Wall College of Business

Carol Boriusk, lecturer of management, earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Georgia, where she also completed a bachelor’s degree in marketing. She has more than 10 years of managerial, sales and marketing experience, working with organizations in the United States and South America, and is a co-owner and founder of Coastal Town Properties, a local real-estate company. She will primarily be teaching courses in business, business communication, and management.

Peter Gasca, lecturer of management, earned a Master of Business Administration from Georgetown University and completed a bachelor’s degree in construction management from Arizona State University. He has more than 20 years of management, strategy, and entrepreneurial experience, including founder and CEO of Wild Creations. Gasca is Director of the Community and Business Engagement Institute at Coastal Carolina University, and he primarily teaches courses in business and entrepreneurship.

Robert Killins, associate professor of finance, earned his Ph.D. and Master of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley, where he also completed his bachelor’s degree in international business. Additionally, he also holds industry designations such as the Certified Financial Planning (CFP®) and the Charted Investment Manager (CIM®). He most recently spent the last seven years at Seneca College in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, holding positions of professor, program coordinator (finance) and research coordinator for the Centre of Financial Services. He has also lectured at Ryerson University with the Ted Rogers School of Management and previously spent time as an investment advisor for the Bank of Montreal’s (BMO) private client division. His teaching interests include corporate finance, investments and personal finance.

Heather Read, lecturer of marketing, serves as the graduate programs manager supporting the MBA and Master of Accountancy degrees for the Wall College of Business. She is a highly accomplished and award-winning digital transformation and communications executive with more than 20 years of experience in the science and technology industries. Read is currently pursuing her Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and holds an MBA from Temple University’s Fox School of Business, as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications from Rutgers University. She is a certified Six Sigma Green Belt and former national leader with the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA).

Tanya Smith, lecturer of accounting, completed her bachelor’s degree in accounting from Belmont Abbey College and M.Acc. from Gardner Web University. She is finalizing her dissertation research, entitled “The Impact of Stock Repurchases on Operating Performance for the Fortune 1000 Companies” at Jacksonville University, Jacksonville Fla. Smith’s research interests include: accounting and pedagogical. Her teaching interests include: financial, managerial accounting and tax.

Dennis Stemmle, lecturer of management, earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of South Carolina, where he also completed his bachelor’s degree in finance. He is a best-selling author, entrepreneur and executive, with more than 20 years of executive experience, including as general manager for one of Amazon’s largest subsidiaries, Woot. Stemmle is the director of external engagement for the Wall College of Business, and he primarily teaches courses in business communication, marketing, and management.

Dorothy Thompson, assistant professor of accounting, completed her BBA in accounting at Texas Woman’s University, M.S. in accounting and M.S. in finance at the University of Texas at Dallas and her Doctor of Business Administration degree at Jacksonville University. Thompson comes to CCU after teaching for Ave Maria University for the last seven years and establishing their accounting major. Before AMU, she was at the University of North Texas and North Central Texas College. Her dissertation, entitled “Credit Ratings, Defined Benefit Pension Plans and SFAS 158: An Empirical Examination of Their Relationship” demonstrates her research interests. She enjoys teaching all areas of accounting and new technologies associated with audit analytics.

Hongxia Wan, associate professor of finance, was an associate professor of finance at Ashland University. She completed her undergraduate study in English education at Henan College of Education in China, MBA at Indiana University South Bend, and Ph.D. in finance at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Her teaching interests include corporate finance, financial institutions, international finance, investment, and personal finance; her research interests are corporate finance, CEO turnover and succession, corporate control and governance, corporate responsibilities, bank risks and performance.

Spadoni College of Education

Catharina Middleton, assistant professor of early childhood education, is most recently from Greenville, N.C., where she was an assistant professor of mathematics education at East Carolina University. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in elementary education with a biology concentration from North Carolina Central University in Durham, N.C., and her Master of Education degree in K-8 mathematics education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She taught public school for 14 years and earned her National Board Certification as an Early Childhood-Generalist in 2000. Middleton has also served as an instructional coach, grant project manager, and district mathematics specialist. She earned a Ph.D. in Culture, Curriculum and Change with a concentration in elementary mathematics education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2013.

Renee Manhoff, lecturer of literacy education, earned her Bachelor of Science in special education and elementary education from Winthrop University and a master’s degree in early childhood education from the College of Charleston. She also has a master’s degree in supervision and curriculum from Converse College and additional graduate work in the area of language and literacy from the University of South Carolina. She has worked in South Carolina and Georgia schools as a classroom teacher, reading specialist, and literacy coach. Manhoff comes to us from the S.C. Department of Education, where she worked in the Office of Early Learning and Literacy, supporting schools across the state, by training reading coaches and teachers and helping to implement Read to Succeed. She will primarily be teaching foundational reading and literacy courses to preservice early childhood education majors.

Anthony Setari, assistant professor of educational research methods, holds a doctorate in education policy, measurement, and evaluation from the University of Kentucky and a master’s degree in teaching from The Johns Hopkins University. Setari was previously a Data Fellow with the Strategic Data Project at Harvard University’s Center for Education Policy Research and a Teach for America middle school educator. He specializes in the measurement and evaluation of non-traditional academic environments, particularly Montessori classrooms.

Gupta College of Science

Yurly Bulka, visiting assistant professor of mathematics, completed his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering at National Aerospace University (U.S.S.R.), master’s degree in economics at University of Missouri at Columbia and master’s degree in mathematics at the University of Alabama. He earned his Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Alabama in 2006. He has been teaching entry and upper level mathematics for 12 years, most recently at Virginia Tech. Since earning his doctorate, he has been active in research, publishing in journals, presenting at conferences and working with graduate students. His current research is in the field of Numerical Analysis, specifically Multiple Volterra Integral Equations.

Paul Cerkez, visiting assistant professor of computer science, completed his Ph.D. in 2012, and his research interests include artificial intelligence and hybrid neural networks. Cerkez is a retired United States Marine and his industry experience includes more than 28 years in software development, more than 22 years of naval aviation avionics in the areas of general aviation electronics support and automated test equipment, as well as project manager/developer for multiple artificial intelligence logistics planning and configuration management software packages. He has several years of teaching experience, including serving on the dissertation committee for multiple students. Cerkez has recently relocated to the area from Maryland.

Kelly Elliott, assistant professor of recreation and sport management, earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in physical education and received her master’s degree in sport management from Drexel University. She earned her doctorate in kinesiology and health (sport administration) from Georgia State University. Her primary areas of research surround college athletics and have focused on providing the industry with best practices and policies, in addition to analyzing staffing challenges, marketing research/development, and diversity and inclusion. Kelly resides in Myrtle Beach with her husband Jessel and their son, Theodore.

Fei Gao, assistant professor of recreation and sport management, was an associate professor in the Department of Physical Education at China University of Political Science and Law, a consultant for Nike China, a coach for college basketball, an interpreter and coach in both first and second division of China Basketball Association, a supervisor for the Beijing Summer Olympic Games, and a visiting professor at Syracuse University. Fei Gao earned his bachelor’s degree in kinesiology and a master’s degree in physical education at Beijing Sport University. He moved to South Carolina to continue his academic career as a Ph.D. student in the Department of Sport and Entertainment Management in the College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management at University of South Carolina. Fei Gao’s research interests focus on social leverage within mega sporting events, team identity, and application of virtual reality in sport management courses.

Monica Gray, associate professor and director of engineering science, comes to us from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania where she was a faculty member in Civil and Environmental Engineering. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of South Florida. At CCU, she plans to help build the Engineering Science program through international internships and providing opportunities through her research in environmental engineering and its intersections with public health.

Paul Hill, assistant professor of statistics, completed his bachelor’s degree in statistics at the University of the West Indies and his Master of Science at Florida State University. He earned his Ph.D. in statistics from Florida State University in 2012. He has taught a variety of statistics-based classes, most recently at Tallahassee Community College. Since earning his doctorate, he has been active in research, publishing in journals, and presenting at conferences or universities. His current research interests include statistics education, course development and assessment and pedagogical research.

Michele Holskey, assistant professor of nursing, D.N.P., R.N., N.E.A.-B.C., earned her doctorate in nursing practice from Case Western Reserve University, and Master of Science in nursing and Bachelor of Science in nursing degrees from the University of Virginia. Holskey most recently worked as the information technology clinical educator for McLeod Health. She has spent the last five years as a nurse excellence and quality patient care consultant to New York-Presbyterian Hospital in support of their journey to achieve ANCC Magnet® designation. She previously served as Assistant Professor at Jefferson College of Health Sciences in Roanoke, Virginia, and in a variety of nurse leader and advanced practice clinical positions for Carilion Clinic in Virginia.

Yan Lyanski, visiting assistant professor of mathematics, completed his bachelor’s degree in mathematics at Temple University. He also earned his Ph.D. from Temple University in 2002. He has taught many levels of mathematics classes for 17 years, most recently at Guilford Technical Community College in Jamestown, N.C. Since earning his doctorate, he has been active in research as well as presentations at conferences and universities. His current research interests involve Probability Theory, Mathematical Physics, Finance, Chaos Theory, Quantum Computing and Random Walks.

Neda Naseri, visiting assistant professor of physics, is a plasma physicist who earned her doctorate from the University of Alberta. Most recently, she was a member of the faculty at the CyFair campus of Lone Star College in Houston, Texas. While at CCU she will be teaching physics for life science majors.

Jennifer A. Scholosser, assistant professor of sociology, earned her Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Missouri. She comes to us from Colorado State University at Pueblo. She has taught a wide variety of classes that are sure to be of interest to our students. These classes include: Race, Crime, and Justice, Community Corrections, Classical and Contemporary Theory, Drugs & Society, and several classes that complement those already taught. Her research has largely centered on prisons and inmates.

Carrie Schuman, visiting assistant professor of marine science, will teach marine science courses, including those focused on fisheries and marine mammals. She recently finished her doctorate in interdisciplinary ecology with a focus in fisheries and aquatic sciences at the University of Florida. Her dissertation focused on oyster ecosystem services. Prior to this, she earned a bachelor’s in marine and freshwater biology at the University of New Hampshire and a master’s in marine science and technology at the University of Massachusetts at Boston.

Subhash Subedi, visiting assistant professor of mathematics, completed his bachelor’s degree in mathematics and economics at Tribhuvan University (Nepal), master’s degree (M.A.) in mathematics at Tribhuvan University and master’s degree (M.S.) in mathematics at the University of Lafayette. He is finalizing his dissertation, entitled “Analysis of Blow-up and Quenching for Caputo Fractional Reaction-Diffusion Equation” at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He has taught many levels of Mathematics classes for nine years, most recently at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He has been active in publishing as well as presenting at conferences and universities.

Skye A. Woestehoff, assistant professor of psychology, earned her Ph.D. in general psychology with a legal psychology concentration from the University of Texas at El Paso. Woestehoff has spent the last three years as a post-doctoral scholar in the Department of Criminology, Law, and Society at George Mason University. She will teach courses in general psychology, statistics and psychology of law. Her research interests include police investigative decision-making, interrogation techniques, and jurors’ perceptions of interrogations and confessions.

Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts

Yontan Binyam, visiting assistant professor of religious studies, has areas of scholarship in early Christianity and Judaism, especially as they were received in Africa. He has a B.A. in history from Milligan College (2009), an M.A. in the history of Christianity from the Wheaton College Graduate School (2012), and a Ph.D. in Religion from Florida State University (2017). Binyam’s dissertation investigates how Josephus’ Jewish War was received in medieval Ethiopia. His teaching interests include the history of Christianity, Christian-Jewish and Christian-Muslim relations, and method and theory in studying religion.

Alisha M. Cromwell, assistant professor of history, earned her dual B.A. in history and anthropology from San Francisco State University, her M.A in public history from the University of South Carolina, and her Ph.D. in history from the University of Georgia. Cromwell previously worked as an instructor at the University of North Georgia and Athens Technical College. Her book chapter, “The Gendered Nature of the Marketplace: Female Entrepreneurs in 19th Century Slave Societies,” will be published in Female Entrepreneurs in the 19th Century: Towards a Global Perspective. Cromwell’s research and teaching interests include capitalism, slavery, women’s studies, geography and map making.

Ilhem Daadaa, 2019-2020 Fulbright Language Teaching Assistant for Arabic, holds a master’s degree in cultural studies as well as a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Sousse in Tunisia, where she completed a thesis entitled “The Impact of Exchange Programs on the Cultural Intelligence  of Tunisian Exchange Students.” After completing a research project entitled “Migrants in Countries in Crisis” she was selected to participate in a summer school organized by the International Organization of Migration during September 2018. She has worked as a private tutor, translator and interpreter in English, French and Arabic. As the 2019-2020 Fulbright Language Teaching Assistant for Arabic at CCU, she wishes to achieve her dream of teaching in a multicultural society.

Kristen Fleckenstein, assistant professor of English, earned a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Arlington after defending a dissertation titled “‘Well I don’t like abortion,’ ‘Well then don’t have one’: A Corpus-assisted Discourse Analysis of the Stance Functions of Some Discourse Markers in Mediated Abortion Debate.” A linguist by training, her research interests include language and gender, political discourse, media discourse, register variation, stance, and speech acts.

Arianna Fognani, assistant professor of Italian, completed a Ph.D. in Italian Studies with a dissertation titled “Sensuous Wanderings: Urban Spaces in the Literary Imagination of Italian Writers in Alexandria, Egypt.” She also holds an M.A. in Italian Studies from Rutgers; prior to that she studied at the University of Sienna in Arezzo and the University of Warwick. Fognani served as a Language Fellow at Vassar and Bard College and a Visiting Instructor at the University of Rochester. From 2016-2019 she was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Franklin & Marshall College, where she taught courses at all undergraduate levels in Italian language and culture. She has presented her research on Italian writers’ encounters with Egypt at conferences in North America and Italy and has also presented on the application of digital narratives to the Italian language classroom.

Joshua Glasner, visiting assistant professor of music, recently completed his doctorate at New York University. He holds a Master of Music in voice performance and pedagogy from Westminster Choir College and a Bachelor of Music in applied voice from the University of Delaware. His dissertation, which was completed in collaboration with the Thomas Edison National Historical Park and members of the Metropolitan Opera, studied the relationship between the singing voice and historical recording technology. Current research interests include historical recording technology, historical singing, teaching efficacy, spectral analysis of the singing voice, the transgender singing voice and training methods, and community music. He will teach courses in applied voice and maintains a private voice studio in New York City where he teaches musical theatre, Western classical, and contemporary commercial music styles to young professionals.

Erica Kupinski, assistant professor of music, holds a Bachelor of Music degree in music education from Augusta State University, a Master of Music in music education from the University of Georgia and a Ph.D. in music from the University of Mississippi. She taught middle school chorus (6-8), elementary music (PK-5), and adapted music education (PK-12) in Georgia, and previously held a faculty position at Murray State University. Her research interests include early childhood/elementary music, the history of music education, music teacher education, and musician health and wellness. She will be teaching courses related to early childhood/elementary music and music education.

Saja Parvizian, assistant professor of philosophy, has scholarly expertise in early modern philosophy (17th/18th century) and Islamic philosophy. He has a B.A. in psychology from the University of California at Davis, an M.A. in philosophy from San Francisco State University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Chicago (2018). His dissertation was on how Descartes’ ethics relates to the broader systematic aspects of Descartes’ philosophy. His teaching interests include early modern philosophy, classical Islamic philosophy, and Islamic and Jewish political philosophy.

Victoria Pickett, assistant professor of graphic design, is originally from Cleveland, Ohio, and earned her MFA in visual communication design from Kent State University and completed her bachelor’s degree at Cleveland State. She recently made the move to South Carolina from Flagstaff, Ariz., where she taught at Northern Arizona University for four years. There she taught typography, branding and senior capstone and led a biennial summer study abroad to the Netherlands to research its culture and design. She is an active member of AIGA (the professional association for graphic design) and was the faculty advisor for the NAU student group. Her research interests are looking at what students learn in a study abroad through curriculum, country and culture and personal growth.

Renee Searfoss, lecturer of history, is originally from the Midwest and completed her master’s and doctorate degrees at Purdue University. Her research interests include: film, labor and social movements. Her teaching interests are varied and include: history through film, labor, women, politics/business and social movements.

Natalie Szabo, assistant professor of music, will be teaching flute, clarinet and chamber music. She is coming to us from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock where she taught clarinet, chamber music, music education and music theory courses. Szabo is an orchestral musician and has actively performed with The Arkansas Symphony, Tallahassee Symphony, Charlottesville Symphony, Lynchburg Symphony, Chicago Metropolitan Symphony, DuPage Symphony and the Tomorrow Music Orchestra. She has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy and Tanzania. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in music education and clarinet performance from Roosevelt University, The Chicago College of Performing Arts where she studied with Greg and Carolee Smith of the Chicago Symphony. She received her Master of Music and Doctorate of Music from Florida State University where she studied with Frank Kowalsky and Deborah Bish.

HTC Honors College

Darcy Coughlan, lecturer of interdisciplinary studies, earned a Master of Science degree in environmental sciences and policy from John Hopkins University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Northwestern University. Previously, Coughlan was a teaching associate in the HTC Honors College and Center for Interdisciplinary Studies. She also worked in the Center for Global Engagement as a study abroad adviser. Prior to joining Coastal Carolina University, Coughlan held various positions in the environmental sector helping communities protect their natural resources. She will be teaching courses in sustainability and environmental studies.