NYSAECTE
New York State Association of
Early Childhood Teacher Educators
PRESIDENT
Kate McCormick, PhD
Associate Professor
SUNY Cortland
TREASURER
Claudine Campanelli, EdD
Senior Director of Career Development and Higher Education
NY Early Childhood Professional Development Institute, CUNY
VICE PRESIDENT
Jennifer Gilken, PhD
Associate Professor
Borough of Manhattan Community College
MEMBER-AT-LARGE
SeungJung (SJ) Jo-Chichester, PhD
Assistant Professor
SUNY Geneseo
SECRETARY
Cristina Medellin-Paz, PhD
Associate Director
Straus Center for Young Children & Families, Bank Street College of Education
MEMBER-AT-LARGE
Bridget Turner, PhD
Adjunct Professor
CUNY
Kate McCormick
President
Dr. Kate McCormick is an Associate Professor in the Childhood/Early Childhood Education Department at SUNY Cortland. Kate is a former preschool teacher, who has been teaching and researching in the field of early childhood education for over ten years. In her current position, she assists in preparing over 600 teacher candidates through the Early Childhood/Childhood dual certification teacher education program. Kate serves on several local and regional early learning-focused advisory boards including the NYS Early Childhood Advisory Council, SUNY Cortland Child Care Center Board of Directors, and the SUNY Cortland Professional Development School Advisory Council.
Jen Gilken
Vice-President
Dr. Jennifer Gilken is the Deputy Chair and Program Coordinator of the Early Childhood Education program at Borough of Manhattan Community College. Jennifer helps support 3 education programs in the Teacher Education Department, which has approximately 30 faculty members, and over 800 early childhood students. Jennifer began her career at BMCC as an adjunct faculty member in 2001, she was appointed as a full time instructor in 2011 and an Assistant Professor in the spring of 2018.
Claudine Campanelli
Treasurer
Dr. Claudine J. Campanelli is the Director of Career Services and Higher Education at NY Early Childhood Professional Development Institute. Claudine oversees the undergraduate and graduate early childhood programming at CUNY School of Professional Studies in partnership with the Institute. She also leads the Career Services team at the Institute supporting early childhood professionals in their pursuit to obtain qualifications and roles in early childhood throughout New York State. Prior to Claudine’s appointment with CUNY in 2017 she was the director of an International Montessori program offered as a benefit to parents of a Fortune 500 IT company with schools in the United States, India, England and Australia.
Cristina Medellin
Secretary
Dr. Cristina Medelin is the Associate Director of the Straus Center for Young Children & Families at the Bank Street College of Education in New York City and a Teaching and Learning Consultant and Dual Language Content Specialist through the NYC Department of Education, Division of Early Childhood. She has a PhD in Developmental Psychology from the CUNY Graduate Center. Dr. Medelin has extensive experience with professional development and QualityStarsNY. She is a frequent presenter on topics related to multilingual learners, developmentally appropriate practice, and play. She has written and contributed to numerous publications including Guidelines for Supporting Dual Language Learners and Core Principles for Supporting Emergent Multilingual Learners through the NYC Department of Education's Division for Early Childhood Education.
Bridget Turner
Member-at-Large
Dr. Bridget Turner has a PhD in Infant & Early Childhood Development with an emphasis on Mental Health and Developmental Disorders from Fielding Graduate University. Dr. Turner has acquired an M.A. in Early Childhood Education/Administration and Spervision from New Jersey City University and a B.S. in Health Education. She is formerly a full-time Professor of Education at Essex County College, Newark, New Jersey. However, she is currently an Adjunct Professor at Essex County College, teaching education courses. Dr. Turner also is an Adjunct Professor for CUNY teaching CDA courses and CPAC courses. She is a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for Essex County. She is court-appointed to advocate for children and speak up for their best interests in court. Dr. Turner’s passion and focus has been centered on Early Childhood Education and Mental Health and assisting children with developmental disorders.
SeungJung (SJ) Jo-Chichester
Member, At-Large
Dr. SeungJung Jo is currently an Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education in the School of Education at SUNY Geneseo. Before coming to SUNY Geneseo, she taught teacher candidates in Early Childhood Education at the University of Montana Western and SUNY Buffalo. Before becoming a teacher educator, she worked with culturally and linguistically diverse children in the US and South Korea as a preschool teacher.