CETL Staff | Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning

Amit Savkar

Interim Associate Vice Provost CETL

(860) 487-0407
amit.savkar@uconn.edu

Amit provides unit-wide leadership for the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL), including thought leadership for the University’s online initiatives, teaching and learning initiatives, and online and blended programs. Amit is the also director of the Quantitative Learning Center. He supervises the educational operations of the Q Center - tutoring, workshops, review sessions, training programs - and provides feedback for academic departments across the university about their quantitative courses based on the visitor data gathered at the Q Center.

Daniel Facchinetti

Director of Educational Technologies

(860) 486-5799
daniel.facchinetti@uconn.edu

Dan oversees the operations of the Educational Technologies Office and leads support across the university on the use of HuskyCT, video conferencing, recording technologies, student response systems, and other educational technology platforms as part of teaching across all modalities. Dan also leads EdTech's involvement in the evaluation and implementation of new products and platforms that might benefit students and instructors.

Laurie McCarty

Executive Director of Faculty Development

laurie.mccarty@uconn.edu

Laurie coordinates faculty development efforts across the campus community, working closely with the faculty development team, CETL colleagues, and campus leaders. She is an experienced faculty member, educational developer, and higher education administrator whose career began in special education and teacher preparation. Her research interests include change leadership, educational development, and reflective practice. In her faculty and leadership roles, Laurie has engaged in efforts to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice while supporting faculty and staff in all aspects of their professional growth.

Lara Chiaverini

Director of Inclusive Excellence in STEM Teaching and Learning

lara.chiaverini@uconn.edu

Lara is co-appointed between CETL and the Vergnano Institute for Inclusion (VII) in the School of Engineering. In her role at CETL, she focuses on faculty development through Learning Communities and the co-creation of meaningful assessment of effective and inclusive practices. In her role at VII, she leads the Inclusive Excellence Program for Justice, Equity and Transformation (JET), and supports faculty in diversity and broadening participation efforts. .

Rachel Prunier

Director for Teaching and Learning in the Life and Physical Sciences
Lecturer in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

rachel.prunier@uconn.edu

Rachel is co-appointed between CETL and CLAS. In her role at CETL she focusses on helping graduate students and faculty teaching large courses to develop and refine their teaching practices to make their classes more inclusive. She is particularly passionate about supporting novice TAs and empowering them to lead active, student-centered classrooms. She also supports experienced graduate students and post-docs who are preparing for their teaching careers at UConn and beyond.

Jeff Winston

Director Nexus Student Success Platform

(860) 486-2801
jeffrey.winston@uconn.edu

Jeff is the architect of Nexus UConn’s student success platform. He provides operational support for Nexus, and works closely with the academic advising community at UConn to continually enhance the capabilities of Nexus for students and academic advisors. Jeff is responsible for the development and maintenance of applications related to data capturing, sharing, and analysis, in support of faculty and TA training programs (FINS) and university advising practice.

Ruth Kustoff

Director, Office of Continuing and Professional Education

(860) 486-2681

ruth.kustoff@uconn.edu

Ruth oversees noncredit professional development of UConn’s closed enrollment and MOOC programs. She leads the Office of Continuing and Professional Education, providing centralized support to existing continuing education and professional development programs, as well as developing new noncredit programs that include online short courses, webinars, podcasts, and upskilling and reskilling offerings to meet business’ workforce development needs.