NTID ODI - Meet Our Team

Assistant Vice President for NTID Diversity and Inclusion

anadls@rit.edu

Alesia Allen is responsible for overseeing implementation of NTID’s Antiracism and Social Justice Plan. She serves as a member of the NTID Administrative Council and works closely with Keith Jenkins, RIT vice president and associate provost of diversity and inclusion, and his team. She monitors diversity, inclusion, equal opportunity and access regulations and issues in higher education and advises the NTID president and other NTID administrators on matters related to diversity and inclusion. Allen collaborates with faculty, staff, students, and other NTID units, including the NTID Diversity Group, to support diversity-related initiatives at NTID. She also has oversight responsibility for the NTID Faculty Program in Academia (NFPA), which is designed to diversify NTID’s faculty, and for recruitment and retention efforts for faculty and staff from historically underrepresented groups.

Allen has experience working as a diversity dialogue facilitator, helping undergraduate students explore divisions among people on the basis of racial and ethnic identity and helping them examine racial and ethnic dynamics within and across deaf, hard-of-hearing, and hearing communities. She has provided multicultural workshops and mentored students of color, providing resources for them to succeed in their studies and in their careers following graduation.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from RIT/NTID and a master’s degree and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Gallaudet University.

Assistant Dean NTID Faculty Recruitment and Retention

jchnss@rit.edu

As assistant dean for ALANA faculty recruitment and retention, Joseph Hill will work closely with Allen to diversify NTID’s faculty, with special emphasis on recruiting individuals who identify as African American, Hispanic/Latino, Asian American and Native American (ALANA). He will participate in the search process for faculty candidates, working with search committee chairs to increase diversity in candidate pools. He also will lead initiatives to support the retention and success of ALANA faculty members at NTID. As part of his new role, which is a three-year appointment, Hill will be a member of NTID’s Administrative Council.

Hill holds the rank of associate professor in NTID’s Department of American Sign Language and Interpreting Education. His research interests include socio-historical and -linguistic aspects of African-American variety of American Sign Language and attitudes and ideologies about signing varieties in the American Deaf community. His contributions include The Hidden Treasure of Black ASL: Its History and Structure (2011), which he co-authored with Carolyn McCaskill, Ceil Lucas, and Robert Bayley, and Language Attitudes in the American Deaf Community (2012).

Hill earned a bachelor’s degree from Miami University of Ohio and a master’s degree and Ph.D. from Gallaudet University.

Assistant Dean ALANA Academic Outreach, Access and Success

tasbka@rit.edu

In Thomastine “Tommie” Sarchet-Maher’s new role as assistant dean of ALANA outreach, access, and success, she will work closely with NTID Academic Affairs on the development and expansion of domestic and international outreach and transition programs; dual-credit coursework; and assessments for admissions, placement and retention. She will work collaboratively to develop academic outreach and transition pipelines for ALANA, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color), and international students that minimize barriers, increase access and participation to educational opportunities, and promote overall success. She also will serve as a member of NTID’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion executive team. 

Sarchet-Maher is a member of the NTID Administrative Council and has been director of the Center for International Educational Outreach (IEO) since 2016, overseeing NTID’s international partnerships. She also serves as liaison to RIT Global Education and works closely with RIT’s international admissions’ offices, consulting and advising on international deaf and hard of hearing applicants. In 2018, she was named the Paul and Francena Miller Endowed Chair for International Education for NTID, a rotating appointment through all colleges of RIT. 

She teaches in NTID’s Master of Science program in Secondary Education of Students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing. She also leads curriculum development, assessment, training, and evaluation for international deaf education programs and established the Summer Transition Program (STP) and Fall Transition Program (FTP) with NTID faculty member Jessica Trussell. Sarchet-Maher serves as co-director for the Center for Education Research Partnerships (CERP) with Trussell. She is the 2005 recipient of the Isaac L. Jordan, Sr. Staff Pluralism Award; is a founding member of the NTID Diversity Group (NDG); co-chaired NTID’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee; and served as co-moderator for NTID’s First Community Dialogue on Race. As a BIPOC woman in a leadership role, Sarchet-Maher formally and informally mentors non-tenure track faculty and staff of color seeking education and career advancement.

Sarchet-Maher holds a bachelor’s degree in biology and a master’s degree in secondary deaf education, both from RIT/NTID. She currently is completing her doctorate in Teaching and Curriculum at the University of Rochester.  

Assistant Dean for Research Mentorship

pchgss@rit.edu

In Peter Hauser’s new role as the assistant dean of research mentoring, he will work closely with the NTID pre-tenure faculty and the faculty in the NTID Fellowship Program for Academia (NFPA) to support their individual development plans. He will establish and lead a committee to develop NTID’s five-year research plan, including research mentorship support and resources. He also will become a member of NTID’s Administrative Council.

Hauser has been the director of the Rochester Bridges to the Doctorate program for under-representative minorities in biomedical sciences funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) since 2014 and the principal investigator (PI) of the Broadening the Participation of Deaf Individuals in Sign Language Research program funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) since 2013. He served as the Science Mentorship Leader of the NSF Science of Learning Center on Visual Language and Visual Learning 2011 – 2015. He also served as the leader of the NTID Pre-Tenure Faculty Group since 2016 and will continue to be the point of contact for tenure-related questions and support. He founded the NTID Tenure Track People of Color group in 2017 that now will be led by NTID’s Division of Diversity and Inclusion executive team, of which Hauser is a member.

Hauser will continue to direct the NTID Research Center on Culture and Language (CCL) where NTID faculty study deaf and hard-of-hearing communities of practice with the goal of enhancing sociocultural connectedness, health, learning, and well-being. In 2011 when Hauser received his tenure, he was recognized as one of the RIT’s Principal Investigator (PI) Millionaires, and he was the first NTID faculty member who had funding from both National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Health totaling over $1 million. Since then, he has continued to be awarded grants from both federal agencies. He has published more than 50 peer-review journal articles and book chapters and has presented his research all over the world. Hauser is the past recipient of the RIT Provost’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Mentoring (2018), NTID National Advisory Group Outstanding Service Award (2009), Isaac L. Jordan, Sr. Pluralism Award for Promoting Diversity (2006), RIT Exemplary myCourses Teaching Award (2006), and Eisenhart Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching (2005).

Hauser holds bachelor’s degrees in psychology and philosophy from Central Connecticut State University, and master’s degrees in psychology and linguistics and a PhD in clinical psychology, all from Gallaudet University.

Senior Staff Assistant

cmmnod@rit.edu

Christan Monin is a senior staff assistant in the NTID Office of Diversity and Inclusion. She provides administrative support and assists in coordinating events, workshops, and trainings.

Christan works closely with NTID’s director of diversity and inclusion and director of recruitment and retention as well as with students. She also provides administrative support for the NTID Faculty Program for Academia (NFPA) and manages a database of deaf professionals.

Before joining RIT, Christan served as a staff assistant for the Academic Advisement and Undergraduate Admissions departments at SUNY Brockport. Christan holds two degrees from Brockport, a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology and Health Science and a Master of Arts degree in English literature.

In her free time, Christan enjoys learning ASL, writing letters to her sponsored child in India, knitting, reading, cooking, and traveling.