Meet our Staff
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Cathy H. Hamilton, Ph.D.
Director
chhamilt@uncg.edu
Cathy Hamilton received her Ph.D. from the School of Human Resource Education and Workforce Development at Louisiana State University. She also holds the M.S. degree in Adult Education from Texas A&M University and a B.A. from the honors college (Plan II) of the University of Texas at Austin. Through the Office of Leadership and Service-Learning she provides support for both academic and co-curricular service-learning, student leadership, and civic engagement. Dr. Hamilton has worked in educational human resource development at the national and international level for the past 19 years. Prior to this position, Dr. Hamilton served as the director of the Hartman Center for Civic Education and Leadership and part-time Assistant Professor at DePauw University in Indiana and as visiting Assistant Professor for Louisiana State University. She worked the better part of a decade in leadership development, education, and publishing in Latin America. Working with faculty in university-community partnerships as well as working with popular education initiatives in Latin America has impressed upon her the power of collaborative alliances between universities and partners that together transform our
communities. She is active with Campus Compact, having served on two State Advisory Boards and is the 2002 recipient of the Community Service Director Fellowship of the Indiana Campus Compact to explore more effective community-university partnerships in technology.
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Leslie A. Veach, M.S., NCC
Assistant Director of Community Leadership and Service
laveach@uncg.edu
Leslie Veach is a Nationally Certified Counselor who has worked in Higher Education for over 5 years. She received her B.S. from Appalachian State University and a M.S. in Counseling and Educational Development from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. As Assistant Director, Leslie works to build community partnerships with nonprofits and government agencies and link students with volunteer sites and opportunities for civic engagement. Prior to joining the OLSL team, Leslie worked in the Student Employment Office of the UNCG Career Services Center. She also has experience working in Financial Aid, Residence Life, and with Student Athletes. Her teaching experience includes teaching freshman seminar and SAS 100 for students on academic probation. Leslie has presented locally and nationally on a variety of student development and counseling topics. She enjoys working to help empower students to make positive change both personally and globally. Leslie's professional interests include working with diverse populations, student advocacy, leadership and career development, service learning, and counseling students in crisis and transition.
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Preston Yarborough, M.A., M.Ed.
Assistant Director of Leadership
jpyarbor@uncg.edu
We are also enthusiastic about our new Assistant Director of Leadership. Preston Yarborough has extensive experience in business administration, teaching, student leadership development and was recently published in the Center for Creative Leadership's Leadership in Action magazine. As a Ph.D. student in UNCG's Department of Counseling and Educational Development, he plans to incorporate a leadership component into his doctoral research. Preston is pleased to be part of our office and looks forward to working with each of you on the Advisory Team in the coming year!
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Emily M. Janke, Ph.D.
Assistant Director of Service-Learning
emjanke@uncg.edu
As the Assistant Director for Service-Learning, Dr. Emily M. Janke provides curricular, administrative, and grant support to faculty members who seek to enhance their teaching and research through academic service-learning and community-based research. Emily's expertise is public scholarship. Emily received her Ph.D. in Higher Education from The Pennsylvania State University and her B.A. from Colgate University in Environmental Geography. Emily continues to incorporate service-learning into her curricula and has experience helping faculty members develop, implement, and assess community-based learning experiences. Prior to joining the OLSL, Emily worked in the Center for the Study of Higher Education as a research assistant on two National Science Foundation-funded initiatives, including the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning and Teaching Sustainability in Engineering through Public Scholarship. Emily's research focuses on faculty-community partnerships, as well as on faculty motivation and student development through public scholarship. Emily is a board member for the International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement (IARSLCE) and was a co-winner of the 2008 IARSLCE Dissertation Award for her dissertation titled, Shared Partnership Identity between Faculty and Community Partners. In her free time, Emily enjoys traveling, hiking, cycling, and gardening with her husband and playing with her dog.
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Stephanie A. Kurtts, Ph.D.
Service-Learning Faculty Fellow
sakurtts@uncg.edu
The Office of Leadership and Service-Learning is proud to announce the 2008-09 Faculty Fellow: Dr. Stephanie Kurtts. The Faculty Fellow helps increase the quality and quantity of service-learning and other types of engaged public scholarship within UNCG.
Dr. Kurtts is an assistant professor in the Department of Specialized Education Services. Her teaching and research interests include inclusive education for children with disabilities and the role of service-learning in the development of collaborative practices for teachers and community agency professionals working with children with disabilities and their families. She hopes that her contribution to this timely and needed university mission will continue to enlighten educational professionals and community agency service providers of the need to understand the importance of service-learning with our university students. Dr. Kurtts shares as much time as possible with her sons, Andy, a graphic designer and Jeff, a Captain serving in the U.S. Army.
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Lauren Smalley
AmeriCorps North Carolina Campus Compact VISTA
lesmalle@uncg.edu
Lauren Smalley is a recent graduate of Guilford College and is comes to us with a degree in Psychology and Religious Studies. As an AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteer in Service to America), she will serve at UNCG for one year, working to promote civic engagement and community involvement on campus. In addition to representing AmeriCorps and supporting its programs on campus, Lauren works with students and student groups matching volunteers with community partners, organizing campus events, and advising the Peer Council, a group of student volunteer leaders. She is interested in student development and counseling, and plans to attend graduate school after her year of service. Her service interests include conservation and environmental issues, literacy, and human rights.
