ITS’ Academic Technology team is excited to have a full team again – in September, Samantha Graff and Emerita Palencia joined, adding both depth and innovation to the team. Please take a moment to meet both of them when you see them in drop-in hours or on campus.
Samantha (Sam) Graff
Sam Graff is the Academic Technologist for Learning Innovations and Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Her responsibilities include using UDL to support faculty in developing equitable courses. She will also support pilot projects with emerging academic technologies.
Before making the switch to being an Academic Technologist, I taught biology courses at a technical college, and a small university in the Twin Cities. I obtained my B.S. in biology from the University of New Hampshire, the state where I was born and raised. In 2014, I started my M.S. in biology with electives in education from the University of Minnesota. I worked as a graduate assistant in an active learning classroom, which inspired my master’s thesis on active learning in the sciences. Recently, I finished my Ed.D. in Education with specialties in curriculum and instruction from Capella University.
Emerita (Em) Palencia
Emerita (Em) Palencia is joining us as an Academic Technologist. Her responsibilities include Moodle and Reclaim support, to build deeper support for Carleton’s mission-critical learning management system and to support faculty, students and staff in their project or course-based use of WordPress, Omeka and other web-based applications.
My name is Emerita Palencia, but I go by Em. I have worked in Instructional Technology for about 3 and a half years during my college career. I have a B.A. in Elementary Education with a math endorsement. I also hold an MN Teaching License in Elementary Education (K-6) and Mathematics (5-8). I have taught learners of all ages from early elementary students to tenured faculty members about a variety of subjects. I have a tremendous passion for teaching and for technology, so what better way to combine my passions than Instructional Technology.
Before joining Carleton, I’ve had experience in the food service industry, customer service, instructional and information technology, education, and finance. All these experiences have helped me grow personally and professionally, building the person I am today.
I am Salvadoran-American. And I can also speak two languages fluently: English and Spanish. Spanish is my native language; however, English has become my dominant and most proficient language. I love learning about languages — there is so much rich history and culture embedded in language. I hope to become fluent in more languages soon.
My hobbies include dancing, cooking, and singing in the shower. I am a mom of 3 (fur babies). I have 1 cat and 2 dogs. I’d be happy to show pictures of them anytime — I have a ton.