LCC Faculty and Staff
Administrators:
| Joy Tesh, Director: Joy Tesh brings twenty-five years' experience in the LCC to her new position as Director. She was a teacher in the Intensive English Program for seven years and then served as Associate Director for eighteen years. She received a BA in English and Education from Mars Hill College in North Carolina and an M. Ed. from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her love of working with international students began years ago when she served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Liberia, West Africa. Her main research interests are professional standards and program administration. | |
| Sandy Hartmann, Associate Director: Sandy Hartmann was born in southern New Jersey. She received her M. A. in Applied English Linguistics from the University of Houston. She has taught ESL in local programs and English composition for nonnative speakers at the University. Her interests include ESL language assessment and historical linguistics. She speaks French and has traveled extensively in France. | |
| Dave L. Burns, International Student Counselor: Dave Burns comes from the state of Kentucky where he received a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Louisville. His M.A. is in clinical psychology from the University of Texas at El Paso. Dave has extensive experience in counseling and the planning and implementation of orientation programs. His research interests lie in the areas of communication and acculturation. | |
| Linda Mead, Analyst, Microsystems 2: Linda Mead, a Houstonian, received her B.A. in Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin. Teaching ESL in Mexico and Iran gave her the opportunity to travel extensively in Europe, the Middle East and Mexico. For over 20 years she has worked at the LCC, where her main interest has been the application of industry standards to the computerization of intensive English language programs. | |
| Elogia Benavides, Office Manager: Elogia Benavides is a native Texan hailing from Pettus in South Texas. She received a B.A. in Psychology from Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, and has worked with the University of Houston since 1985. | |
Program Manager:
| Jeanne Peine, Computer Assisted Language Learning Laboratory: Jeanne Peine grew up in Portland, Maine. She received her B.A. in English from the University of Vermont and her M.A.T. in ESL from Georgetown University. She also studied film and English literature in London, England. She has taught in intensive English, refugee and university credit programs and has worked with the Experiment in International Living in Dublin, Ireland. Jeanne is active in the TESOL organization (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) at both the local and international levels. | |
| Douglas Jones, Assessment and Special Projects: Doug Jones is a longtime resident of Texas. He received his B.A. in English Literature from Stephen F. Austin State University and his M.A. in Applied English Linguistics from the University of Houston. He also attended the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, where he completed the nine-month intensive course in the Thai language. He worked as a translator in the U.S. Navy and has taught ESL at several schools in the Houston area. | |
Teachers:
| Geneva Adams: Geneva Adams is originally from Somerset, Kentucky. She received her B.A. in English from the University of Louisville in Kentucky and her M.A. in Linguistics from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She has taught ESL at Red Rocks Community College in Colorado, the Community College of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, and Camden County College in New Jersey. She has studied Spanish and Arabic. Research interests include ESL writing and assessment. | |
| Mary Kathleen Barrera: Kitty Barrera, a native Texan, received two degrees from the University of Houston, including an M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction. She has also done graduate work in biblical studies. Her thirty-five years of experience have been with schools in Texas, Germany, and Suriname, teaching students at all levels. She has lived and traveled in Europe and South America and has studied Spanish. A special area of interest is the development and evaluation of ESL curriculum materials. | |
| Sandra Carrettin-Mulvany: Sandra Carrettin-Mulvany was born in Ohio and attended Lake Erie College, where she received a B.A. in fine arts and Italian. She received her M.A. in Italian language and literature from the University of California at Los Angeles. She studied Italian culture and theater on a Fulbright Scholarship at the University of Padua. Sandra has taught Italian and ESL in a variety of settings, both here and abroad, and has traveled extensively throughout Europe. She lived in Italy for three years and speaks fluent Italian. Her research interest is cross-cultural communication. | |
| Jenifer Edens: Jenifer grew up in East Texas and earned a B.A. in English and Spanish from Stephen F. Austin State University. Her graduate certificate in TESOL and M.Ed. are from the University of Texas in Arlington. To better understand the challenges that her students face while living in a foreign country, she spent a year and half teaching English in Guadalajara, Mexico. She is especially interested in the writing process. | |
| Velva N. Fallin: As a child, Velva traveled in the U.S. and Europe with her military family. When she finally settled in San Antonio, Texas, she finished her undergraduate degree and taught in the public schools there. After receiving her M.A. in Bilingual-Bicultural Studies from the University of Texas at San Antonio, she spent one year studying Chinese and four years teaching English at both a national university and a private school in northeast China. Velva enjoys teaching in an intensive English program and helping international students understand and enhance their cross-cultural experience in the U.S. | |
| Carole E. M. Franklin: Carole Franklin was born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland. She received her Certificate of Secondary Education in French and German from Jordanhill College of Education in Glasgow, her M.A. in French and German from the University of Glasgow, and her Ph.D. in applied linguistics from the University of Edinburgh. She has worked in various high schools in Glasgow teaching French and German, and at the Institute for Applied Language Studies at the University of Edinburgh teaching ESL/EFL. She has also taught EFL in France and Greece and ESL at the University of Iowa. Her research interest is cross cultural communication. | |
| Jerry Gamel: A native of Alabama, Jerry grew up in central Florida. He has a B.A. in English and an M.A. in Applied Linguistics from the University of South Florida, Tampa. He has taught English as a Foreign Language in Venezuela and English as a Second Language at Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Hillsborough Community College, and The University of Tampa. He speaks Spanish and has studied French. Research interests include second language acquisition and language teaching technology. | |
| Gursharan Kandola: Gursharan Kandola was born in Punjab, India. She was educated and raised in the United Kingdom. She received her B.Sc. (Honors) in Applied Chemistry from De Montfort University, Leicester, U.K. She moved to California in 1992, and received her M.A. in reading and language arts for linguistically and culturally diverse learners from California State University, Chico in California. She speaks Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi, and has traveled extensively worldwide, including Brunei, Canada, India, Malaysia, Singapore, and U.K. She has taught ESL, reading, chemistry, and Punjabi in various schools in Brunei, Malaysia and California. Her research interests include second language acquisition, brain research in learning languages, and speed reading for English language learners. | |
| Judith E. Kleeman: Judy Kleeman was born and raised in Houston. She received her B.A. in Psychology and her M.A. in Applied English Linguistics from the University of Houston. She worked for five years at the U.S. Cultural Center in Madrid, Spain, for eight years at the Houston Community College Refugee Program, and for three and a half years in the University of Houston Accelerated Learning Program. She speaks Spanish fluently. Her research focuses on ways of incorporating Accelerated Learning techniques in an Intensive English setting. | |
| Gregory Urquhart: Greg Urquhart was born and raised in Buffalo, New York. He has an M.A. in TESL from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poland. He is fluent in Polish, having spent four years in Poland teaching ESL (two of those years on a Fulbright Scholarship). He has taught at the LCC since 1977 and enjoys research on two-word verbs. |
