Elisa M. Giordano, PhD

• Center for Academic Success and Advising (CASA, Notable Successes
• Increased first to second year retention rate for the 2018 CASA student cohort 18%
• Through the CASA academic success coaching programming, contributed to an overall University retention rate increase of 3% for two consecutive years, in 2018 and 2019
• Expanded the CASA academic success coaching program each year since its pilot year
• The 2018 pilot year housed three coaches serving approximately 140 students
• For 2019, two more coaches were added to the team serving approximately 250 students to be followed by the addition of another two coaches for 2020 who served approximately 340 students
• Three new coaches were added for the 2021 year bringing the total number of coaches to 10 with approximately 500 first-time, first-year students being served
• Strategic Administration and Collaborative Leadership
• Consulting with Provost, Vice Presidents, Associate Vice Provosts, Deans, Faculty, Staff, and Students to ensure the academic support and advising needs of students are being met
• Provides leadership in meeting the goals of the Center through an innovative, challenging, and diverse array of writing, mathematics, reading, time management, study and test-taking skills support services
• Working effectively with Admissions and Recruitment and Student Affairs staff in planning and participating in new student orientation and first-year student events
• Participating in the development and implementation of the strategic enrollment plan for the University
• Collaborating with appropriate University personnel to create encompassing program policies and procedures that affect student academic success and first-year student retention
• Strategic management, oversight and ongoing process monitoring of the academic success and retention of first-year students in the first-year advising and academic success coaching program
• Monitors academic progress for all first-year students enrolled in the University and collaborate with faculty and other appropriate University personnel for intervention with at-risk students
• Initiate effective programing to meet the academic needs of first-year students
• Collaborating with University constituents on the development of processes and procedures for academic success skills and first-year student and academic success programmatic assessment
• Serving on the University Undergraduate Studies Council and maintains compliance with regional (SACS) accreditation standards for all units within the Center for Academic Success and Advising
• Serving on the University Student Success Committee to participate in the strategic, ongoing collaboration with committee members in examining issues and challenges of student retention and persistence to graduation; formulating student retention strategies; executing actions; and, assessing the results of retention related initiatives, policies, and programing
• Engaging in University service through collaboration with education institutions and professional organizations for development; participating in recruiting, enrollment, and retention events
• Serving on various University committees and councils to participate in University-wide planning, implementation, and evaluation of student support services and campus policies and procedures impacting and related to student success and retention
• Coordinating and supporting student groups and organizations providing collaboration of co-curricular programs and student activities supporting student academic success
• Assessment
• Developing and implementing assessment strategies for continuous quality improvement: Maintaining, analyzing, evaluating, and interpreting data to identify opportunities for growth and improvement, and develop strategies to advance academic achievement and student success; utilizing data to assess the effectiveness of academic and support services, and developing departmental and personnel goals that align with the University’s strategic agenda
• Completing quarterly reports and an annual report on all Center for Academic Success and Advising services and assessment and any additional ad-hoc reports that are deemed necessary
• Submits all reports and evaluations in a timely manner
• Conducting systematic and regular reviews of the various components of the Center for Academic Success and Advising
• Supervising maintenance of data collection/record-keeping systems and assessment systems to demonstrate and present on program progress
• Researches and makes recommendations for appropriate tools to meet programmatic outcomes
• Curriculum and Programming
• Coordinating and developing and monitoring and evaluating the implementation of support services and programming for academic readiness
• Continually identifying new and innovative means by which the University can both streamline existing advising and student engagement functions and increase overall student success
• Creating communication strategies to educate personnel on promoting CASA and all its services available to Barry University students through strategic and comprehensive marketing and recruitment efforts and perform other duties as assigned
• During peak enrollment periods, directly work with students on campus in advising, coaching and student engagement offices
• Management
• Managing the CASA budget which includes the Glenn Hubert Learning Center and the Academic Success Center; providing guidance for budget preparation for student engagement and advising functional areas; and, in collaboration with appropriate University personnel, identifying and securing funding and resource development opportunities to support and expand programmatic offerings
• Manage the recruitment, hiring, training, evaluating, supervision and ongoing professional development of staff involved in all aspects of the Center for Academic Success and Advising programing
• Supervise the management of the Glenn Hubert Learning Center and the Testing Center and policies, practices, and programming related to tutoring, academic support services, placement, and challenge testing for all Barry University students.

Teach Doctoral courses in the School of Education

• Curriculum Analysis
• Dissertation Seminar

Serve as dissertation committee Chairperson for doctoral candidates

Serve as Methodologist and Content Member on dissertation committees for doctoral candidates

• Learning and, Administration and Management
• Provide leadership, administration, and assessment of developmental education programs including developmental courses, supplemental instruction, tutorial programs, and academic success programming
• Collaborate with leadership of university academic units to provide customized academic support programming for students at all levels
• Manage the university placement testing center and policies and practices related to testing
• Collaborate with the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, the Associate Vice President for Recruitment and Admissions, the Director of the Center for Student Involvement, the Coordinator of First-Year Experience and Orientation, the Department Chairpersons of Mathematics and Computer Science, English and Foreign Languages, and Physical Sciences, and the Directors of First-Year Writing and Developmental Math, to plan and implement university-wide placement testing policies and practices
• Direct the Center for Advanced Learning (CAL) program
• Coordinate the MAT-090 developmental math program to include the hiring, supervising, mentoring, and evaluating of program faculty and developing, implementing, and evaluating the program curriculum and assessments
• Hire, supervise, and mentor 40+ full-time and part-time instructional and support staff in the Learning Center which include part-time employees in the Writing Center, the Reading Center, the Mathematics Laboratory, and the Center for Advanced Learning, full-time faculty and staff including the Coordinator of Developmental English, the Coordinator of the Writing and Reading Centers, the Coordinator of Developmental Reading, the Assistant Director of the Mathematics Laboratory, the university Academic STEM coach, and the Learning Center Administrative Specialist
• Provide recommendations to the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences regarding Learning Center budgetary items and work within the parameters of the approved Learning Center budget for the current fiscal year
• Collect and analyze data each semester from developmental coursework and academic support services
• Collect and analyze data related to university placement testing and new, incoming student course placement
• Curriculum and Assessment
• Work collaboratively with Academic Department Chairs, Program Directors, and Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences to coordinate developmental education content and academic success strategies with college-level gateway courses
• Use data and evidence-based approaches to plan and deliver developmental education support services to drive program and policy decisions and assess outcomes
• Student Support
• Provide general and specific advising and academic guidance to undergraduate and graduate students from programs and departments across the university
• Develop and deliver presentations to provide essential information on university academic success programming and support services to:
• Parents of new undergraduate students
• New undergraduate students
• New students in various graduate professional programs (e.g
• Anesthesiology DNP, Occupational Therapy MS, etc.)
• Faculty and Staff Support
• Provide general and specific academic-related information, guidance, interventions, and support to faculty and staff in programs and departments across the university
• Committee and Task Force Responsibilities
• Serve as a member of the Curriculum and Policy Committee of the College of Arts and Sciences
• Serve as a member of the University New Student Orientation Committee
• Serve as a member of New Student Orientation Academics subcommittee
• Serve as a member of the University Mapworks Committee
• Serve as a member of the University Professional Advising Task Force

• Academic Advising and General Studies, Undecided Programs

• Teach Developmental English, ENG-095
• Teach Developmental Reading, SI-010
• Serve as an academic advisor to 75-100 General Studies and Undecided students in the College of Arts and Sciences
• Develop and hold staff development workshops on Academic Advising for new Academic Advisors to the University
• Develop and hold student orientation workshops on Academic responsibilities, guidelines, tips, etc
• For new undergraduate students to the University
• Conduct degree audit and graduation verification for the College of Arts and Sciences

• Assessed literacy needs of school by reviewing student data and current curriculum.
• Conducted ongoing evaluations of literacy improvement action and communicated results to teachers and administrators.
• Guided teachers to collect and analyze data and developed action plans in response to determined student needs.
• Provided planned objectives and instruction for struggling secondary readers.

• Administration and Management
• Leadership and Administrative Duties
• Coordinate instructional programs and materials and monitor department function to determine problems and needs and implement curricular improvements
• Conduct classroom observations of teachers implementing reading instructional strategies and determine effectiveness in addressing the needs of struggling learners
• Serve as instructional liaison between department employees and school administration and with all county levels; participate in formulating policy and procedures relating to curriculum
• Assist the Principal in evaluating effectiveness of employee performance in terms of meeting the needs of struggling learners in Reading
• Assist the Principal in developing the department budget, purchasing and disseminating materials and supplies and maintaining an inventory
• Coordinate Reading placement and scheduling of students and effective scheduling of teachers in compliance with accreditation standards and county policies
• Assist the Principal in interviewing teacher candidates for vacant Reading and instructional positions Professional Development
• Professional development for all content-areas and school stakeholders
• Coordinate, develop and conduct various workshops and professional development sessions focusing on the integration of intervention strategies and instructional practices to best meet the needs of diverse and struggling learners
• Coordinate, develop and conduct various workshops and professional development activities focusing on career and college readiness data analysis, standards, curricula, and best practices
• Coordinate, develop and conduct various workshops and professional development activities focusing on analyzing data and using data to inform instruction
• Develop and conduct presentations and trainings for school leadership team on Reading interventions, instructional strategies for at-risk learners, assessment, data review, and District, State, and National curricular and assessment changes Curriculum and Assessment
• Curriculum and program development for all content-areas
• Develop instructional focus calendars, curriculum maps, lesson plans, curricular materials, instructional materials, and teaching guides for all Reading classes
• Conduct student focus groups gathering qualitative data to better the Reading programs and initiatives that support at-risk learners
• Examine and introduce instructional and professional material to address areas of need and/or improvement, and provide training accordingly
• Supervise and monitor implementation of curriculum
• Facilitate best-practice and strategy sharing and weekly common planning with Reading department
• Develop and conduct presentations to district personnel, feeder school representatives, parents and community members on the school’s Reading program and curriculum development and implementation, testing and assessment
• Assessment and data monitoring and evaluation
• Evaluate school assessment data and provide analysis, recommendations, and action plans to school and district leadership
• Evaluate student assessment data and provide feedback to teachers for follow-up support
• Guide and support teachers in gathering, analyzing, and evaluating student qualitative and quantitative data related to Reading to inform instruction
• Coordinate and facilitate state and district Reading assessments
• Conduct ongoing progress monitoring of student formative and summative assessment data to inform instruction Student Support
• Support and interventions for at-risk learners
• Conduct Reading push-in, pull-out, small group and mentoring support for at-risk and struggling learners
• Student mentoring
• Mentor “graduation at-risk” students to help with registration and preparation of college placement tests such as ACT, post-secondary plans, and career and college readiness
• Conduct ongoing student data chats with at-risk learners to help with goal-setting, academic plans, and post-secondary options Teacher Support
• Instructional support for teachers across all content-areas
• Model reading instructional strategies in classrooms
• Develop alternative programs for at-risk and struggling learners
• Team-teach with colleagues targeting at-risk and struggling learners
• Provide feedback, support, and mentoring for teachers to better meet the needs of struggling and diverse learners
• Notable Successes
• School Grades
• After the 2008 academic year, the school grade/rating improved from a ‘D’ to a ‘C’
• After three years of maintain a ‘C’ rating, the school grade increased to an ‘A’ in 2012, to editor of the Ed-Link, a School of Education publication.

• Taught Intensive Reading classes for 6th through 12th grade students
• Teach students at various reading levels, ESOL students, and students with exceptionalities
• Taught Intensive Reading and Critical Thinking/Study Skills classes for 10th-12th grade at-risk students
• Conducted workshop sessions for other departments focusing on incorporating reading strategies and Florida benchmarks in the content areas