QUALIFICATIONS SUMMARY

Writing and literature instructor with a strong background in fiction, creative non-fiction and journalism. Partner and language arts tutor at Hilltop Tutoring Center. Experience teaching in a variety of settings to students of varying ages, including adolescents, college, graduate students and senior citizens. Award-winning journalist and editor with a strong interest in the arts. Writer of fiction and creative non-fiction. Musician.

EDUCATION

Master of Fine Arts in writing, fiction concentration
Columbia University, New York, October 2009

Bachelor of Arts in political science and journalism/mass media, summa cum laude
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, May 1988 

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Adjunct Faculty, New Jersey City University
January 2010 – Present

Teach English Composition II, an introduction to literature and the research paper, Creative Writing, a survey of fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and drama, with an emphasis on developing student writing through assignments and a writing workshop, and Literature and Film, an introduction to adaptation studies.

Tutor/Managing Partner, Hilltop Tutoring Center 
September 2014 – Present

Tutor students of all ages in language arts, composition, history and test prep. Co-manage the business of 8 professionals, tutoring a combined 150 hours a week in a comprehensive range of subjects.

Tutor/Partner, Anderson Tutoring Center
October 2011 – August 2104

Tutored students of all ages in language arts, composition and history, including extensive AP and standardized testing preparation. Tutored full time, with as many as 30 direct contact hours with individual students each week.

Practitioner Faculty, University of Phoenix
January 2011 – 2012

Taught Media and American Culture, an online introduction to media that influence and impact social, business, political, and popular culture in contemporary America, including an examination of the specific effects of new media on business, entertainment, and journalism.

Instructor, Columbia Artist/Teachers, Columbia University
January 2007 – December 2008

Taught creative writing workshops to a variety of populations, including cancer patients and survivors at Gilda’s Club NYC, adjudicated teenage boys at Middlefields Group Home in Middlesex County, NJ, and graduate students at Columbia University in non-writing disciplines.

Instructor, Columbia University Summer Program for High School Students
July 2008

Taught introductory writing seminar to high school students in the university’s summer program covering poetry, prose poetry, drama, and fiction. Taught journalism course with a focus on developing interview techniques, feature writing and editing, and new media. Students designed and wrote a current events blog.

Workshop Instructor, Short Prose Forms, Columbia University
January – May 2008

Instructor for undergraduate creative writing course at Columbia University, co-teaching a weekly one-hour workshop critiquing student work produced in conjunction with a weekly seminar on short prose.

JOURNALISM EXPERIENCE

Freelance Writer/Editor 
1995 – present

Ghostwrote articles for Kline, a leading global market research firm, on petroleum and chemical markets for trade journals such as Specialty Chemicals and Lubes ’n’ Greases. Also wrote press releases and edit market research reports. Published a variety of freelance articles on arts and music in publications such as New Jersey Life and East Coast Rocker. 

Editor, Time Off, Princeton Packet Newspapers, Princeton, NJ
September 1997 – March 2001

Edited and managed three weekly arts and entertainment magazines. Managed budget, hiring, and supervision of assistant editors, reporters, and freelance writers. Assisted in design and launch of new Time Off edition, and two editions of Tempo, a weekly spin-off. Won three consecutive NJ Press Association awards for best specialty section.

Forbes Newspapers, Somerville, NJ
May 1995– May 1997

Began as the sole reporter for the Bound Brook Chronicle. After a year, was hired as the editor of Weekend Plus, the weekly arts and entertainment magazine with a circulation of 50,000, as well as assistant editor for three of the group’s weekly newspapers, the Metuchen-Edison Review, Green Brook-North Plainfield Journal, and Warren-Watchung Journal. Continued to write and contribute both hard news and entertainment articles. Supervised staff writers and freelance writers. 

OTHER PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Associate Coordinator, Columbia Artist/Teachers (CA/T)
September 2007 – May 2008

Assisted in managing Columbia Artist/Teachers (CA/T), a faculty of graduate students in Columbia University’s School of the Arts. Placed graduate students in a variety of positions as teachers, tutors, and volunteers in schools and community organizations in New York City. Acted as liaison between the university and the community.

Grants Manager, Columbia: A Journal of Literature and Art
January 2007 – May 2008

Wrote grant applications and procured funding sources. Secured a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA).  

SELECTED HONORS AND AWARDS

Writing Division Fellowship, 2006-2007
Columbia University School of the Arts

Highest departmental honors, 1988
Journalism/Mass Media, Rutgers University

Pi Sigma Alpha, honors society, Spring 1988
Political Science, Rutgers University

References available on request.