About Us

A variety of individuals and groups from across campus work to provide critical support, coordination, and decision-making to further the work of BTU: Partnerships at work for Greater Baltimore.

Office of Partnerships and Outreach

The Office of Partnerships and Outreach (OPO) within the Division of Strategic Partnerships and Applied Research is tasked with managing BTU. The OPO-BTU team serves as the front door of the university for external partners and makes connections between TU's faculty, staff, students, and stakeholders. This includes strategic partnership management, data collection and utilization, reporting, marketing and communications, event management, funding support management, and cross-campus convening.

OPO-BTU Team	Email
Kathleen Crostic Interim Executive Director, Office of Partnerships and Outreach	kcrostic AT_TOWSON
Matthew Durington, Ph.D. Faculty Director, Community Engagement and Partnerships	mdurington AT_TOWSON
Tess Heron Engagement and Data Manager	theron AT_TOWSON

BTU Council

The BTU Council is comprised of individuals from across campus who work closely with community and corporate partners. Modeled as a think-tank, this group helps to support partnerships and relationships by raising awareness internally and externally, identifying opportunities for growth and expansion, evaluating impacts and outcomes, developing working teams to address strategic initiatives or challenges, while also serving as the advisory group to university leadership. The BTU Council includes representatives from every academic college and administrative division.

BTU Council Members

Name	Division/College	Department
David Merino	Academic Affairs	Faculty Academic Center of Excellence at Towson
Anne Greene	Academic Affairs	Office of Sponsored Programs and Research
Alexei Kolesnikov	Academic Affairs	Provost's Office
Chanel Franze	Administration and Finance	Procurement Department
Joselyn Johnson	Administration and Finance	Procurement Department
Woodrow Myers	Administration and Finance	Public Safety
Lauren Hoskins	Athletics	Operations
Dahne Brown-Boyer	Athletics
Lisa Michocki	College of Business and Economics	Student Academic and Career Services
Chaodong Han	College of Business and Economics	e-Business and Techonology Management
Gilda Martinez-Alba	College of Education	Elementary Education
Vicky Cai	College of Education	Instructional Leadership and Professional Development
Joseph Gotoff	College of Fine Arts and Communications	Music
Gerald Jerome	College of Health Professions	Kinesiology
Sonia Lawson	College of Health Professions	Occupational Therapy and Occupational Science
Carrie Grant	College of Liberal Arts	English
Matthew Durington	College of Liberal Arts; Strategic Partnerships and Applied Research	Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice; Office of Partnerships and Outreach
Sarah Haines	Fisher College of Science and Mathematics	Biological Sciences
Bryan Mull	General Counsel
Sheldon Miller	Graduate Student Association Representative
Joyce Garczynski	Library	Research and Instruction
Rhea Nedd	Office of Inclusion and Institutional Equity	Center for Student Diversity
LaVern Chapman	Office of Inclusion and Institutional Equity
Brian Jara	Office of Inclusion and Institutional Equity	Inclusive Excellence Education and Support
Jen Stano	Operations and Human Resources	Office of Human Resources
Nicholas Gingue	Operations and Human Resources	Facilities Management
Katie Maloney	President's Office	Neighborhood and Government Relations
Tracy Jacobs	Strategic Partnerships and Applied Research	Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
Kathleen Crostic	Strategic Partnerships and Applied Research	Office of Partnerships and Outreach
Tess Heron	Strategic Partnerships and Applied Research	Office of Partnerships and Outreach
Ardys Russakis	Strategic Partnerships and Applied Research	StarTUp
Lorie Logan-Bennett	Student Affairs	Career Center
Romy Hübler	Student Affairs	Civic Engagement and Social Responsibility
Roodinz Vital	Student Affairs	Fraternity and Sorority Life
Dario DiBattista	Student Affairs	Military and Veterans Center
Carolyn Harris	Student Affairs	Student Activities
Aaron Saunders	Student Affairs	Student Success Programs
Shawn Bell	Student Government Association Representative
Sirantou Tratore	Student Government Association Representative
Amy Moffat	University Admissions
Melanie Kelleher	University Advancement	Corporate Relations
Geaninne Callaghan	University Advancement	Foundation Relations
Louise Miller	University Advancement	University Promotions and Events
Jamie Abell	University Marketing	Communications and Media Relations

Towson University was the first higher education institution in the state of Maryland to receive the prestigious community engagement classification by Carnegie. As a leader in community engagement practice there a number of principles that the BTU team and our campus partners adhere to in their work. We hold to 'the principle of debt incurred' meaning that we value the time and localized specialized knowledge of our collaborators. We also seek to extend community engagement beyond volunteerism to ensure a two-way exchange of knowledge with our collaborators. To learn how Towson University is defining this work, view our Engagement Glossary (PDF).

Community Engagement Guiding Principles

Transparency and Communication

Involve your partner in the planning and decision making processes related to your collaboration. Stay in touch regularly and make sure that you are not only communicating progress and next steps, but also asking for and addressing the needs of the partner and identifying each other’s roles and responsibilities.

Feedback

All partners captured within the BTU Database will be asked to provide feedback on their partnership with TU at the end of each academic year. This feedback is necessary for the community engagement Carnegie classification for TU. This feedback will be provided to the associated TU faculty and/or staff. It is ethically sound and necessary to welcome feedback from your collaborators on an ongoing basis to measure successes and determine areas of improvement.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

All community engagement and partnership work should be connected to diversity, equity, and inclusion in all facets of work. This ethos should extend beyond recognition of diversity, equity, and inclusion to critical thought about structural conditions that affect our community collaborators.

A few things to keep in mind:

Collect an understanding of organizations, communities, and their histories before engaging
Make sure that the community voice is at the table throughout all stages of a collaboration, including the planning phase
Listen first - our community partners are experts on their communities and their needs
Ensure that the work being developed is sustainable and projects can be completed
Hold inclusive conversations, utilizing the correct language and terms, without making assumptions. For resources to enhance faculty, staff, and student cultural competency, visit the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Resources page
Create mutually beneficial partnerships, they should provide opportunities for not just TU, but also for community partners.

Explore new opportunities

There are a great deal of resources, needs, and expertise across campus. Be open to brainstorming new collaboration ideas with your partner, to expand beyond your college or division.

Fulfilling commitments

A lot of planning and follow through is involved in the development of partnerships, on both sides. If you make a commitment to a partner, be sure to see it through. If any unexpected changes come up along the way, communicate them quickly with your partner.

Community based research

There are several universities that have published guides and recommendations for community engagement and community based research. We enjoy a strong sharing relationship with these institutions and their work and recommend viewing some of these resources shared.