Faculty and Advisory Board
Pioneering pedagogy
You’ll have a chance to work with and learn from innovative experts who practice what they teach. Whether they’re creating sophisticated educational technologies or designing user interfaces, our instructors and advisory board members understand what it takes to move the needle in education today.
Dr. Elizabeth Santiago is the program chair of the Master of Science Learning Experience Design program, providing program oversight, industry expertise and program leadership. Prior to her role at Brandeis, she was the chief program officer at the national nonprofit, MENTOR, where she was responsible for and actively involved in the management of programs and services for a wide range of stakeholders in the youth development and mentoring field.
Elizabeth gained extensive experience in program management and development, learning design, curriculum development, training and professional development with organizations such as Jobs for the Future, Simmons College, Babson College, Houghton Mifflin, and World Education. She has specific experience in working with vulnerable or marginalized youth and the systems and people that serve them. She has taught high school equivalency courses within school districts, community-based organizations and through unions, and managed the GED/high school equivalency program at the Harriet Tubman House in Boston. She has also built a professional development service for teachers and principals designing education programs for first generation college goers.
Dr. Santiago earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in writing, literature and publishing from Emerson College and a master’s degree from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, Technology, Innovation and Education Program. She recently earned her PhD in education studies at Lesley University.
Dr. Bonnie Budd is an entrepreneurial leader committed to improving the quality and reputation of online teaching and learning experiences.
Currently, Dr. Budd serves as the Product Design Manager at WGU Academy, a program created to serve the many individuals who need a low-risk path to eventual enrollment at a four-year institition.
Previously, as the director of Online Learning at Bryant University, she collaborated with faculty in the creation of the university's first online degree program, the Professional MBA, and taught the Strategies for Success course for new online learners. As a member of the Teaching and Learning Lab at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, she incorporated design frameworks and evaluation strategies with teaching teams across the school, including the university's first online certificate program, the Certificate in Advanced Education Leadership.
Dr. Budd runs a freelance instructional design agency, Course Kitchen, which creates custom online learning experiences for the world's best companies. She earned her BS in mathematics from Salve Regina University, MA in adult education from the University of Rhode Island, and Doctor of Education from Northeastern University. Her dissertation focused on adult student motivation in online learning.
Melissa Kane, EdD, is an associate director for instructional design at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. In this role, she leads a team of instructional designers and collaborates on strategic projects relating to faculty development and excellence in online learning design.
Before joining Brown, Melissa was an instructional design and technology specialist at Johnson & Wales University. In 2016, she spearheaded curriculum development efforts for the redesign of the AS Baking & Pastry program and the creation of the MS Culinary Arts program. Before entering higher education, Melissa spent 12 years teaching secondary English in New York and championed K-12 curriculum development in both English language arts and technology. In 2014, she was named Liverpool Optimist Club's Outstanding Teacher in recognition of her contributions driving district strategy around student success and teacher excellence programs.
Melissa holds a Doctor of Education in curriculum, teaching, learning and leadership from Northeastern University, an MS in education from SUNY Oswego, and a BA in communications from Colby-Sawyer College. Her research interests focus on the use of design thinking processes in faculty development to promote agile learning design. She also consults and presents on learning experience design and equitable and inclusive learning design in higher education.
Melissa brings to her teaching in the Master of Science in Learning Experience Design program solid knowledge of learning experience design, extensive experience in instructional design systems, and a strong passion for equitable and inclusive learning design.
Jing Qi, EdD, is the learning analytic lead and LMS specialist at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, where she works with the Research ITC team, and applies technologies employed in advanced scientific research and web application development to support the core effort of "Learning Data Research." Combining her solid knowledge in computer science, extensive experience in data mining, and strong passion in data visualization, she integrates the core elements of data analysis and visualization in the exploration of learning analytics.