CEHC Welcomes New Applied Learning Assistant Director and Advisors to Support Students

As a College dedicated to hands-on learning in the classroom and in the field to better prepare students to join the workforce, the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity (CEHC) at the University at Albany is pleased to announce the addition of three new staff members to our team who will be key in facilitating this preparation.

Erin Couture has returned to the College in the newly redesigned role of assistant director, Applied Learning. In this position, Couture leads CEHC’s experiential education, internationalization, and professional development efforts. She manages all professional development programmatic initiatives and also provides oversight to all applied learning related coursework, for both undergraduate and graduate students, as well as coordinating and managing CEHC’s internship, peer education, capstone, education abroad and undergraduate research programs, essential elements of the applied learning curriculum.

She has spent the majority of her UAlbany tenure in an advisory role. Most recently, she served as academic advisor for Athletics. She also served as an EHC academic advisor at CEHC, and an academic advising assistant for the Psychology department at the University. Before joining UAlbany, she worked in secondary education for 10 years, supporting at-risk student populations.

She holds a B.A. in Public Communication from The College of Saint Rose and an M.S. in Academic Advising from Kansas State University.

In addition, two new academic advisors, Nicole Shepard and Megan Sanzo have joined CEHC. Shepard will support cybersecurity majors and Sanzo will advise emergency preparedness, homeland security and cybersecurity majors.

Most recently, Shepard was an academic specialist at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, NY, working with students in the Student Outreach, Advisement and Retention office. She specialized in working with students looking to pursue their degree in Health Sciences, Computer Information Sciences, Cybersecurity, Business, Forensic Sciences, and Criminal Justice. She worked closely with undecided students and students planning to transfer to other programs at Hudson Valley or to four-year schools.

She holds an AAS in multi-disciplinary studies from Southern Vermont College; a BA in Psychology from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts; and a Master of Education from Merrimack College.

While at Merrimack College, she served as a graduate fellow for the Professional and Continuing Studies office. She was instrumental in developing a completely online bachelor's degree for non-traditional students and collaborating with a third-party vendor to integrate tools and applications to allow easy access for non-traditional students.

Prior to joining UAlbany, Sanzo served as an academic advisor at Excelsior College, a residence hall director at SUNY Morrisville, and a residence hall coordinator at North Central Texas College (NCTC).

She holds a BS in Psychology from Cazenovia College, a BS in Homeland Security and Emergency Management from Excelsior College, and an MS in Higher Education Administration from the University of Rochester.