Meet our Students as Partners team! Roselynn, our Strategist, is responsible for the development, implementation, and evaluation of the SaP initiative; Marissa, our Evaluation Specialist, is responsible for evaluating the impact of the SaP initiative; and Polina, our Coordinator, is responsible for supporting the operational needs of the SaP initiative. Find out more about them below.
Roselynn Verwoord
Strategist
Roselynn provides leadership in the design, implementation and evaluation of the SaP initiative, along with associated funding opportunities, programs and projects. She also provides expertise on student-faculty partnerships and support the development of strategies to encourage SaP activities across campus.
Firmly believing in the importance of relationships and engaging in community, she actively seeks out opportunities to work in partnership with students and community members. In her research and teaching, she aims to create opportunities for research partners and participants to engage as equal voices in research and inquiry processes.
Roselynn holds a PhD from the Department of Educational Studies at UBC, a Master of Arts degree in Society, Culture and Politics in Education from UBC, a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Victoria, and a current BC teaching license. Outside of the university, she enjoys playing the viola with the Vancouver Philharmonic Orchestra and exploring the outdoors.
Marissa Hall
Evaluation Specialist
Marissa’s role includes consulting with partnership teams about their evaluation plans and planning and implementing the evaluation of the SaP fund. She has also been a SoTL Specialist since 2020, where she’s developed her evaluation skills in survey design and focus groups.
As a student herself, she is very excited to be part of an initiative that strives to make positive changes in education and create partnerships between students and faculty.
Marissa is currently pursuing her PhD in the School and Applied Child Psychology program at UBC. She received her BA in Psychology at Western University in Ontario. Since moving to BC, Marissa has developed a passion for hiking and skiing, and can often be found in the backcountry during her spare time.
Rohil Sharma
Student Coordinator
Rohil’s role includes co-managing the operational needs of cohorts of faculty and students partnering to redesign undergraduate courses, organizing events and workshops for cohorts, and coordinating SaP adjudication meetings to determine which redesign project partnerships to fund.
As a student himself, Rohil was part of an early cohort of SaP-funded projects redesigning undergraduate courses. He is excited to continue partnership practices through his involvement in the operations of the SaP initiative.
John Cheng
Learning Designer
John has worked as a learning design consultant at CTLT since 2020 and supporting educational technology-driven teaching and learning at UBC since 2009. He has collaborated and partnered with programs, faculty, staff and students across the university to create and deliver numerous learning experiences. He believes that students who are engaged in learning should also have a voice in their own learning.
Nicole Ronan
Learning Designer
Nicole has worked with the Curriculum & Course Services team for over 15 years as a learning design consultant. She has worked with faculty (and students!) to create meaningful and engaging learning activities, exploring tools and instructional strategies that will help students become co-collaborators and innovators.
Polina Petlitsyna
Student Coordinator (former)
Polina’s role includes co-managing the operational needs of two cohorts of faculty and students partnering to redesign undergraduate courses, organizing events and workshops for cohorts, and coordinating SaP adjudication meetings to determine which redesign project partnerships to fund.
As a student herself, Polina expresses gratitude for being able to practice partnership within a team of three while supporting the partnership initiative.
Polina is in her last year in the Biology undergraduate program at UBC. In her free time, she likes to dance at Harbour Dance Centre, learn new languages, and organize queer events in and around Greater Vancouver.