photo of University Hall through trees

About ITDS

Instructional Technology and Design Services (ITDS), a subdivision of Academic Affairs, is comprised of Instructional Designers, Technology Training Specialists, Instructional Technologists, and Multimedia Specialists. The ITDS team is committed to providing educational technology and instructional design support and services to the University community.  We achieve this through technology workshops, faculty development programs and initiatives, and course design practices. We strive to cultivate and promote collaborative, inclusive and innovative educational experiences to enhance teaching and learning outcomes.

What ITDS does includes, but is not limited to: 

  • Researching and exploring innovative and engaging technologies and guiding their integration into teaching and learning
  • Providing instructional technology training via group or private classes
  • Providing 1-on-1 course design and technology consultations regarding effective instructional strategies, assessment methodologies, and appropriate technologies to achieve teaching and learning goals
  • Developing and facilitating faculty development programs and professional development events to foster a collaborative community where faculty and staff colleagues can share and develop best pedagogical practices with each other
  • Offering high-quality course design services for all teaching modalities (in-person, hybrid and online) based on recent trends in learning science while leveraging the latest instructional technologies to support student learning and engagement 

Staff Directory

Photo of Dr. Yanling Sun

Dr. Yanling Sun
Associate Vice President
973-655-4091
suny@montclair.edu

photo of Robin Walker

Robin Walker
Administrative Assistant
973-655-5449
walkerr@montclair.edu

Robin Walker is the Program Assistant for the ITDS department and has worked in MSU’s IT Division for the past 12 years.  She aids the AVP and entire team by managing all administrative tasks, as well as fielding incoming queries and requests from the entire campus community.  Robin has a BA from Syracuse University.

Instructional Designers

Joe Russo headshot

Joe Russo
Director of Instructional Design and Faculty Development, Team I
973-655-5458
russoc@montclair.edu

Joe Russo is a Director of Instructional Design and Faculty Development on the ITDS team. He has worked at Montclair State in a variety of roles for more than fifteen years, and has taught a number of classes as an adjunct. He has an MA in Modern History and Literature from Drew University, as well as an MS in Library and Information Science, from the Pratt Institute.

Carolyn Demefack

Carolyn Demefack
Director of Instructional Design and Faculty Development, Team II
973-655-3175
demefackc@montclair.edu

Carolyn is a Director of Instructional Design and Faculty Development on the ITDS team. She joined MSU in 2011 as an instructional designer and has collaborated with faculty members to design and enhance hundreds of online, hybrid, and in-person courses. She leads faculty development initiatives and has taught several classes as an adjunct. Carolyn has an M.A. in Educational Communications and Technology from the NYU Steinhart School of Education.

Dr Jinxia He Headshot

Dr. Jinxia He
Lead Instructional Designer
973-655-4027
hej@montclair.edu

Jinxia is a Lead Instructional Designer on the ITDS team. She received her Ph.D. with a specialization in Instructional System Design from the University of Central Florida. Her research interests focus on using instructional strategies in online teaching and learning, building online learning communities and team-based learning especially virtual teams, as well as integrating emerging technologies in education.

photo of Patrick Scioscia

Patrick Scioscia
Lead Instructional Designer
973-655-7811
sciosciap@montclair.edu

Patrick is a Lead Instructional Designer on the ITDS team. With more than a decade of experience in higher education, his current responsibilities include instructional design, implementing emerging technologies, LMS management, etc. In addition to his role in ITDS, he is also an instructor in the First-Year Writing department. Patrick earned his MA in Instructional Technology and Media from Columbia University.

Keith Adams headshot

Keith Adams
Instructional Designer
973-655-7849
adamsma@montclair.edu

Keith Adams is an Instructional Designer with ITDS. In addition to this role, Keith teaches Photography in the College of Art. He holds an MFA from Mason Gross School of the Arts and an MA in Arts and Humanities Education from New York University.

photo of Chris Petrillo

Christopher Petrillo
Instructional Designer
973-655-3206
petrilloc@montclair.edu

Chris Petrillo is an Instructional Designer within the ITDS team and MSU alumnus (BS Biological Science). Some responsibilities include working with instructors to design pedagogically-sound courses for online programs, development of workshops for increasing engagement in courses using interactive and collaborative platforms, administrating the MSU Canvas environment, and supporting faculty use of Canvas and other instructional technologies.

Qian (Lora ) Yao headshot

Qian (Lora) Yao
Instructional Designer
973-655-3436
yaoq@montclair.edu

Qian (Lora) is an Instructional Designer on the ITDS team. She works with faculty on different undergraduate and graduate online programs and she provides course design consultations for online, hybrid and face-to-face courses, as well as designs faculty development courses and workshops. Qian holds a M.A. in Public and Organizational Relations from Montclair State University.

photo of Joe Yankus

Joseph Yankus
Instructional Designer
973-655-3086
yankusj@montclair.edu

Joe is an Instructional Designer on the ITDS team with about 10 years of experience in higher education. He collaborates with faculty to design courses for undergraduate and graduate programs, and enjoys ideating and facilitating various faculty development initiatives. Joe has a B.A. in Communication Studies & Sociology and a M.A. in Instructional Design & Technology, both from Seton Hall University. He is also a part-time faculty member at Rutgers University, where he teaches an undergraduate Public Speaking course.

Joaly Garcia headshot

Joaly Garcia
Instructional Designer
973-655-3752
garciajo@montclair.edu

Joaly has worked in higher education since 2004, she is an Instructional Designer on the ITDS team and is also a professor in the Spanish and Latino Studies Department at Montclair State University. She is passionate about the teaching and learning process, and has successfully blended technological strategies with engaging techniques in online and F2F courses. Joaly earned her M.A. Et in Adult Learning and Distance Learning from Inter American University of Puerto Rico, School of Education and Professional Conduct.

photo of Gina Policastro

Gina Policastro
Instructional Designer
973-655-3662
policastrog@montclair.edu

Gina Policastro is an Instructional Designer with ITDS and an MSU Alumnus (BA English Education). As a Montclair State student, Gina was the captain of the soccer team her senior year and broke multiple records as the team’s goalkeeper. She is passionate about building community in online environments and providing instruction on blended learning engagement strategies. Gina holds an MI in Library and Information Science from Rutgers University and a Graduate Certificate in Instructional Design from Drexel University.

Jean Moreno-Lassalle photo

Jean Moreno-Lassalle
Instructional Designer
973-655-3205
morenolassje@montclair.edu

Jean Moreno-Lassalle is an Instructional Designer in the ITDS team at Montclair State University. He works primarily in assisting the Instructional Design team with course design and online program development. In addition to this, his responsibilities include training faculty members on Canvas, running workshops on educational technologies, co-managing the ITDS website, and designing visual projects for the group.

Technology Trainers

Photo of Pam Fallivene

Pam Fallivene
Lead Technology Trainer
973-655-5106
fallivenep@montclair.edu

Pam Fallivene is a Lead Technology Trainer in the ITDS group and has been at Montclair State University for 22 years feeding her passion for teaching and helping others to improve their skills. She supports the campus community on Canvas as well as other teaching and learning technologies.

photo of Abigail Hunte

Abigail Hunte
Senior Technology Trainer
973-655-6932
huntea@montclair.edu

Abigail Hunte is a Senior Technology Trainer with over 15 years of experience providing technical training to adult learners in Corporate and Higher Education environments. She enjoys being part of the ITDS team and helping to serve the greater Montclair State community.

Multimedia Specialists

headshot of Rose Lamela

Rose Lamela
Multimedia Specialist
973-655-3759
lamelar@montclair.edu

Rosi has been the Multimedia Specialist for ITDS since 2017. She has been involved in video, multimedia and photography for the last decade after receiving her BA in Broadcasting from MSU. She previously worked as a Video Specialist and Photographer in the Marketing and Communications Department for Berkeley College, and in the University Communications and Marketing Department at Montclair State. One of her key efforts is producing all video content for the Online MBA program and ITDS.

photo of Felix Bautista

Felix Bautista
Multimedia Assistant
973-655-3076
bautistaf@montclair.edu

Felix is a Multimedia Assistant and recently joined the ITDS team in 2021. From working as an intern at MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow at Rockefeller Center to a Video Editor at a NYC based media production company, he has a background in Pre and Post-production for Television and Film. Since graduating from MSU in 2019 with a B.A. in TV and Media Production, he has worked in many different production settings as a PA, Production Coordinator, Editor and Videographer. Felix is happy to bring his experience in multimedia to the team by providing high quality video production to faculty and students.

Instructional Technologists

photo of Dan Stratthaus

Dan Stratthaus
Lead Instructional Technologist
973-655-4242
stratthausd@montclair.edu

Daniel Stratthaus is the Lead Instructional Technologist of the ITDS team. He has 20 years of experience in Information Technology which includes roles as Systems Engineer, Team Lead and previous experience with systems administration, data migrations, various data integrations, development and technology training. Daniel has been with MSU IT for 11 years holding various positions. He is currently the primary administrator of Canvas, all of its integrations, as well as the other systems that the ITDS group manage.

photo of Terry Steckowich

Terry Steckowich
Instructional Technology Specialist
973-655-6930
steckowicht@montclair.edu

Terry is an Instructional Technology Specialist within ITDS. He assists both faculty and students with Canvas and other software and campus technologies. Terry also conducts training classes on Canvas and other campus technologies and enjoys making everyone feel at ease and confident in using them to promote online learning. He received his BA in Communications/Media Studies from UNC-Chapel Hill.

Student Technology Assistants

headshot of Alayia Francis

Alayia Francis
Instructional Technology Assistant
973-655-3662
francisa9@montclair.edu

Radhika Sitaram Kumavat photo

Radhika Kumavat
Graduate Instructional Technology Assistant
kumavatr1@montclair.edu