Meet the Team

• Associate Professor, Department of Political Science (1998- present)
• Interim Director, Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (2022-2023)
• B.A. 1992, Niagara University
• M.A. 1996, Binghamton University (formerly SUNY Binghamton)
• Ph.D. 1998, Binghamton University (formerly SUNY Binghamton)

Dr. Michelle Kukoleca Hammes has taught in the Political Science Department at St. Cloud State for the past 24 years.  During that time, she has served as a faculty co-director of the SCSU Survey and as director of the Democratic Citizenship core component of our previous general education program.  Her desire to mentor and collaborate with fellow instructors began during graduate school where she was the first graduate coordinator at Binghamton University of the Preparing Future Professors Program, sponsored by the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), a Pew Charitable Trust initiative.  Currently, she serves as the facilitator for the SCSU cohort working on their four-course Certificate in Effective Teaching Practice through the Association of College and University Educators (ACUE).   In 2021 she received her Certificate in Effective College Instruction from ACUE and is beginning to work toward the advanced certificate.

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• Previously serving as Interim Director of CETL, Dr. Japp has transitioned into retirement while still assisting CETL in the completion of several projects.

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• Dr. Ashlee's interest in academic belonging is rooted in her study of mindfulness and well-being. Her work aims to create an academic community that encourages students not only to perceive the information they are given but to have the freedom to add to it. In addition to acting as a Fellow of Belonging for CETL, Dr. Ashlee works within the College Counseling and Student Development master's program.  Previous to this involvement, Dr. Ashlee worked in student affairs and higher education for more than a decade in a variety of functional areas including service-learning, multicultural affairs, international education, and social justice education.

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• Research interests: Critical autoethnography as healing and liberatory methodology, poststructural possibilities for student affairs praxis, and the racialized experiences of underrepresented Asian Americans in higher education (specifically transracial adoptees and Hmong Americans).

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• Dr. Tilstra has a cross disciplinary background with clinical training in speech language pathology and research training in educational psychology. She regularly consults with community organizations to facilitate planning, prioritize strategies, and develop applied research/assessment plans. While serving as a Fellow for SoTL, Dr. Tilstra is also acting as an Associate Professor for the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders and will be serving as Graduate Director in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders in the 2022-2023 academic year.
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• Interests: Fluency Disorders; Language and Reading Disorders; Bilingual Language Development, Interprofessional Education and Practice; Culturally Responsive and Antiracist Practices; Wellbeing/Belonging; Applied/Action Research; SPEAK OUT® and LOUD Crowd® certified.