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Elizabeth Ayers, principal lecturer in NTID’s Science and Mathematics department, successfully defended her dissertation, “From Co-Development to Implementation: Breast Health Education for Deaf Young Adults,” earning her PhD from the University at Buffalo. Her mixed-methods project collected qualitative and quantitative data, and participant collaboration also resulted in a multimodal educational toolkit (three ASL videos, two comic storyboards, and a breast health education module) that is available on Breast Cancer Coalition’s website. Congratulations, Dr. Elizabeth Ayers!
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Congratulations to Stowe Beecher, senior lecturer in NTID’s Science and Mathematics department, on successfully completing the 2026 Advanced ActiveLearn Institute! Stowe’s continued engagement in the institute from last year concluded this summer. In collaboration with her faculty cohort, she invested a tremendous amount of time and thought into one of the most important aspects of higher education: creating better learning experiences for students. This included challenging herself to rethink assignments and assessments, explored new active-learning strategies, shared ideas with colleagues, and redesigned portions of her mathematics courses with intentionality and care. Such engagement exemplifies a deep commitment to student learning at NTID. The Advanced ActiveLearn Institute Showcase will take place in October.
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Dr. Linda Bryant, director of NTID’s Learning Consortium, will play a key role in advancing the education component of the recently announced STELLAR project, drawing on her extensive expertise in online learning, workforce development, and educational innovation.
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Dr. Corinna Hill, assistant professor in Liberal Studies, received an American Council of Learned Societies Digital Justice Seed Grant for her project, Centers of Belonging: The Legacy of Deaf Clubs in America. The project will preserve and expand access to Deaf history by creating an accessible digital resource documenting the legacy and evolution of Deaf clubs across the United States.
- Congratulations to the following faculty, who received promotions:
- Full Professor - Austin Gehret, Jason Nordhaus
- Principal Lecturer - Elizabeth Ayers, Kathleen Brady, Kelly Davis, Marguerite Carrillo
- Senior Lecturer - Elayne Fife-Collier
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Congratulations to Elizabeth Adamson from South Carolina for acceptance into RIT’s Doctoral program in Mathematics after successfully completing her BS degree in May. She will be one of three new Deaf students starting their PhDs at RIT this fall.
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NTID Staff Council members Eliza Fowler, assistant director for professional development, NTID Access Services Operations, and Naomi Ruetz, real-time captioning coordinator III, have been elected to the Staff Council Executive Committee. NTID Staff Council members Jeremy Zehr, real-time captioning coordinator II, and Noella Kolash, NTID junior full stack engineer, have been elected to University Council.
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Sarah Sarchet, principal lecturer in NTID’s Science and Mathematics department, published her first peer-reviewed journal article, Instructional Strategies for Postsecondary Science Teaching with Deaf Students with Disabilities: An Autoethnographic Approach, co-authored by three other RIT/NTID faculty: Dr. Thomastine Sarchet-Maher, assistant professor of deaf education; Karen Tobin, senior lecturer in NTID’s Science and Mathematics department; and Melissa Skyer, a former NTID senior lecturer of environmental science, who passed away in 2022.
- Donna Tuffner, who first organized an RIT/NTID team to help out at the Seneca Park Zoo for United Day of Caring in 2012, gathered a team again this year to help at the zoo in May. They did everything from cleaning out three years of leaf debris from the moat around the crane paddock, to laying down new mulch substrate for the red tailed hawk, to reinforcing an eroded berm around the otter enclosure with buckets and wheelbarrows full of soil. The team this year included:
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Amy Stornello, NTID Deputy Title IX Coordinator, with funding from RIT/NTID alum Chris Estrin, worked with two RIT/NTID co-op students to create Deaf Rochester, an online resource for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community in Rochester that provides information on resources, accessible events, and more. Amy also is involved with the Monroe County Deaf Equity Council.
