Early College Educator Advisory Group

Pronouns: he/him/his
Title: Teacher and Adjunct Professor
Institution: Quinsigamond Community College
Subject Taught: English

Jonathan Boyar is entering his eighth year of teaching; this will be his fifth year at Burncoat Senior High School (BHS), where he has been teaching predominantly English Language Arts IV (Senior English) and English 101/102. This will be his fourth year teaching English 101 and 102 through the Early College High School program at BHS in partnership with Quinsigamond Community College. This will be his second year on the EAG. When not teaching, Jonathan loves spending time with his almost-three-year-old son and his wife, reading dystopias, or designing and building some new woodworking project in his garage (sometimes with the help of his math teacher friends).

Pronouns: she/her/hers
Title: Visiting Senior Instructor and Academic Advisor in the McKeown School of Education
Institution: Salem State University
Subjects taught: Psychology and education courses including Child Growth and Development, Childhood and Adolescence, Language and Literacy Development, Premise of School and Childcare, Teaching, Learning, and Assessment, Practicum Supervision in Elementary and Early Childhood, and Developmental College Reading

Rachel is a staff associate and visiting senior instructor in the McKeown School of Education at Salem State University where she has worked for 18 years in a variety of capacities. She directly supports students through her teaching and academic advising. In her current role, she uses data analytics and targeted interventions to identify strategies to help students reach their academic and career goals. She is the education “point person” for transfer students, and she is on the student support team for the School of Education. Prior to her role at Salem State, she was a faculty member at Middlesex Community College and she taught fifth grade in Lynn, MA. After a decade-long hiatus from teaching, Rachel is enjoying her return to the classroom teaching Early College, reconnecting with what she considers the most rewarding and impactful aspect of her career.

Pronouns: she/her/hers
Title: English Professor
Institution: Westfield State University
Subjects taught: Composition (all levels) and queer lit/theory

Jen joined WSU in 2005 and teaches all levels of composition and upper-division writing courses. She has taught comp for over 25 years and will probably continue to teach it for at least 20 more!! She started teaching a co-taught, year-long stretch Composition 101 class with a former student at Holyoke High School in 2018, and she loves this model of dual enrollment as it is mutually beneficial and provides students with more classroom support. She particularly enjoys working with students from under-represented populations and helping to turn them on to writing!

Pronouns: he/his/him
Title: Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Ethics
Institution: Framingham State University; MetroWest College Planning Collaborative
Subject taught: Ethics

Jason Happel is an itinerant lawyer and teacher in the MetroWest area, where he has embarrassingly deep roots (although he was born in New Mexico); he and his wife have one daughter in college and one in high school. His teaching career has focused on high school age student learning at Hebrew College, Brandeis University, and Framingham State University, following his start in community education programs for young men in Jamaica Plain at Bromley-Heath in the 1990s. Jason also teaches writing and legal reasoning at Massachusetts School of Law, leads weekly reading groups for adults engaged in lifelong learning, and will be field testing a new program on Constitutional law this Fall.

Pronouns: they/them/theirs
Title: Associate Professor; Coordinator of the Composition Program; Faculty Liaison, Early College Programs
Institutions: Westfield State University
Courses taught: Composition I and II; Critical Nonfiction Literacy

Wyatt Hermansen is an Associate Professor in the English Department at Westfield State University, where they also serve as the Coordinator of the Composition Program. They have been teaching Composition I in the Westfield Promise Early College Program for eight years; most of that time has been at Westfield High School, though they’ve also taught at Westfield Technical Academy, Springfield High School of Commerce, and Northampton High School. Wyatt loves teaching Early College courses and helping high school students grow into confident college writers. Along with colleagues Jen DiGrazia and Joe Courchesne, they have a forthcoming publication in Composition Studies about their experiences teaching in early college programs.

Pronouns: she/her/hers
Title: Early College Biology Fellow
Institution: Merrimack College
Course taught: Introduction to Biological Science

Lillian Holden is an Introduction to Biological Science instructor for the Early College Program at Merrimack College. She is an Emmanuel College and Boston University alumni, graduating in May of 2025 with a Master of Science in Biology with a Specialization in Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution. She has always been interested in learning how the world works and how organisms co-exist with one another. She has been a Massachusetts resident all her life and has two bunnies named Yogi and Priscilla.

Pronouns: she/her/hers
Title: Assistant Professor of English and ESOL Faculty Coordinator
Institution: Roxbury Community College
Courses taught: English Composition I & Academic English for Multilingual Students

Carly Martino is an English Professor and the ESOL Faculty Coordinator at Roxbury Community College (RCC). This will be her second-year teaching Early College classes at RCC. The Early College Program at RCC is geared toward English Language Learners and Multilingual students and provides a pathway to college-level coursework to students who wouldn’t otherwise qualify for Dual Enrollment programs. Through this program, Carly teaches Academic English for Multilingual Students and Composition I. She loves watching students build their confidence over the course of the semester and seeing their English Language skills develop over time. When she’s not teaching, she enjoys hiking with her dog, Parker, or traveling to other countries.

Pronouns: he/his/him
Institution: Bunker Hill Community College
Courses taught: Principles of Psychology; Principles of Sociology; Sociology of Race & Ethnicity (taught in Early College); HUM 120 (Learning Community Seminar); LC Cluster with American Literature; Sociology of the Family; Sociology of Organization

Carlos L. Maynard is a Professor of Sociology in the Behavioral Science Department at Bunker Hill Community College. He is an Afro-Latino Educator who advocates for equity, justice, and fairness in education and life. He is passionate about student success and has been actively involved in several Equity oriented initiatives at BHCC such as the Latinx Student Success Initiative (LSSI), the HOPE Initiative, and the Center for Equity and Cultural Wealth (CECW). He has been a faculty member of BHCC Early College Program since 2015.

Read more from Carlos: Reading List for Early College Educators: Using Culturally-Centered Pedagogy to Create a Successful Early College Experience

Pronouns: she/her/hers
Title: Academic Advising Coordinator for Pre-Professional Programs at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
Institution: University of Massachusetts Dartmouth & Commonwealth Collegiate Academy
Subject taught: Introduction to the Arts & Sciences

As Academic Advising Coordinator and faculty member at University of Massachusetts – Dartmouth, Jessica works with Pre-Law and Pre-med/health students in various majors as they progress through their undergraduate experience in pursuit of law school or a medical program of study. In addition, she works with students in all majors within the college and connects them to appropriate resources that support their academic and emotional development. Last Fall, she began partnering with Argosy Collegiate High School in Fall River and taught two semesters of CAS 103: Intro to the College of Arts & Sciences to Early College students. She had a wonderful experience and looks forward to the upcoming school year to teach again.

Pronouns: She/Her
Title: Assistant Professor of Practice, Department of Psychology
Institution: Merrimack College
Subjects: Psychology

I considers myself truly lucky to have served in a variety of roles during my thirty years in higher education, each one an opportunity to learn, and contribute something to students and my institution. Throughout all, I taught as an Adjunct Professor in a variety of formats, while serving as Acting Dean/Director of Continuing Education & Summer Session, Director of Academic Enrichment and Associate Dean of Student Success. I began teaching for the Early College Program in 2018, and last summer I accepted a position as Assistant Professor of Practice in Psychology and joined the faculty full-time. 

I am passionate about lifelong learning both in and out of the classroom and have always seen the interaction between teaching and learning as a relationship of reciprocity and mutual respect. I am ever hopeful that my students understand how much they teach me as we learn together.

Pronouns: She/her/hers
Title: Professor of Sociology and Human Services
Institution: Mount Wachusett Community College
Subjects taught: Sociology, Psychology and Human Services

Candace earned her B.A. and B.S. degrees from American International College and her M.A. from Assumption College.She began her academic career as an adjunct faculty member at Mount Wachusett Community College’s (MWCC) Leominster Campus and Corporate Training Center. She was appointed a full-time faculty member in 2004. Prior to teaching at MWCC, Candace worked full-time at Worcester Community Action Council, Inc., as an AmeriCorps Supervisor, GEA Instructor, Employment Counselor, and a Youth Coordinator in the Reconnection Program. Professor Shivers serves as the faculty advisor for the Human Service Club and currently serves as the faculty liaison to the Student Government Association.

Pronouns: she/her
Title: Professor
Institution: Springfield Technical Community College
Subjects taught: Business, Office Information Technology, Computer Information Technology

Renée has been a professor for over eleven years and has over thirty years teaching experience for Franklin/Hampshire Employment and Training Consortium, Cathedral High School, and local public schools. She holds an AS, in Executive Office Administration from STCC, a BS in Business Education from Salem State University and two M.Eds. from Framingham State University. She has been part of the SI and Early College Program for several years. She is an active board member for Hispanic Association of Higher Education (HAHE) and serves as secretary for several Standing Committees.

Pronouns: she/her
Title: Professor
Institution: Northern Essex Community College
Courses taught: Composition, Film Studies, Children’s Literature

Elle Yarborough is a Professor in the English Department at Northern Essex Community College. Before achieving her lifelong dream of teaching at a community college in New England, she worked as Assistant Director for the Center for Film, Media and Popular Culture at Arizona State University. Elle has been involved in Early College programs for almost twenty years in various roles, including as coordinator of a program in Arizona, as a coach, and in her favorite role of all, as a teacher. Elle loves reading, writing, teaching reading and writing, and talking about reading and writing with other people.

You can learn more about the Early College Educator Advisory Group and the Alliance’s work with Early College educators by contacting Marissa Cole, Director of Policy and Practice, at marissa@ma4ec.org.