New faculty and staff are ready to tackle Decker College growth
Mario Ortiz joined Binghamton University in 2016 as dean of the Decker School of Nursing. A year later he announced plans for the expansion of the school into a college with additional academic programming in the areas of rehabilitation sciences and health sciences.
Just five years later, the Decker School of Nursing is now Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences. The college makes its home in a 113,000-square-foot renovated factory on the University’s Health Sciences Campus in Johnson City, N.Y. Applications to launch graduate programs in occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech language pathology are in various stages of review with the New York State Education Department, the State University of New York and other agencies. And, additional programs and minors are in development.
To help the college take on new programs while continuing to deliver high-quality educational experiences to its students, Decker College welcomed 25 new faculty and staff over the past several months. Also, the appointments of five other faculty members were altered to meet current needs.
“I’m pleased to welcome such a diverse and talented group of practitioners, researchers, scholars and professionals to Decker College,” Ortiz said. “I look forward to working with each and every one of them in the coming years and am excited to see their contributions to Binghamton University and the community.”
New faculty members
- Matthew Bowman, clinical assistant professor, Division of Physical Therapy
- Dara Caruana ’99, clinical instructor, Division of Speech and Language Pathology
- Tina Caswell, clinical assistant professor, Division of Speech and Language Pathology
- Alex Chase-Levenson, associate professor, Division of Public Health (joint appointment with Harpur College of Arts and Sciences)
- Cody Dew, clinical instructor, Division of Speech and Language Pathology
- Annmarie Flanagan, clinical assistant professor, Division of Nursing
- Debra Gates, clinical assistant professor, Division of Nursing
- Elyse Kay, academic fieldwork coordinator and clinical assistant, Division of Occupational Therapy
- Seungmin Lee, assistant professor, Division of Health and Wellness Studies
- Vipul Lugade, associate professor, Division of Physical Therapy, and director, Motion Analysis Research Laboratory
- Thomas Komor, clinical assistant professor, Division of Physical Therapy
- Gauri MacDonald, clinical assistant professor, Division of Physical Therapy
- Kara Nunn, clinical instructor, Division of Speech and Language Pathology
- Suzanne O’Brien, associate professor, Division of Physical Therapy
- Brian Rooney, clinical assistant professor, Division of Physical Therapy
- Gurpreet Singh, assistant professor, Division of Physical Therapy
- Adam Strizak, clinical assistant professor, Division of Physical Therapy
- Nicholas Terela ’10, ’11, MS ’15, cert ’16, clinical assistant professor, Division of Nursing
- Sundeepkumar Venkatesan, clinical instructor, Division of Speech and Language Pathology
- Molly Welch, clinical assistant professor, Division of Nursing
New staff members
- Ben Balkaya, MBA ’03, assistant dean of finance, Dean’s Office
- Erin Cavanagh, administrative assistant, Dean’s Office
- Amber Cloke, academic advisor, Division of Advising and Academic Excellence
- Connor Deming, administrative assistant, Division of Public Health/Division of Speech and Language Pathology
- Kim Maus, office assistant, Dean’s Office
- Carly Miller, advising assistant, Division of Advising and Academic Excellence
- Allyson Pratt, administrative assistant, Division of Occupational Therapy/Division of Physical Therapy
Faculty with altered appointments
- Mi Jin Doe ’09, MS ’13, PhD ’20, assistant professor, Division of Nursing; she was formerly a visiting assistant professor
- Jodi Dowthwaite, research assistant professor, Division of Public Health; she now has a joint appointment with the First-year Research Immersion program
- John Fletcher ’92, lecturer, Division of Health and Wellness Studies; he was formerly an adjunct for this division
- Matthew Gawors ’10, MBA ’12, lecturer, Division of Health and Wellness Studies; he was formerly an adjunct for this division
- Miesha Marzell, associate professor, Division of Public Health; she formerly held a joint appointment with the College of Community and Public Affairs