School of Business & Liberal Arts: Faculty/Staff

Nicholas C. Kocher '04
Business Department Director
Business and Accounting, Lecturer

• B.A. SUNY Canton, 2004: Financial Services Management
• MBA Clarkson University, 2006: Innovation and New Venture Management
• Courses taught: Principles of Accounting I, Global Finance, Introduction to Finance, Principles of Retailing and Sales Management
• Alumni/Development Associate with the Canton College Foundation
• Special interests: skiing, tennis and traveling

Marela Fiacco
Healthcare Management Department Chair
Associate Professor

• BBA in Marketing, Freed-Hardeman University, Henderson, TN
• MBA in Marketing, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN
• Ph.D. in Business, with a concentration in Healthcare Administration
• Courses taught or developed: Healthcare Finance, Healthcare Facility Administration, Legal and Ethical Issues in Healthcare, Public Health Issues, U.S. Healthcare System, Macroeconomics, Management Communications, Personal Finance
• Advisor, Golden Key Honors Society

Alainya Kavaloski
Humanities Department Chair
Humanities, Associate Professor

• B.A., Edgewood College
• M.A., Hebrew University
• Ph.D., University Wisconsin-Madison
• Courses taught or developed: Digital Graphic Storytelling, New Media Writing, Electronic Literature, Mobile Media Stories and Games
• View Kavaloski's Full Bio

Maureen P. Maiocco
Social Sciences Department Chair
Early Childhood, Professor

• B.A. in Education, Curry College, Milton, MA
• M.S. in Teacher Leadership, Wheelock College, Boston, MA
• Ed.D. in Child & Youth Studies Nova Southeastern University, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
• View Maiocco's Full Bio

Barat Wolfe
Applied Psychology Department Chair
Psychology, Associate Professor

• B.S., St. Lawrence University
• M.A., University of Ottawa
• Ph.D., University of Windsor 

Amani Awwad
Sociology, Associate Professor

• B.A., Siena Heights University
• M.A., Ph.D., Western Michigan University

Kimberly Boyd
Social Sciences, Lecturer

• M.S., College of William and Mary

David Button
Business, Lecturer

• B.A., Southern Methodist University
• M.S., Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Chad Colbert
Business, Lecturer

• B.S., SUNY Plattsburgh
• MBA, Wake Forest University
• Certified Wealth Strategist (CWS)
• Certified Financial Planner (CFP)
• Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)

Jondavid DeLong
Legal Studies, Professor

• Juris Doctor (J.D.) with honors, SUNY Buffalo School of Law
• B.A. in Economics and Political Science, Vassar College
• Practicing Attorney in New York State for more than 20 years
• Significant editorial, project management, business development and management positions with legal publisher Thomson/Reuters Management
• Former Senior Consultant with Bearing Point focused on web technology implementation

Jennie Flanagan
Healthcare Management, Lecturer

• A.S., SUNY Canton
• B.Tech., SUNY Canton
• MHA, Seton Hall University

Tiffany Forsythe
Applied Psychology, Lecturer

• B.S., Keuka College, Social Work
• M.S., Abilene Christian University, Clinical Psychology

Emily Hamilton-Honey
English/Humanities, Associate Professor
Co-Chief Diversity Officer

• B.A., Western Michigan University
• M.A., University of Michigan
• Ph. D., University of Massachusetts
• Selected Publications:
  • Nineteenth-Century American Women Writers and Theologies of the Afterlife: A Step Closer to Heaven. Co-edited with Dr. Jennifer McFarlane-Harris. Routledge, 2021. 
  • “Changing Spaces: Ruth Fielding, Collaboration, and the Creation of Mise-En-Scène.” The Spatial Dynamics of Juvenile Series Literature, Ed. Michael Cornelius. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2020.
  • Girls to the Rescue: Young Heroines in American Series Fiction of World War I. Co-authored with Dr. Susan Ingalls Lewis. McFarland & Co., 2020.
  • “A Glee-ful Collaboration: Academic Networking in the Tumblr World.” Co-Authored with Elizabeth Downey, Sheryl Bundy, and Connie Shih. Transformative Works and Cultures 27 (2018).
  • “Moods of Men: Homosociality and Trafficking in Women in Louisa May Alcott’s First Novel.” Journal of American Culture 39.4 (2016): 438-451.
  • Turning the Pages of American Girlhood: The Evolution of Girls’ Series Fiction, 1865-1930. McFarland & Co., 2013.

Tasia Hilton-Betton
Healthcare Management, Lecturer

• M.S., Chemistry 2019, Grand Canyon University
• MBA, Business, American Intercontinental University
• Ph.D., Health Services – Healthcare Administration 2015, Walden University
• M.A., Healthcare Administration 2011, Ashford University
• B.S., Medical Technology 2007, Armstrong Atlantic State University
• B.S., Chemistry 2005, University of South Carolina

Chengru Hu
Finance, Professor

• BBA, University of Peking
• Ph.D., Rutgers University
• Selected Publications:
  • "Managerial Flexibilities and the Wealth Effect of New Product Introductions", with Wei Jiang and Cheng-few Lee, Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Vol. 41(2), 2013
  • "Contesting Corporate Control: Shareholder Voting", with Maggie Foley, Robert Boylan, and Biqing Huang, International Journal of Corporate Governance, Vol. 4(2), 2013
  • "Valuating New Product Development Project with Stochastic Volatility Model", with Maggie Foley and Chulhee Jun, Journal of Mathematical Finance, Vol. 6, 2016
  • "Women in the Boardroom and Corporate Decisions of Italian listed companies: Does the "Critical Mass" Matter?", with Fabrizio Rossi and Maggie Foley, Management Decision, Vol. 55(7), 2017
  • "Managerial Risk Incentive and Accounting Conservatism", with Alan Jiang, Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting (FORTHCOMING)
• Other Professional Activities:
  • Associate Editor: Advances in Quantitative Analysis of Finance and Accounting
  • Honorary Referee: Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Journal of Finance and Economics, Journal of Mathematical Finance
• View Hu's Full Profile

Phillip C. James
Accounting, Associate Professor

• M.S., University of the West Indies
  Ph.D., University of Technology, Jamaica
• Courses taught or developed: Cost Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Auditing, Accounting Principles/Financial Accounting, Accounting Research

• A.A., SUNY Canton
• B.A., SUNY Potsdam
• M.A., SUNY Potsdam
• Ph.D., Indiana University of Pennsylvania

William T. Jones
Legal Studies, Professor

• Professor in Business, Legal Studies
• B.A., SUNY Oswego
• M.S., Boston University
• Juris Doctor, Syracuse University College of Law
• Courses taught or developed: Legal Writing/Research, Litigation, Business Law, Business Communication, Diagnostic Evaluation of the Offender, Environmental Law, Federal Indian Policy, Introduction to Criminal Justice, Correctional Philosophy
• Areas of instruction: Business Law, Constitutional Law, Family Law, Federal Indian Law, Criminal Law, Civil Procedures, Real Estate Law

Elena A. Khapalova
Business, Assistant Professor

• B.A. in Economics, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA
• MBA in MIS (Management Information Systems), Washington State University, WA
• Ph.D. in Business Administration, with a concentration in Operations Management, Washington State University, WA

Umesh Kumar
Finance, Professor

• B.S., Magadh University, India
• MBA, University of Mumbai, India - Finance
• Ph.D., University of Texas at San Antonio - Finance
• Over six years of managerial experience with the Securities & Exchange Board of India
• Research & Publications:
  • Single-Stock Futures: Evidence from the Indian Securities Market (with Yiuman Tse), Global Finance Journal, Volume 20, Issue 3, 2009
  • Settlement Differences and the Law of One Price: Evidence from the Indian Stock Market (with Palani-Rajan Kadapakkam), Journal of Emerging Markets, Vol. 14, Issue 2, 2009
  • Corporate Social Responsibility and Investor Response in the Post-SOX Era (with Brian Harte), Journal of Applied Financial Research,Vol 1 2012
  • Impact of Liquidity on the Futures–Cash Basis: Evidence from the Indian Market (with Palani-Rajan Kadapakkam), Journal of Futures Markets, Volume 33, Issue 3, March 2013
  • An Index-Based Model for Determining the Investment Benchmark of Renewable Energy Projects in South Africa, South African Journal of Economics (with John Fay), Volume 33, Issue 3, September 2013
  • Market Based Incentives in Developing Countries: Geographical Dispersion, Antecedents and Implications of the Clean Development Mechanism, Climate and Development (with John Fay), accepted for publication in 2015

View Kumar's Full Profile

Phil LaMarche
English/Humanities, Associate Professor

• B.A., Syracuse University
• MFA, Syracuse University

Melissa Lee
English/Humanities, Associate Professor

• B.A., LeMoyne College
• M.A., Marquette University

Christina Leshko
Social Sciences, Lecturer

• B.A., Rutgers University
• M.A., Michigan State University
• Ph.D., University of the Cumberlands

Christina Huie Lesyk, LMSW, HS-BCP
Applied Psychology, Associate Professor

• B.A., Columbia University/Barnard College
• MSW, City University of New York/Hunter College School of Social Work
• Ph.D., Hospitality Management, Iowa State University (ABD)
• New York State Licensure as a Master of Social Work (LMSW)
• Human Services - Board Certified Practitioner (HS-BCP)
• Instruction in Human Services, Psychology, and Social Sciences

Christina Martin
Early Childhood, Lecturer & Student Teacher Coordinator

• Instructor, Early Childhood
• B.A., SUNY Cortland
• MST, SUNY Potsdam

Daniel McLane
Liberal Arts Curriculum Coordinator
Social Sciences, Lecturer

• Ph.D. in Sociology from Colorado State University
• M.A. in International Affairs from American University
• M.A. in Natural Resources and Sustainable Development from United Nations' University for Peace
• B.A. in Africana Studies from Binghamton University

Patrick McManus
Lecturer

• M.S., St. Lawrence University
• M.A., Northern Arizona University
• B.A., Northern Arizona University

William Myers '86
Business, Associate Professor

• AAS, SUNY Canton
• B.S., Robert’s Wesleyan College
• M.S., Rochester Institute of Technology
• Ph.D., Prescott College

Sean O'Brien
English/Humanities, Associate Professor

• B.A., Xavier University
• Ph.D., University of Notre Dame

Emma Ogley-Oliver
Applied Psychology, Associate Professor

• B.S., Kennesaw State University
• Ph.D., Georgia State University

Bright Osei
Business/Economics, Assistant Professor

• B.A., University of Ghana
• M. Phil, University of Ghana
• Ph.D., University of Mississippi

Research Interests: Applied Microeconomics, Health Economics, Economics of Crime, Law and Economics

Vicki Perrine
Healthcare Management, Assistant Professor

• MBA, Healthcare Concentration, SUNY IT
• MHA, Seton Hall University
• BSN, SUNY Plattsburgh
• AAS, Nursing, SUNY Canton
• FACHE, Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives
• FABC, Fellow in the Advisory Board Company
• NYS Licensed Nursing Home Administrator
• NYS Registered Nurse
• 39 years healthcare experience 
• 32 years in healthcare management / administration
• Courses taught or developed: Healthcare Financing, US Healthcare Systems, Healthcare Facility Administration, Nursing Home Administration, Medical Practice Management, Managed Care, Introduction to Health Services Management

Stephanie Petkovsek
History, Lecturer

• B.A., Syracuse University
• M.A., University at Buffalo (SUNY)
• Courses taught or developed: African American History, Early American History; Modern U.S. History; Modern European History

Angela Rulffes
Business, Associate Professor

Karen St. Hilaire
Business, Lecturer

Jennifer Sovde
History, Associate Professor

• B.A., Bemidji State University
• M.A., Indiana University-Bloomington
• Ph.D., Indiana University-Bloomington

Shawn Tiernan
Humanities, Lecturer

Jamie Weber
Humanities, Lecturer

• AAS, SUNY Canton
• B.A., SUNY Potsdam - English Writing
• B.A., SUNY Potsdam - Sociology
• M.A., SUNY Potsdam - English & Communication

Duane Wesolick
History, Lecturer

• B.S., Embry Riddle Aeronautical University
• M.A., Western Carolina University

Eunjyu Yu
English/Humanities, Professor

• B.A., M.A., Pusan National University, South Korea
• Ph.D., The Ohio State University
• Area of research interest: applied linguistics, literacy, instructional technology, assessment, and inclusive pedagogy.
• Her scholarship has appeared in various journals including English Leadership Quarterly, Papers in Language Testing and Assessment, Research and Teaching in Developmental Education, and others.
• Recipient of numerous awards, including the first-place winner of the 2018 Open SUNY Effective Practice Award for her innovative pedagogy and the Honorable Mention of the 2013 English Leadership Quarterly Best Article of the Year Award, for her paper “Ready for college? What college students have to say about their high school English experiences” by the National Council of Teachers of English.
• Former consultant with the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages and the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center.

Ali Zaidi
Spanish, Associate Professor

• B.A., Regents College
• B.A., M.A., University of Peshawar
• M.A., Queens College
• M.A., Ph.D., University of Rochester

Tina Demo
Administrative Assistant 2

• AAS in Accounting, SUNY Canton, 1999

Christina Brocious
Administrative Assistant 1

• School of Business & Liberal Arts