Welcome to the NLU Adjunct Council

Nancy Hekkema Ed.D.
National College of Education

Nancy earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Wheaton College and a master’s in psychology from University of Illinois at Chicago, and then an Ed.D. from National Louis in July of 2012. She is a retired school psychologist and has been teaching educational psychology courses at National Louis since 2007.

She has always enjoyed technology, and really loved teaching educational psychology for an Ipad MAT cohort several years ago. Nancy has represented adjuncts on the Faculty Academic Support and Technology Committee and currently serves on the University Leadership Committee. She currently serves as Chair for the Council.

Elizabeth Schaefer M.S., M.A.
College of Professional Studies and Advancement

Elizabeth Schaefer is currently a Professional Adjunct Lecturer at National Louis University, where she has taught since 2015. Elizabeth teaches in the B.A. in Applied Communications, the B.S. in Business Management, and the M.S. in Written Communication programs. Her professional background is in corporate and nonprofit communications and marketing, and teaching business English. She holds an M.A. in Organizational Psychology and an M.S. in Written Communication--both degrees she earned at NLU. In addition to teaching, Elizabeth is also a doctoral student in NLU's new "Higher Education Leadership" Ed.D. program. She owns and operates a small publishing company, authors, and teaches composition and creative writing at a local community college.

Terry Costello  M.A.
National College of Education

Terry began at National Louis University as a field supervisor in 1998, added on teaching classes for the elementary education program both at the BA and MAT levels, and then joined the college as a full time assistant professor in 2000. Teaching mainly in the BA program, she also worked with the ITEP and CTPP grant programs, as well as leading the university field supervisors for a time. In 2013, Terry returned to work as an adjunct still teaching, supervising, and now, as a new member of NLU’s Adjunct Council, she hopes to draw on her unique experience to support the mission of the council. 

Joy St. Pierre  M.A.
National College of Education

Joy has been an adjunct instructor for educational psychology courses at National Louis University since 2008.  She has worked as a school social worker in the state of Illinois for 10 years and as a clinical social worker in both Illinois and Indiana for over 20 years. Joy earned her Bachelor and Masters of Social Work at the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign. 

Among her interests, Joy likes to read, cook, and explore technology. 

Ursula Pawlowski M.S.
College of Professional Studies and Advanement

Ursula Pawlowski is an adjunct faculty member in the College of Professional Studies and Advancement since 2014. Ursula is the recipient of the 2016 College of Professional Studies and Advancement (CPSA) Adjunct Faculty of the Year award and the NLU 2016 Excellence in Teaching Award. Ursula has redesigned courses in the MSHRMD and MHA programs. She is a member of numerous professional organizations.

Ursula has over twenty years of HR experience working in hospitality, retail, education, volunteer management, non-profits and healthcare. Ursula's passion is in curriculum design, training and development, organizational behavior/organizational development, talent management, performance management, mentoring and strategic planning.

Kristen Mitchell MPH
College of Professional Studies and Advancement

Kristen earned a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from the University of Illinois at Champaign Urbana  and a master’s in public health from Benedictine University. She is a contract trainer for an employee assistance provider in Chicago and has been teaching communications-related courses in the HCL and ABS Programs at National Louis since 1998.

Sharon McNeely Ph.D.
College of Professional Studies and Advancement

Sharon earned a bachelors and masters in special education/rehabilitation, and most recently a doctorate in educational psychology from University of Wisconsin-Madison. Previously she has worked in both educational and clinical settings and is also a licensed psychologist. She is a professor emeritus from Northeastern Illinois University. Sharon is experienced with both face-to-face and online learning and has chaired over 60 dissertations in the past four years. She is currently doing adjunct and consultative work at various universities. Sharon likes NLU's nurturing environment and deep concern for the individual student. She conducts research in learning processes and is now focusing on undergraduates and how to connect prior learning in meaningful ways to facilitate new learning and enhance motivation.

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Deborah Shefren M.A.
National College of Education

Deborah Shefren is an adjunct faculty member at National Louis University where she teaches graduate courses in reading and supervises student teachers. She is also an educational consultant with more than 35 years of experience as classroom teacher, reading specialist, and literacy coach. Deborah received her MA in Curriculum and Instruction from National Louis University. Deborah has presented on numerous occasions at the International Literacy Association and Illinois Reading Council conferences. She has provided professional development on writing, reading and writing workshop, comprehension, assessment, balanced literacy, inquiry-based instruction, word study, differentiation, and classroom management. Deborah has served as president of SCIRA (Suburban Council of the International Literacy Association) and is currently its treasurer. She also serves as a board member of the Illinois Writing Project.