Meet the Staff
Jaclyn Wells, Director
Jaclyn received a Ph.D. in English (Rhetoric and Composition) from Purdue University in 2010. Her book, Partners in Literacy: A Writing Center Model for Civic Engagement (co-authored with Allen Brizee), describes a three-year engagement project involving the Purdue OWL and two adult literacy organizations in Lafayette, Indiana. Jaci has directed the UWC since 2012. She is SafeZone certified. You can read more about her on the Department of English website.
Fun Facts: To date, Jaclyn has never lost a game of Seinfeld trivia. Her corgi mix, Travis, is Instagram famous.
Brianna Carnley, Program Administrator
Bri graduated from UAB in April 2022. Her major was English with a concentration in creative writing and her minor was Philosophy. Before becoming the Program Administrator, she worked as a tutor for the UWC during her senior year. She plans on taking a gap year (or two) before pursuing her Master’s.
Fun Facts: Bri loves movies, specifically adventure movies! Some of her favorites are The Mummy (1999), The Princess Bride (1987), and Stardust (2007). Every fall/winter, she has to have a Lord of the Rings marathon or else it just doesn’t feel like fall/winter.
Emmett Christolear, Graduate Assistant Director
Emmett Christolear is a second-year graduate student. He earned his BA in English from UAB in 2015. He is a faculty member of the Ada Long Creative Writing Workshop and is a teaching fellow with Desert Island Supply Co. He has acted off-and-on as a session leader for the Alabama Scholastic Press Association and Space One Eleven. His writing has been published in Aura Literary Magazine, Screen Door Review, Rogue Agent, and Black Napkin Press. With a focus on poetry, his writing aims to celebrate the Southern Queer Experience. He is SafeZone certified.
Fun Facts: His dream closet would include a Demin jacket in every color and patterns like animal print, flames, and checkers. This closet would also have a custom-sized Converse-specific shoe shelf full of every color to match.
Maggie Sharp, Graduate Assistant Director
Maggie Sharp is one of the assistant directors of the UWC. She is also a second year English graduate student and teaching assistant. She recently completed her BA in Literature (2021) and a minor in Linguistics at UAB. Outside of tutoring, Maggie loves writing, reading, getting into niche fandoms, and writing fanfiction about said niche fandoms.
Fun Facts: Maggie knows all of the lyrics to songs in Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, an operatic, techno-pop musical based on seventy pages from Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace.
Mike Boody, Graduate Tutor
Mike is a graduate student seeking his Master's in English. After receiving his MAEd from UAB in 2013, he served as the Education Director for Red Mountain Park for three years before teaching high school English and Film at Spring Valley School, where he worked primarily with dyslexic students. His passion for teaching is driven by a love of helping reluctant students find a gateway to understanding and enjoying all things English — from expressing themselves through writing to analyzing literature. He lives in Birmingham with his wife, Jessica, basset hounds Izzy and Zoe, and cats Lyle and Butterball.
Fun Facts: Mike has a completely useless talent of spelling words alphabetically (a-a-a-b-c-e-h-i-l-l-l-p-t-y).
Shannon Bradt, Undergraduate Tutor
Shannon is an undergrad (this is her last semester!) at UAB. She is a double-major in English and Philosophy. She attended the Alabama School of Fine Arts for high school as a creative writer, and is finishing what she started there by concentrating in Creative Writing for her English major. She plans on pursuing an MFA in poetry when she graduates (which will be in December! Knock wood).
Fun Facts: The English department sent Shannon to the Longleaf Writer’s Conference in Seaside, Florida this summer and she had a blast! Before she came back to school full-time, she worked at a vet clinic for six years and once assisted with a live puppy birth.
Mason Cosper, Undergraduate Tutor
Mason is a transfer student from Wallace State Community College. He is a junior, majoring in Secondary Education with a concentration in literature. He hopes to teach high school for a few years, then return to college to get a Ph.D. in Medieval Literature. Mason is also am planning to visit the United Kingdom to see some locations discussed in medieval literature. He hopes to help contribute to the discussions around old English literature, and to be able to read old English as well. Sir Gawain and The Green Knight is the poem/story that sparked his interest in this type of literature. Mason has received additional training in assisting with multimodal projects.
Fun Facts: Mason loves horror movies, Mike Flannagan ("Haunting of Hill House") is probably his favorite director. He also enjoys trying to write short stories to hopefully create an anthology book one day.
Urnisha Dutta, Graduate Tutor
Urnisha is a first-year master’s student with a major in English Literature and Language. She completed her bachelor's and master’s program in English Literature in India and is eager to attend a second master's program at UAB. Her concentration is specifically on American Literature in which she plans to pursue a Ph.D. degree later. Urnisha has worked as a senior academic research analyst in India where she supported international students and assisted them in improving their writing skills. She looks forward to helping more students in the future and enabling them to have great academic accomplishments.
Fun Facts: Urnisha can spend the entire day eating potato chips, drinking coffee, and running after neighbors’ pets. She is a connoisseur of music and whenever she is in deep thoughts, she cannot help humming some of her favorites
Rebecca Foushee, Adjunct Tutor
Rebecca Foushee graduated from UAB with a B.A. in English Literature and a Creative Writing minor in December 2018 and a M.A. in English in December 2020. Currently, she teaches First Year Composition at UAB. She has contributed poetry, a short story, and an essay to UAB’s Aura Literary Magazine.
Fun Facts: Rebecca is a comedy movie connoisseur and can quote many movies off the top of her head. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and her cat, Simba.
MJ Freeman, Undergraduate Tutor
Born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, Ms. Mia J. Freeman graduated with honors from Wenonah High School. Thereafter, she obtained her Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in Psychology from the illustrious Benedict College. Currently, MJ is pursuing her Master of Arts in English at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. After graduating from UAB, MJ wants to obtain a Ph.D. in hopes of teaching at a four-year university one day.
Fun Facts: MJ loves watching romantic-comedy movies and spending time with friends.
Sarah Goggans, Adjunct Tutor
Sarah received her B.A. in English from Auburn University and her M.A. in English from UAB. She teaches Freshman Composition at UAB, and she enjoys working with students from all writing disciplines.
Fun Facts: In her spare time, she likes reading fantasy novels, playing Super Smash Brothers, and spending time with her dog (Walter) and cat (Nerf).
Jordan Gough, Undergraduate Tutor
Jordan Gough is a third-year undergraduate student at UAB. She is double majoring in English and Education and hopes to become a high school English teacher. She is currently the contemporary worship director at her church (FBCL), and she loves leading worship there every Sunday. When you don’t catch her on campus, she is most likely back home in Leeds hanging out with family and friends, playing instruments, drawing, reading, or gaming.
Fun Facts: Jordan can figure out how to play any instrument you give her…it just may be annoying if you stick around while she’s trying to figure it out.
Madison Hogg, Graduate Tutor
Madison is a second-year graduate student working toward her M.A. in English. She graduated from Troy University Dothan in May 2020 with a B.S. in English and a second major in Psychology. Most of her work concerns the intersection of literature and psychology, with special interests in gender, interpersonal relationships, and spirituality. She is writing her thesis on the role complicated grief plays in Frankenstein. Madison has received additional training in assisting with multimodal projects.
Fun Facts: Madison's current hobbies include reading fantasy novels (especially ones where the characters have apostrophes in their names), listening to The Mountain Goats, and watching anime.
Shannon House, Adjunct Tutor
Shannon graduated from UAB with an M.A. in English in April 2019. Before UAB, she received her B.A. in English with a minor in French from the University of South Alabama. During her second year at UAB, she was the Co-Assistant Director of the Writing Center, and she absolutely loved her time spent working with students and her fellow tutors.
Fun Facts: Shannon has an extensive movie collection, but she is particularly interested in horror movies (especially those produced by A24). In her free time (and in non-pandemic circumstances), she loves live music, museums, and road trips.
Anna Lacruz, Graduate Tutor
Anna LaCruz is a first-year graduate student at UAB. In 2021, she completed a double major B.A. in English (Literature) and an IDM B.S. in Education. In the past year she has tutored privately and taught intimidatingly large groups of preschoolers. Anna has experience in science writing, as her first two and a half years at UAB were as a Neuroscience major. She also has experience in essays and projects from the Education department.
Fun Facts: Anna loves science fiction and fantasy, but her favorite franchise is Star Wars. She loves to watch the various animated series and read the accompanying Star Wars novels. Her other interests include robots, movies, mood-specific Spotify playlists, and the beach.
Lauren McInnis, Graduate Tutor
Lauren is a first-year graduate student working towards her MA in English literature. Raised in Enterprise, AL, Lauren attended UAB for her undergraduate degree, graduating with a BA in English literature and a minor in Psychology in May of 2021. The highlight of her time as an undergrad was writing her thesis, "The Six Steps of the Redemption Narrative." She identified a basic path that all redemption narratives follow and used this to analyze nine British Romantic and Victorian redemptions plus "Little Red Cap" and "The Parable of the Prodigal Son." After graduating, Lauren took a break from school and spent a gap year working at her hometown's public library before returning for graduate school.
Fun Facts: Lauren can make anything. She sews, knits, crochets, paints, book binding, printmaking, etc. If you give her the materials and the time, she can figure out how to make it.
Tisha Morrisey, Adjunct Tutor
Tisha is a collector of degrees, ranging from Psychology and Counseling to Literature. She loves writing and focusing on the Gothic, with an emphasis on the use of doubling and the sublime. Currently, she works at UAB as an academic advisor in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Fun Facts: As an avid reader of the young-adult, fantasy, and gothic genres, Tisha also appreciates the occasional work of romanticism and the like. A proud Ravenclaw, she makes sure to read the Harry Potter series every single year.
Kate Oakley, Adjunct Tutor
Kate received a Master’s degree in Writing, Literature, and Publishing from Emerson College in 2003. After working as an editor in educational publishing, she realized how much she missed working directly with students, so she became certified to teach English as a Second Language and began teaching ESL and writing. She has taught students from around the world ages 17—55+. She especially enjoys helping students recognize and develop their own voice.
Fun Facts: Kate tried cross-stitching during a recent trend and now buys more floss than she will ever use. Kate also plays Wordle with way too much intensity, haphazardly tends houseplants, and likes walking and hiking with her husband, son, and dog.
Madison Owens, Graduate Tutor
Madison Owens is a first-year graduate student pursing her MA in English. She recently graduated from Birmingham-Southern College with a BA in English and a minor in Political Science. She hopes to eventually pursue her PhD, and one day become a professor.
Fun Facts: In her spare time, she enjoys reading, writing, and watching movies.
Marianee Pichardo, Front Desk Attendant
Marianee is a sophomore majoring in Secondary Education with a concentration in English and a minor in psychology. She plans to one day teach middle school English.
Fun Facts: In her free time Marianee likes to read poetry and attempts to write it as well. You can probably find her studying at the library with friends, watching K-dramas, or sleeping(a lot).
Kay Popple, Adjunct Tutor
Kay Popple received their BA in English with a major in English Literature and minor in Creative Writing from UAB in 2020. They also received a Master's in Publishing and Creative Writing from City, University of London in 2022. They have a love for reading, especially classics, horror, and queer literature. They also have a passion for editing all kinds of writing.
Fun Facts: Kay spends most of their free time playing a certain award winning MMO, knitting, or taking care of their 16-year-old cat (pictures available on request).
Kaylie Rastegar, Undergraduate Tutor
Kaylie Rastegar is a senior English major who is concentrating in creative writing. Kaylie loves reading and writing. In the future, she hopes to earn a masters and PhD to eventually become an English professor.
Fun Facts: Kaylie loves to spend her free time watching movies/tv shows, hanging out with her family, and listening to music or podcasts.
Jessica Robbins, Adjunct Tutor
Jessica (she/her) earned her M.A. in English in 2020 and has been working in higher education ever since. She currently holds a full-time position as an academic advisor at UAB, and she has previously tutored writing and taught English composition. Jessica’s favorite type of essay to assist with is anything nursing or healthcare related, but she welcomes any opportunity to help students improve their writing. She is SafeZone certified.
Fun Facts: Jessica and her spouse share their home with two cats, two axolotls, and over 500 books. She loves reading young adult fiction and crocheting. Her goal for 2023 is to make a temperature blanket.
Jace Rose, Graduate Tutor
Jace Rose is a second-year master's student studying creative writing and working on her collection of short stories and poems. She graduated with an associate's at Jefferson State many years ago and then received her bachelor's from UAB in 2021, missing her studies and fellow students just one week later. (So here she is now, back at it!) Jace has received additional training in assisting with multimodal projects.
Fun Facts: Jace loves hiking with her German Shepherd and Lab, foraging for mushrooms she can cook and make tea with, going on adventures (especially travel ones), playing music and gigs and video games and cooking spaghetti like her Gram. She also loves Indian food more than almost anything, barring her husband and puppy doggies.
Caitlyn Smith, Undergraduate Tutor
Caitlyn is a junior majoring in Secondary Education with a concentration in English and a minor in literature. She is a member of the Alpha Xi Delta, Theta Phi chapter. She hopes to teach high school English and work with international students.
Fun Facts: Caitlyn loves quality time with others. She is a Hufflepuff, enjoys coffee, watching Gilmore Girls, and reading anything but the books she already owns. Her favorite book is Wuthering Heights, and her favorite film is Emma (2020).
Victoria Sutton, Undergraduate Tutor
Victoria Sutton is a senior Computer Science major and Music minor. She is in the University Honors Program and founded Women in Tech at UAB. Most of her education experience comes from working as a flute instructor and marching technician, but she is passionate about helping others expand their writing skills as an exercise of enriching cognitive reasoning and developing confidence in themselves. She also has experience in filmmaking, with her work being shown at this year’s Sidewalk Film Festival.
Fun Facts: Victoria has memorized 30 songs by The Eagles, including all the songs in order in both the Hotel California and Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) albums. Along with classic rock and oldies, she enjoys video game OSTs, with The Legend of Zelda being her favorite series.
Lorice Tolbert, Graduate Tutor
Lorice Tolbert is a graduate student pursuing an M.A. in English. Lorice earned a B.A. in English with a concentration in Creative Writing from Miles College. Lorice has self-published two children’s books to encourage reading among young members of her family. She hopes to continue doing so for even more young children. Lorice has received additional training in assisting with multimodal projects.
Fun Facts: Even though Lorice is a firm believer that the book is always better than the movie, she still watches the Lord of the Rings trilogy and almost anything Jane Austen over and over again.
Chloe Tombo, Undergraduate Tutor
Chloe Tombo is a sophomore undergraduate student with a double major in English and Philosophy. She plans to go to law school with hopes of becoming an Immigration or Family lawyer. But she is still open to changes and has in mind of earning her masters and Ph.D. to become an English professor. She would love to teach a Russian literature class one day.
Fun Facts: In her free time, Chloe is usually making art with ideas that float around her head. She loves hiking and spending hours in bookstores looking at books (sometimes leaving with more than three or nothing) and making random jokes. She is a tea connoisseur, and her favorite tea is Earl Grey with a splash of oat milk.
Mallorie Turner, Graduate Tutor
Mallorie is a current senior double majoring in English with a concentration in Professional Writing and Molecular Biology with a minor in Studio Art. She completed the English portion of her degree by presenting an undergraduate thesis on teaching science writing to English majors. Mallorie has great experience with writing scientific documents like abstracts and lab reports in Biology, Organic Chemistry, and Physics. Her research interests include science/scientific writing best practices, genetics, virology, and cancer biology.
Fun Facts: Mallorie spends time outside of school teaching herself Spanish, learning to draw better, and reading classic novels. She also makes time to watch her favorite shows and movies on Netflix.
Maya Van Houten, Undergraduate Tutor
Maya is a senior undergraduate at UAB majoring in Public Health with a minor in Professional Writing and Public Discourse. After graduation, she plans on pursuing a graduate degree in Public Health with a focus in health communication. Passionate about health literacy and access, Maya plans to use her love of scientific communication to connect the findings from the research lab to her community’s living room.
Fun Facts: Maya loves to travel and has studied abroad in England and Wales. In her spare time, she loves to take up new “grandma” hobbies, like cross stitch, macrame, and attempting to bake sourdough bread. One of her ultimate goals is to convince her cats it’s fun to go outside and be adventure kitties.
Sydney Whittinham, Undergraduate Tutor
Sydney Whittinham is a current third-year undergraduate student studying Kinesiology with a concentration in Exercise Science at UAB. She hopes to better understand individuals’ various physiological implications in certain rehabilitative exercises to later become a traveling physical therapist. When Sydney isn’t reading or writing, she spends her free time cooking/baking, listening to music, hanging out with friends, or watching her favorite movie Independence Day.
Fun Facts: Sydney is originally from Atlanta, Georgia, but has lived in over 15 different countries or states, the most interesting being Brazil.
Alex Yates, Undergraduate Tutor
Alex Yates is a current third-year undergraduate student in the International Studies program at UAB. She hopes to learn more about governance and the nature of human systems and pursue a career in nonprofit administration. When Alex isn’t reading or writing, she loves to spend time cooking with her friends or watching American Horror Story with her roommate!
Fun Facts: Alex is also a barista at a local coffee shop and loves to practice latte art at work! You can also catch her rock climbing (or falling) at the rec wall!