Joanne Benica is the Director of the Disabiltiy Services Center. Joanne's career in disability services started after she received her M.S. degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from the University of Arkansas, and she has worked in the field for over 20 years. She is passionate about working with students. Joanne enjoys developing strong collaborative partnerships with faculty and staff to improve access across campus and beyond.

Jane Thierfeld Brown is Assistant Clinical Professor at Yale Child Study, Yale Medical School, Director of College Autism Spectrum and former Director of Student Services at the University of Connecticut School of Law. She has worked in Disability Services for 39 years. She holds an Ed.D from Columbia University, Teachers College. Dr. Brown consults with many families, students, school districts and institutions of higher education. Dr. Brown has appeared on Good Morning America, CBS News and NPR. She has co- authored “Student with Asperger’s: A Guide for College Professionals,” (2009) “The Parent’s Guide to College for Students on the Autism Spectrum,” (2012) and “Behavior Management and Self-Regulation,” (2012) along with many textbook chapters and articles. Dr. Brown is married and has three children, the youngest being a 26 year old son with Autism.

Kristin Ciampa is an Academic Advisor at the University of Southern Maine, advising students in English, Political Science, Computer Science, Communication, Media Studies, Undeclared, and Technology majors. Kristin holds a M. Ed. from USM in Adult and Higher Education and completed her capstone work on advising students with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Kristin’s focus as an advisor is on building relationships, engaging students with authenticity, and helping students achieve their educational goals. Kristin is dedicated to holistic student development and neurodiversity in higher education.

Amy Coleman (she/her) is the Accommodations Coordinator for Student Accessibility Services (SAS) at the University of Maine. She has worked at the University in various roles dedicated to student service for almost three years, including the Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies department; The Rising Tide Center; and Financial Aid. Amy strives to combine the knowledge of her multiple roles to provide meaningful connections and resources for students. In her role in SAS she works to collaborate with students on creating academic accommodations, and with other departments to assist in creating more accessible content for the entire campus community. Amy will be graduating in May 2021 with a M.Ed. in Higher Education with a focus on marginalized student populations.

Mandi Gearhart is an Administrative Specialist for Student Accessibility Services (SAS) at the University of Maine. They have worked for SAS for six years as support staff producing accommodation letters for students and coordinating all exams with accommodations that are proctored by SAS. Additionally they help create accessible materials for students and act as the curator for posts to the SAS’s social media pages. They are an alumnus of the University of Maine Diversity Leadership Institute and a member of the LGBTQ+ and Allies Council at UMaine.

Diane Geyer is dually licensed as a Clinical Professional Counselor and an Alcohol and Drug Counselor. She is a clinician with University Health and Counseling and the Coordinator for Clinical Substance Use and Misuse Services at USM.

Diane received her undergraduate degree in Human Development and her Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology at Lesley University in Cambridge Massachusetts. Diane has been working in integrated care and co-occurring mental health and substance use services for many years.

Sarah Grinder, MOT, OTR/L, Lecturer, Occupational Therapy Department

Sarah is a pediatric occupational therapist with experience in early intervention, outpatient, and school-based settings. She has taught at USM for the past 6 years and is currently a PhD candidate at Nova Southeastern University. She loves learning about and talking about UDL!

Adrea Jaehnig is the Assistant Director of the Disability Services Center at USM. Adrea received her M.Ed. in Higher Education and Student Affairs Administration from the University of Vermont. She has held positions in Residence Life, LGBTQ student services, Disability Services, and Student Affairs. Adrea values working directly with students and establishing collaborations and connections with faculty and staff to create access for students with disabilities.

Liza Little, Psy.D., is a Clinical Psychologist and Nurse Clinical Specialist in Adult Psychiatric Mental Health and the Director of Counseling Services at USM. She received her Bachelor’s in Nursing and Zoology in 1977 from the University of Vermont and practiced as a nurse practitioner in women’s health care for seven years. During those years she started one of the first integrated practices at the Vermont Women’s Health Center where behavioral health services were integrated with reproductive services. She received her Master’s in Nursing at McGill University in 1982. Later she earned her Doctorate degree in Psychology at Antioch New England University in 1992.

Dr. Little moved to Maine in 2005 and served as the Associate Director of Residential Services at Spurwink Services in Portland Maine for five years and became the Senior Director of Behavioral Health Services for Southern Maine Health Care from 2010-2018. Dr. Little also started the Counseling Services program at York County Community College in Wells, Maine between 2014-2018.

Michael Matis is a Learning Designer with USM’s Center for Technology Enhanced Learning. His M.Ed. in Instructional Technology and background as an IT Professional have given him a broad skill-set in the integration of technology in education. As a student in USM's Public Policy & Education Leadership Ph. D. program, his doctoral research is investigating the efficacy of Universal Design for Learning in online learning environments.

Jordyn Waible is a senior Social and Behavioral Science major with a concentration in Early Childhood Studies and has a double minor in Disabilities and Educational Studies. Jordyn is from Massachusetts where she was born and raised, and is a graduate of the Central Catholic High School class of 2017. Jordyn is a work study on campus and held positions as Lead Ambassador for TRIO college programs and a peer mentor for the USM C.A.R.E Team within Student Affairs.

Sandra Wood, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Linguistics and the ASL Program Coordinator at the University of Southern Maine. Sandra teaches courses relating to ASL, ASL Linguistics, Linguistics, and Deaf culture. Sandra also teaches Women and Gender in the Deaf Community. An underlying theme in all of her courses is understanding how systemic oppression of Deaf people through audism, ableism, and linguicism contributes to a multitude of issues that Deaf people experience everyday, one in particular- language deprivation. Her research interests include syntactic structure of negation and wh-questions in American Sign Language, syntactic aspects of homesigned systems, and language creation to better understand how language in the human brain "works".