Critic for Casey Pérez’ class
Brought in 30+ portfolio reviewers for Zoom portfolio reviews. Scheduled over 150 reviews over 4 days. Many of the reviewers were alumni, and we had representation from companies such as Adobe, Buzzfeed, SalesForce, ThreeSpot, ChaseDesign, and Ogilvy, just to name a few.
2020
UNIVERSITY
Future of Faculty Ad-Hoc Committee
Collaborative project with Amelia Hugill-Fontanel and Steven Galbraith from the Cary Graphic Arts Collection and the Graphic Design Archive. GRDE 422 (Interactive III) students worked with Ms. Hugill-Fontanel and Mr. Galbraith to design the space around the Graphic Design Archive and to feature an interactive component to let students and researchers view the contents of the archive.
Fall 2020 Collaborative project with Shani Anvi, the Ismar David Visiting Assistant Curator, Amelia Hugill-Fontanel, and Steven Galbraith from the Cary Graphic Arts Collection and the Graphic Design Archive. GRDE 422 (Interactive III) students created interactive solutions to Ms. Anvi’s research into the Graphic Design Archives.
COLLEGE/SCHOOL
Cincinnati, Illinois. Attended the a2ru (The Alliance for the Arts in Research
Universities) Student Summit: Social Injustice. Accompanied by two students (3rd year Lily Garnaat and 2nd year Lauren Tompkins).
Assisted College of Art and Design marketing department to create an ad for the Rochester Advertising Federation ADDY awards.
Served as a moderator on a panel of alumni for Creative Industry Day.
Portfolio reviews (7 hours) for Graphic Design, New Media, and Visual Communication Design (MFA) majors for the Career Services’ office.
Serving on the Vignelli Council
Faculty mentor for Command+g design lab. Run and maintain student-run design
studio. Responsible for finding clients, overseeing student work, facilitating client meetings
PROGRAM
Responsible for keeping the Graphic Design social media accounts updated. I have been keeping the social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) along with the newly designed Graphic Design website that I created for the fall Capstone show, updated with relevant information, events and images from the Graphic Design program.
Member of the Graphic Design Curriculum committee. Have rewritten course descriptions for three Interactive classes (GRDE 207 Interactive Design I, 302 Interactive Design II, and 422 Interactive Design III). Have also rewritten the course description for Motion Graphics (GRDE 107) and have developed curriculum for a new course offering: Motion Graphics II.
Guest critic in Casey Kelly’s Capstone class.
Host of four College and Careers sessions for the Graphic Design program.
Started the Monday MashUp with Associate Professor and Program Chair Carol Fillip and Professor Lorrie Frear. This bi-weekly Zoom meet up is for graphic design students to connect and learn about various topics, such as typography, portfolios, job searching, and the design industry.
Independent Study, Trista Finch, Research into the UX Process.
(post-lockdown)
Created the Weekly Design Challenge on Instagram, #ritgdchallenge2020 for students to stay creative during the COVID crisis.
PUSH. Week-long design blitz, with guest artist, Kelli Anderson. Assisted Associate Professor Nancy Bernardo with the organization of the event.
2019
UNIVERSITY
Future of Faculty Ad-Hoc Committee (February 2019)
Attended weekly meetings with the committee. We have been responsible for compiling the results from a University-wide survey regarding scholarship to present to Provost and to the Academic Senate. We will be presenting our final findings this spring.
Judge for overall design/UI for RIT BrickHack IV, RIT’s premier collegiate hackathon devoted to bringing 600 designers, developers, and all sorts of makers together for 24 hours to create innovative projects. 40 schools – 590 hackers – 24 hours.
COLLEGE/SCHOOL
Held weekly meetings with Chris Jackson, Kat Bassney, and 4 graphic design students (Erica Boyd, Trista Finch, Shannon O’Grady, Morsal Sahar) on the formation of command+g Design Lab (cmd+g), a faculty-led, student-run graphic design business. We have gone through the steps of business formation, from business plan development to client work. Command g clients: Inclusivity, Inc., Cyma Furniture Design, Mr. Grey’s Strays, Reach CNY, Tommy DeCarlo, Noy Cohen Events, Big Springs Museum, Strive to Thrive, Artists Unlimited, Simone Center.
Met with Associate Professor Nancy Bernardo (graphic design), Assistant Professor Gary Jacobs and Lecturer Phil Szrama (3D) about teaching a summer, credit-bearing (CTLE) program to high school art teachers.
Guest lecturer in Lecturer Alicia Ross’ Graphical Interface Design class (NM111 class). Lecture consisted of a presentation on affinity mapping and an in-class exercise.
Two students (Olivia Saunders and Regina Bush) from the User Research workshop I gave in November 2018 competed in Tiger Tank. They competed with the project we started during the working, an application concept for college students to take a gap year. They made it through the first round of judging.
Became thesis advisor for Meghan Lewis (VCD) My Doula, an interactive app for women to use who are dealing with postpartum depression.
Became thesis mentor for Devon Watters, as she pursued her Masters of Science through School of Individualized Study.
Guest critic for Alicia Ross’ NM111 class
Working with College of Art and Design Dean Todd Jokl and Professor Carole Woodlock (SPAS) on the a2ru initiative. The a2ru mission: The Alliance for the Arts in Research Universities (a2ru) fosters and champions the role of the arts and design in research universities. Underpinned by research and synthesis, our mission is connected knowledge and empowered leadership—to uphold and advance the arts and design in research, teaching, scholarship, and creative practice. Carole attended the fall conference, and I will be attending the February 2020 conference with students.
Digital Design Master Class with graphic design Associate Professor Nancy Bernardo, 3D digital design Assistant Professor Gary Jacobs, 3D digital design Lecturer Phil Szrama, teaching After Effects and Maya 3D software, along with giving ideas for possible class projects. This program was taught in the Magic Spell Studios. The attendees gave us very positive feedback, and we have plans to do this again in 2020. https://www.rit.edu/news/regional-art-teachers-take-faculty-led-design-master-class
PROGRAM
I have been responsible for keeping the Graphic Design social media accounts updated. I have been keeping the social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) along with the graphic design blog updated with relevant information, events and images from the Graphic Design program.
Member of Graphic Design Program Curriculum Committee.
Rewrote class descriptions for motion design and three interactive design classes; also proofread the other graphic design class descriptions that went into effect Fall 2019. We continue to meet to keep improving the graphic design offerings.
Served on the Vignelli Council for the fall semester.
PUSH. The PUSH workshop, for second- and third-year graphic design students was an exploratory experience that emphasized having fun and experimenting as creatives. I sat in on student meetings with Amber Vittoria and helped with the set-up and documentation of final presentations.
Guest critic for Graphic Design Associate Professor Deborah Beardslee’s Experiential Design class.
Introduced Dr. Brian Justice, Medical Director, Pathway Development and Spine Care Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, and Dr. Marcia Spoto, PT, DC, OCS, Professor Emerita, Nazareth College of Rochester, President: STAR Physical Therapy, to GRDE 422 Advanced Interactive Media to collaborate on an interactive application regarding back injury and the workplace. They are looking for an app to give to various corporations across the country.
Curators Amelia Hugill-Fontanel, and Steven Galbraith from the Cary Graphic Arts Collection were guest critics in GRDE 422 Advanced Interactive Design. The class created interactive solutions to increase traffic to the Cary Library.
Facilitated open house for accepted students in the graphic design program.
GRDE 422 Advanced Interactive Media class presented their interactive solutions for the Cary Collection at Imagine RIT, to increase traffic to the Collection in the Wallace Library.
Worked on grant from NCMIC. Supervised a team of 5 graphic design students (Justin Pallini, Savannah Clemens, Trista Finch, Janine Bushey) and one Video game and Development student (Joe Aquiere).
I was tasked with hiring all of the students, posting jobs on Handshake, and doing all of the payroll signoffs. I oversaw implementation of the grant, advised the working students, oversaw UX research, directed UI design and coordinated with the client. Kept track of budget and expenses.
• Met with the clients throughout the summer
• Complete research and process work throughout the summer and fall
• Assigned tasks to various students
• Prototyping of application, through different iterations
• Prototype testing, various rounds
• In October, we presented to 30+ people in person and online at Excellus BC/BS
Independent study advisor for Michelle Kim
Independent study advisor for Savannah Clemens
Worked with Associate Professor and Graphic Design Program Chair Carol Fillip on Design Your Future. We hosted 8 students for a 3-hour workshop, where the students designed their own logo in Adobe illustrator. Using web development software, they were able to create a portfolio website. Also participated in portfolio reviews
Participated in Open House, performed multiple portfolio reviews.
Brick City Homecoming. Projection mapping of RIT logos and generative art (created in Processing) on the Wallace Library as part of the PLIG grant I received, with Professor Marla Schweppe and Associate Professor Nancy Bernardo.
Portfolio reviewer for Thought at Work. Gave portfolio reviews to students from RIT and other schools.
Served as a judge for EUREKA!, Invited by Professor Lorrie Frear, the creator of the event.
National Portfolio Day reviewer, RIT. Reviewed students’ portfolios and discussed the graphic design program with students.
Met with students and families, one-on-one to review portfolios and discuss the graphic design program
2018
UNIVERSITY
Presented with Professor Chris Jackson, Associate Dean of the College of Art and Design, at the Graduate Symposium on how to create successful PowerPoint presentations and display posters to the selected graduate students.
Working with Brian Justice, Medical Director of Excellus Blue Cross/Blue Shield on the creation of a mobile application; possible collaboration through Magic Spell Studios (met with both Professor David Long, Director of RIT’s Center for Media, Arts, Games, Interaction and Creativity and MAGIC Spell Studios and Professor Adam Smith, Program Chair of the New Media Design and Visual Communication Design programs).
COLLEGE/SCHOOL
Attended Vignelli Speaker series and took photos for the Graphic Design social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram).
Nominated by Professor Peter Byrne, School of Design School Director, to participate in the School of Design School Support Initiative.
Assisted Professor and 3D Digital Design program director Marla Schweppe with the projection mapping project in the Kodak Quad for the FRAM event. This project showcased student work.
Oversaw students during the FRAM tabling event.
Met with Marc Peterson, Head Winemaker, of Ventosa Vineyards regarding a collaboration on a project with my Advanced Interactive Media and Web Design (GRDE 422) class to create augmented reality wine labels and promotional materials.
PROGRAM
Assisted Graphic Design Professor Lorrie Frear with Eureka!. Helped organize food supplies. Attended final ceremony and took photos for social media campaigns.
Developed and facilitated a 2-day workshop “Building a Mobile App with Guerrilla User Research” with Jim Parrillo, UX designer at REDCOM, Inc and adjunct instructor in graphic design program; student attendees are interested in continuing with the app project and are meeting with Dana Wolcott at the Student Innovation Center about becoming involved in the student incubator and presenting at Tiger Tank.
Met with Graphic Design students Trista Finch, Erica Boyd, Marsal Sahar, and Shannon O’Grady to mentor in the creation of a women’s graphic design group, cmd+g. Met with Graphic Design students Trista Finch, Erica Boyd, Marsal Sahar, and Shannon O’Grady to mentor and advise in the creation of a student-run design firm.
Met with Kat Bassney, Director of Development for the College of Art and Design, to discuss the formation of women’s design group and the possibility of obtaining seed money. This would segue into the student-managed design firm.
Met with Gretchen Burruto, Associate Director for Digital Communications, regarding a project with Brian Justice and Excellus to develop an application for employees at large corporations to learn about back problems, and how this can benefit students, either as a co-op or internship. I also discussed the logistics of forming the student-run design firm.