comcourse

Matt Sheltz – Chief Technology Officer

Matt has more than a decade of experience writing bestselling training books and developing educational technologies. Matt has co-authored more than a dozen IT certification books, and managed teams of developers in the production of more than a dozen software products. Matt was the lead developer on The EdgeTest software, licensed to Sybex Inc. for use in more than 3,000,000 technical certification exam preparation study guides.

Matt has developed advanced technologies related to the Comcourse Learning Management System, including student tracking and reporting functionality. Matt recently led and completed development on an advanced software simulation tool, produced by a team of five developers over a period of one year. This software simulates the Windows Server 2003 environment, providing necessary hands-on experience to students.

Matt earned his degree in 1998 in Digital Media from the University of California, Santa Cruz, helping forge the program as the very first graduate in the first year of the program.

John Moak - Director of Marketing

John brings over ten years of experience in online marketing and internet technology. He began his professional career as the director of business development for a consulting firm in Orange County, California, specializing in public school facilities planning.

John went on to serve as the program coordinator for a full service interactive agency in Newport Beach, California. Here he specialized in creative design, brand strategies, ecommerce operations and integrated marketing for such clientele as: Surfrider Foundation, Marwit Capital, West Coast Choppers, Borax, Chip Foose, Jackie Warner, HireRight and PMAC. Currently at Comcourse, he leads the marketing team in strategic development and tactical implementation, along with the management of strategic vendor relationships. He is also responsible for the development of integrated marketing campaigns to drive demand with industry forums, lead generation, advertising and sales.

John earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Digital Media at Sacramento State University.

Corinne Loveland - Director of Course Development

As the Director of Course Development, Corinne Loveland combines her two professional passions: writing and education. Overseeing a team of course developers, Corinne ensures that the courses Comcourse creates are not only well written but also educationally effective – interesting, accessible, and well-presented.

Corinne found her professional niche working in Lafayette College’s Writing Center. There she discovered that she had the ability to help others write effectively. Since then, she has spent a decade teaching: high school students, college students, adults, and English language learners. Corinne teaches because she believes that education is a great source of empowerment. Her own education has provided her with the fortitude to both overcome and achieve much. Through teaching, she helps others do the same.

In addition to serving as the Director of Course Development at Comcourse, Corinne is a published writer and a prominent creative writing instructor in her community. Pieces from her first book, an essay collection entitled Looking for Breath, have been published in various magazines and literary journals.

Corinne is from the Jersey Shore. She obtained her Master of Fine Arts in Writing from the University of San Francisco. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in English and Psychology from Lafayette College.

Meghann Van Dolzer - Director of Software Development

Meghann's career as a programmer spans nine years, but her love of programming began as a child and she has been cultivating her skills for over twenty years. She specializes in finding automated solutions to replace manual processes, and is a firm and enthusiastic believer in the time-saving powers of technology.

Meghann began developing software professionally in 2000 while she was enlisted in the United States Air Force. While stationed with the Air Force Information Warfare Center in the Information Operations Analysis Branch, she saw the need to replace bulky paper reference materials. She created a website to manage this information, making it easier to maintain, search, and access while reducing cost and environmental impact. She then went on to do the same for six other units on Lackland Air Force Base. She received numerous awards for her work, including Technician of the Year two years in a row and the Air Force Commendation Medal.

As a civilian, Meghann went on to build and maintain a variety of web solutions for businesses both small and large. These ranged from e-commerce for the Hollywood Bowl and the LA Phil Harmonics, content management systems for burgeoning artists, and a powerful interactive network monitoring system user interface. While working for Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, she built an online resource management system and Mandarin-Chinese language training materials for the Asian One School. Her work there attracted the notice of the DLI Commandant, who presented Meghann with the Commandant's Coin of Excellence award.

Marley LiPuma - Director of Student Marketing

Marley Li Puma has been working for the education industry most of her life. Starting in California in 1998, she started her career working in elementary schools as a paraprofessional designing and implementing daily schedules for students with disabilities. Knowing she had a natural ability in sales, yet loved education, she found a perfect position in higher learning with University of Phoenix enrollment services in Denver, Colorado. Since then has enrolled over 1000 students in every level of education from certificate courses up to PHD programs. Marley has been exposed to both the ground and online admissions processes. She has extensive knowledge of how to create a high performance team of admissions advisors.

While at Comcourse, Marley has made great strides in optimizing marketing campaigns for student conversion. In her position as Director, she has assisted many new online schools gain momentum early in the start up phase to have a large student population.

Marley is currently completing her Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management through University of Phoenix Online.

Christa Fraser - Director of Student Success

Christa has considerable experience in online education, technology, and digital content development. As an Information Specialist for two online learning sites for the Resource Center at ETR Associates, she supported both content providers and learners; performed as a webmaster and web developer; reported site activity and analytics; and researched and developed new site features and functionality. She also served in the agency’s Internet Technology Futures brainstorming group.

Prior to her role at the Resource Center, she worked in the publishing division of ETR Associates as an Assistant Editor and Researcher, focusing primarily on health education. While serving in that role, she also developed new online delivery methods for content providers and reviewers, and was involved in product development.

From 2001 to 2008 Christa co-founded and was Editor-in-Chief of Adventure Sports Journal, supporting its growth from 7,000 to nearly 50,000 readers. The regional publication, which is distributed in both print and online formats, is still alive and well nearly a decade later.

Christa completed her BA as an adult, re-entry student, and was the first person in her family to earn a college degree. Consequently, she has an empathetic perspective regarding key issues faced by many non-traditional students. Christa can read and/or code in several web development languages. She is also fluent in Spanish, and near fluent in Portuguese. Christa received her BA in Language Studies (with an emphasis in Linguistics) from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 2006.

Jon Broenen - Director of Implementation

Jon established his roots as a communications specialist catering to online "software as a service" startups from their seed phase to publicly traded enterprises. After several years in the financial services sector, Jon partnered with one of the founders of the Java programming language to launch an angel fund devoted to assisting first-to-market internet technology providers in Hyderabad, India and maintained a business development incubator in Los Angeles.

Jon was recruited by optionsXpress (nyse: OXPS) to develop the award-winning institutional division of their online trading business in Chicago. He later went on to spearhead business development efforts and to implement delivery and communications practices for a research firm that provides real-time software intelligence and analysis to Apple, Microsoft, Yahoo, Amazon, IBM, Motorola, and the Eclipse Foundation.

Jon is from Silicon Valley, California and has a combined BA in Communications and Digital Media from Humboldt State University.

Jennifer Curci - Director of Institutional Support

Jennifer comes to us with nearly twenty years of experience in the high-tech field in Silicon Valley, California. During her tenure in high-tech she made major contributions within the Content Design Group at HP (Hewlett-Packard) as a Technical Writer, Graphics Editor, Business Analyst, Project Manager, and Program Manager. In her role as Program Manager, Jennifer led a project to establish an information architecture, utilize a Document Type Definition (DTD), migrate millions of pages of technical manuals into a Content Management System (CMS), and repurpose content for multiple outputs.

Jennifer left high-tech in the fall of 2005 to pursue a career in the field of Education. In 2007 she completed with honors her single-subject teaching credential and Master’s degree in Education. While pursuing her advanced degree she worked with the Santa Cruz Education Foundation to help form the Successful Academic Mentoring Program (SAMP). In this capacity Jennifer provided academic mentoring for at-risk students who were identified as “falling through the cracks.” SAMP was highly acclaimed by local schools, community funders, and the school district.

In her role at Comcourse Jennifer supports new schools through the initial and ongoing accreditation process, program design and development, and recruitment of potential online faculty candidates.

Jennifer is a native Californian. She holds an Associate’s degree in Intercultural Studies from DeAnza College, a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of San Francisco, and a Master’s degree in Education with a focus on Teaching and Curriculum from Chapman University.