Credit for Life Experience Program -- Office of Academic Affairs -- Medgar Evers College

Dr. Howard C. Johnson
Interim Senior Vice President and Provost

Dr. Howard C. Johnson is the Interim Senior Vice President and Provost of Medgar Evers College, CUNY. Prior to coming to Medgar Evers College, Dr. Johnson held a number of crucial leadership positions in higher education. He most recently served as Professor of Mathematics at the University of North Texas (UNT) where he had earlier held the position of Provost and Vice

President for Academic Affairs. Prior posts at Syracuse University included Executive Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, Dean of the Graduate School, Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, as well as Professor of Mathematics and Mathematics Education.

During his tenure as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at UNT, Dr. Johnson initiated a strategic hiring and salary enhancement plan that yielded $6 million in faculty raises and thirty-four tenure track position over the course of two years. While serving as Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at Syracuse, he was charged with increasing faculty diversity and played a pivotal role in the recruitment, retention, and mentoring of over fifty-five African- American and Latino faculty and professional staff members.

Dr. Johnson’s expertise has been tapped in the national, state, regional and local arenas. He is a frequent conference participant and has been a presenter at the American Educational Research Association’s annual meeting, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics annual and regional meetings, and the National Forum for Black Public Administrators. As a respected researcher and program developer, he has published several, noted textbooks with Harcourt and Addison-Wesley, as well as articles, chapters, and instructional materials.
Dr. Johnson has authored grants that resulted in sponsorship by the Associated Medical Schools of New York State, New York State Department of Education, Science and Technology Entry Program, the National Science Foundation for the Young Scholars Program, and the GE Foundation. He has further served as principal investigator for a $5.5 million dollar, 5-year project- The Central New York to Puerto Rico-Mayaguez (CNY-PR) Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP), funded by the National Science Foundation and a $614,925 dollar, 3-year Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) project funded by the U.S. Department of Education.

In addition to his academic activities, Dr. Johnson is a member of several professional and learned societies. He has served on the Board of Directors for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and as President of the Benjamin Banneker Association. He was a member of the boards of Graduate Record Examinations (GRE), Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and the Council of Graduate Schools. He also has served as both President and Vice President of the Association of Graduate Schools. He is a consultant and participant in several educational research groups as well as remaining actively engaged in state and community organizations.
Dr. Johnson, a nationally renowned mathematics scholar, received his B.A. and M.S. degrees in mathematics from Chicago State University, an M.S. in Mathematics from the University of Illinois at Chicago and his Ph.D. from Northwestern University.

Linda S. Jackson
Associate Provost

Professor Linda S. Jackson received her MA in English and her MFA in Poetry from Brooklyn College and her BS in Accounting from New York University. Professor Jackson brings to the Office of Academic Affairs more than twenty years of administrative experience earned both in and out of academia. Prior to coming to Medgar Evers College, she gained distinction in the public and private business sectors, culminating in her appointment as a Deputy Commissioner for Administration for the New York City Department of Transportation. Professor Jackson joined the faculty of the English Department in 1998 (when it was part of the Department of Languages, Literature & Philosophy) and is currently an Associate Professor.

In her ten years at Medgar Evers College, Professor Jackson has served as Deputy Chair of the English Department and as Coordinator of Composition. She has chaired the department’s Strategic Planning and Composition Committees while also serving as the representative from Medgar Evers on the CUNY-wide Creative Writing Initiative (CWI). Professor Jackson has also served as a member of College Council, the English department’s personnel & budget committee, several college-wide and department search committees and as an alternate on the curriculum committee.

In addition to her work as an educator and administrator, Professor Jackson is the author of a volume of poetry, What Yellow Sounds Like, published in 2007 by Tia Chucha Press and two chapbooks, Vitelline Blues and A History of Beauty both published by Black-eyed Susan Publishing. She was a finalist in the 2008 Paterson Poetry Prize and the 2006 National Poetry Series Competition. Her poetry has appeared in many journals and anthologies such as Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South, Brilliant Corners: A Journal of Jazz & Literature, Rivendell, Crab Orchard Review, Gathering Ground and Heliotrope, among other journals and has been featured on From the Fishouse audio archive. She has been awarded fellowships from The New York Foundation for the Arts (2007), The Robert Frost Place (2008), Cave Canem (2002, 2003 & 2006) and Soul Mountain Writers Retreat (2007). She has read her work at a variety of venues, most recently at Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors, the Asian, Asian-American Research Institute/CUNY, the Brooklyn Public Library and on WBAI 99.5FM radio.

Dr. Claudia Schrader, Ed.D.
Assistant Provost
Dr. Claudia Schrader was appointed as the Assistant Provost for Assessment, Research, Institutional and Student Success in December 2006. Dr. Schrader received her Bachelor of Arts from Rutgers University; and the Master of Arts; Master of Education; and Doctorate in Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. Dr. Schrader has over 10 years of experience working in Special Education and related fields as a Developmental Specialist, Evaluator, Assessment and Clinical Supervisor, Program Development consultant, and adjunct Professor at Teacher College, Columbia University, Bankstreet Graduate School of Education, State University of New York College at Old Westbury, and the College of New Rochelle. She is active in the field of Teacher Education and Special Education presenting at local, national and international conferences.

Dr. Schrader joined the faculty of the Education Department in 2000 where she is currently an Associate Professor (on leave). As a faculty member in the Education Department, Dr. Schrader served most recently as Interim Department Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson (2001-2006) and Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) Coordinator (2003-2006). In her capacity as the NCATE Coordinator, she spearheaded the Education Department’s accreditation process. Dr. Schrader served as part of the Middle States Accreditation Team and has been invited to serve as an NCATE consultant.

Dr. Jennifer Sparrow, Ph.D.
Dean for Academic Affairs
Jennifer Sparrow holds a PhD in English literature from Wayne State University, with a special interest in writers from the Caribbean. She has taught courses in Caribbean literature, postcolonial literature, and composition, and she also has developed and taught online literature survey courses, both at Medgar Evers College and in the CUNY Online BA program. Her essays on Caribbean literature have appeared in edited volumes and scholarly journals including Wadabagei and MaComère. With Elizabeth Nunez, she co-edited an anthology, Stories From Blue Latitudes: Caribbean Women Writers at Home and Abroad (Seal/Avalon Press, 2005).

In addition to teaching and scholarship, Dr. Sparrow brings to her position a variety of administrative experience, both at Medgar Evers College and across the University. Because of her expertise in the field of instructional technology, in Fall 2007 Dr. Sparrow was invited to join the Consortial Faculty of the CUNY Online BA Degree program in Communication and Culture. The twelve consortial faculty members, selected from colleges across CUNY, teach Online Baccalaureate courses and perform committee and other programmatic related services for each of its programs. In her ten years at Medgar Evers College, Dr. Sparrow has served as Acting English Department chair, chair of two search committees, the College’s CPE Liaison, chair of the College-Wide Academic Standards and Regulations Committee, a member of the Coordinated Undergraduate Education (CUE) Executive Council, College Council, the CUNY English Discipline Council, and, most recently, as Medgar’s Faculty Chair Liaison to the CUNY First Project.

Dr. Simone Rodriguez-Dorestant, Ph.D.

Executive Director for Academic and Curriculum Planning

Dr. Simone Rodriguez-Dorestant currently serves as the Executive Director for Academic and Curriculum Planning and is responsible for facilitating development of proposed degree programs and working with faculty to ensure the growth of new degree programs. In addition, she is responsible for the administration of EduTrac (Degreeworks) and serves as the liaison with Student Affairs and Student Services. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from State University of New York at Binghamton (Philosophy, Politics and Law); a Master of Arts degree from New York University (Higher Education Administration), and a Ph.D. from Walden University (Higher Education Administration and Adult Women's Development).

Before joining the Office of Academic Affairs, Dr. Rodriguez-Dorestant worked in the Special Programs/SEEK Department as a Counselor/Lecturer; Director, Associate of Arts, Teacher Education Program; and Executive Director of Student Development and Student Services.

In her ten years at Medgar Evers College, Dr. Rodriguez-Dorestant has served on several committees: Curriculum; Core Curriculum; Student Election Review Committee; Study Abroad and Student Exchange Programs; Sexual Harassment Educator; Women's History Month; Affirmative Action Policies; Student Life; Academic Advisement Modeling Taskforce; Commencement Committee; and Academic Standards and Regulations Committee.