Caldwell U Welcomes New Faculty!

Caldwell University has several new faculty members for the 2021 fall semester. “I am delighted to welcome our new professors to Caldwell.  They bring a tremendous amount of experience and new energy to our talented faculty,” said Peter Ubertaccio, Ph.D., Caldwell’s vice president for academic affairs.  

Stephen Meawad, Ph.D., joins the Theology/Philosophy Department. His specialty is St. Gregory of Nyssa and virtue ethics. Meawad previously taught at the University of St. Joseph and Sacred Heart University in Connecticut and St. Athanasius and St. Cyril Theological School in Anaheim, California. He has written a book on virtue ethics and spirituality coming out from Georgetown University Press later this year. Meawad earned his Ph.D. in theology from Duquesne University. He is happy to join the Caldwell faculty. “I am very excited to have important discussions with my students—conversations that allow us to discover our own perspectives, goals, shortcomings, strengths, beliefs and purposes. Even in just the few weeks I have been here, the diverse student body at Caldwell University has proven to be a bastion of intellectual and religious insight, enabling us all to access the fundamentals of education—reorientation and transformation. These are lessons we will carry with us across all careers and vocations.”

Catherine Jirak Monetti, Ph.D., RN, CNE, QTTP, has joined the faculty of the School of Nursing and Public Health as an assistant professor of nursing. Monetti has served as a faculty member at several local universities and brings to Caldwell many years of nursing education experience. She received her Ph.D. from Rutgers University and has a post-master’s certificate from the Gestalt Center for Psychotherapy and Training. She received her Master of Arts degree in nursing from New York University, a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from SUNY, Downstate Medical Center. Monetti is a certified nurse educator and maintains her certification as a qualified therapeutic touch practitioner. She looks forward to continuing the development of Caldwell’s  curriculum in the areas of  psychiatric mental health nursing and adult health nursing.  Monetti was recently interviewed by WOR710 AM and shared her research titled “A Clarion Call to Compassion: Healing Embodied Trauma with Therapeutic Touch.”   Named after the Dominican, Saint Catherine of Siena, baptized at a St. Catherine parish and educated by the Dominicans of Amityville, she is happy to be at a Catholic Dominican school. “I think my philosophy and background align with the mission of Caldwell and the School of Nursing and Public Health.”

Melissa Scollan-Koliopoulos, Ed.D., RN, becomes an associate professor of nursing in the  School of Nursing and Public Health. She brings a great deal of nursing education experience to Caldwell, having held faculty appointments at Teachers College, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Rutgers, and several other local institutions. Scollan-Koliopoulos has her Doctor of Education degree in nursing and health behavior studies from Columbia University Teachers College. She earned her Master of Science degree in nursing education and Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from St. Joseph’s College, Standish, Maine, and holds an associate degree in nursing from Bergen Community College. She maintains certification as a family nurse practitioner, diabetes advanced management nurse practitioner, certified diabetes educator and a pediatric primary care mental health specialist. Scollan-Koliopoulos is teaching and coordinating the Fundamentals of Nursing course, teaching nursing research and teaching within the Master of Science in Nursing in Population Health program. She says she is excited to join the faculty in the School of Nursing and Public Health and a university with the foundation of the Dominican Sisters “at a time when there is so much societal need and opportunity to promote health.”

Renee Shand-Lubbers, MA, LPC, NCC  is a licensed professional counselor, counselor educator and doctoral candidate in counseling at Montclair State University who focuses her teaching, research and scholarship on multicultural counseling competency and advocacy development. She has presented at state, regional and national conferences and has published several book chapters on counseling issues related to culturally responsive counseling practice and supervision. With master’s degrees in education and counseling, she has also worked with student and client populations as a K-12 educator and clinical mental health counselor. She joins  Caldwell University as a halftime instructor and clinical coordinator for graduate programs in counseling. Shand-Lubbers practices as an outpatient mental health clinician at a community-based agency serving clients across the lifespan. She appreciates the University’s overall “welcoming collegial and collaborative atmosphere,” the faculty in her department who have made the transition to a new job easier for her, and the students who have been excited and interested in their coursework.  

Beatrice Turenne, MA, LAC, NCC, has joined the faculty of the School of Nursing and Public Health as an instructor of public health education. Turenne has served as an adjunct faculty member since January 2017 and has been instrumental in developing curriculum for the program. She holds a Masters of Arts degree in counseling from Nyack, New York, Alliance Graduate School of Counseling-Alliance Theological Seminary and a Bachelor of Arts degree in social work from Seton Hall University. Turenne is a licensed associate counselor and a mental health counselor. She has done extensive work as a health educator, working with individuals and families of those infected or affected by HIV/AIDS. Turenne will serve as a faculty member, an advisor and a program coordinator and will continue to develop the public health education curriculum.

Long-time educator in the  Music Department Rob Middleton  has become a full-time faculty member after teaching at Caldwell for 27 years. Middleton has taught many music courses at Caldwell in the music major and core curriculums. His initiatives include founding and directing Caldwell’s jazz ensemble, developing new courses and organizing and performing in many concerts, both professional and student, on campus. He has received multiple faculty development grants and a recent composition commission and has been recognized for outstanding contributions to the Caldwell Educational Opportunity Fund program. Middleton is a professional jazz saxophonist, prize-winning composer, woodwind player and dedicated teacher and clinician who has performed around the U.S and abroad with many jazz greats and taught in a variety of settings. He has toured around the world with many well-known artists including Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Phil Woods, Harry Connick Jr., Lionel Hampton, the New York Voices, Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Lovano, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Woody Shaw, Oliver Lake, David Liebman, Randy Brecker, Jane Ira Bloom, Billy Hart and Jim McNeely.  In recent years, his career has expanded into significant involvement in classical music.