staff

Arnold Henderson ~ Co-Director and Associate Dean

Prior to coming to the Institute, Arnold was a class dean at Brandeis University, a counselor at Salem State College and a teacher at Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School. Along with Jackie Simonis, he is responsible for overseeing and coordinating the operations and activities of the office, and supporting its outstanding team of highly talented individuals. In addition to counseling and advising students, he has frequent contact with parents, faculty, MIT Medical, Campus Police, the Registrar, Student Financial Services and other administrators within the MIT community. He is also a long-standing member of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Committee.

 

Jackie Simonis ~ Co-Director, Associate Dean, Policy and Case Supervisor

Jackie serves as Co-Director of S^3 with Dean Arnold Henderson. She has spent most of her career talking to MIT students about their concerns, developing great respect for the courage it takes to trust a stranger with difficult and painful aspects of one's life. MIT students come to her to discuss a spectrum of personal issues, including problems with relationships, grief and loss, family concerns, and learning styles/blocks. She is very interested in the biases and assumptions which counselors bring to their sessions, and is committed to training counselors who actively reflect on and learn about their work. As co-director of S^3, she is responsible for supervising the counseling deans and the dean for disability services; developing, reviewing and implementing policy related to S^3; and overseeing the staff's in-service training. In her spare time she likes to bird in the mountains of Eastern Oregon

 

Ayida Mthembu ~ Associate Dean

Ayida provides counseling and crisis intervention for both undergraduate and graduate students. She also works with many students to help them develop good study skills. She is very active in establishing cultural and support programming for minority students as well as special programming in academia and the arts. (For instance, she was a member of the Steering Committee for the Black Women in the Academy Conference.) Ayida is a member of President Vest's Committee on Race Relations, and is the Associate Housemaster in East Campus dormitory.

 

James Collins ~ Assistant Dean

James has been providing support to MIT students since 1997. He offers counseling and advising for students facing a wide range of personal and/or academic issues, and brings with him a deep respect for the process of growth and learning that comes with facing the things that challenge us. He is part of the MIT LBGT community and interested in issues related to providing support to LBGT students. James supervises the administrative support staff, and oversees the administrative functioning of S^3.

 

David Randall ~ Assistant Dean

David provides personal and academic counseling to undergraduate and graduate students in the MIT community. David was trained at Penn State and Brown University in clinical psychology where his studies were focused on the issues associated with the transition from home to college. Prior to coming to MIT, David worked in private practice as a clinical psychologist. At MIT, David sees students with a wide range of concerns including debilitating worry, sadness and grief, relationship difficulties, and academic problems. In addition to meeting with students, David advocates on their behalf and frequently collaborates with offices throughout the Institute. He also serves as advisor for the student-staffed, peer-listening service, Nightline. David is an avid sports fan and during his free time can often be found in centerfield or running up and down a basketball court. He is still trying to negotiate being a Yankee fan in Red Sox territory.

 

Miri Skolnik ~ Assistant Dean

Miri counsels students around personal and academic matters, helping them to use their inherent strengths to meet their challenges. Miri is a counseling dean trained at the University of Michigan and the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology. Prior to coming to MIT, Miri worked for eight years in Community Mental Health, specializing in helping students and families at risk. Appreciating the many outside influences that affect people's lives, she believes it is most effective to counsel individuals collaboratively within a larger community. Personally, Miri finds it helpful to approach life with a sense of humor, a strong cup of coffee, and the latest issue of People magazine.

 

Cynthia Sanders , Sr. Administrative Assistant
Gregory Aimo, Administrative Assistant

Greg and Cynthia provide the primary administrative support to the S^3 staff including reception coverage, maintaining the deans' schedules and drafting correspondence from the deans. They also provide information on matters related to routine procedures as well as Institute policies.