Staff & Champions

ALG Champions

ALG Champions are affordable learning specialists and advocates at each USG institution. Champions work together to inform the institution about affordable resources, including open educational resources, along with the fundamentals and practices behind open licensing and the potential to enhance instruction through open pedagogy.

Selecting an ALG Champion

To learn more about how institutions select an ALG Champion, please consult the Guidelines for the Selection of Affordable Learning Georgia Champions.

ALG Faculty Champion

A faculty instructor using no- or low-cost materials in their courses with open educational resources (OER) experience. Faculty Champions work within their campus to inform faculty, staff, and students about Affordable Learning Georgia and the benefits of open educational resources.

ALG Library Champion

A campus librarian with OER expertise. Library Champions work together with the Faculty and Design Champion to identify, evaluate, and provide access to affordable, library-subscribed, and open educational resources. They also inform faculty, staff, and students about ALG and OER alongside the Faculty and Design Champion.

ALG Design Champion

An instructional designer or Center for Teaching and Learning representative with open and OER-enabled pedagogy expertise. Design Champions work together with the Faculty and Library Champion to inform faculty, staff, and students about open and OER-enabled pedagogy and to help identify ways in which it can be implemented in courses using OER. They also inform faculty, staff, and students about ALG and OER alongside the Faculty Champion and Library Champion.

Find your local champion

Institution

ALG Champions

Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College

Faculty Champion: April Abbott
aabbott@abac.edu
Library Champion: David Edens
dedens@abac.edu
Design Champion: Amy Warren
awarren@abac.edu

Albany State University

Faculty Champion: Anilkumar Devarapu 
anilkumar.devarapu@asurams.edu
Library Champion: LaVerne McLaughlin 
laverne.mclaughlin@asurams.edu
Design Champion: Zephyrinus Okonkwo 
zephyrinus.okonkwo@asurams.edu

Atlanta Metropolitan State College

Faculty Champion: Eze Nwaogu 
enwaogu@atlm.edu
Library Champion: Tarita Chambers 
tchambers@atlm.edu
Design Champion: Kokila Ravi 
kravi@atlm.edu

Augusta University
Faculty Champion: Andrew Goss 
angoss@augusta.edu
Library Champion: Melissa Johnson
mjohns69@augusta.edu
Design Champion: Arthur Takahashi
atakahashi@augusta.edu

Clayton State University

Faculty Champion: Sheryne Southard
sherynesouthard@clayton.edu
Library Champion: David Greenebaum
davidgreenebaum@clayton.edu
Design Champion: Corneliu Chiorescu
corneliuchiorescu@clayton.edu

College of Coastal Georgia

Faculty Champion: Dantera Tangpisuthipongsa  
dtangpisuthipongsa@ccga.edu 
Library Champion: Debbie Holmes
dholmes@ccga.edu 
Design Champion:  Lisa McNeal  
lmcneal@ccga.edu 

Columbus State University

Faculty Champion: Brian Muse 
muse_william@columbusstate.edu
Library Champion: Nancy Shore
shore_nancy@columbusstate.edu
Design Champion: Randall Garver
garver_randall@columbusstate.edu

Dalton State College

Faculty Champion: Alicia Briganti
abriganti@daltonstate.edu
Library Champion: Amy Burger 
aburger1@daltonstate.edu
Design Champion: Barbara Tucker
btucker@daltonstate.edu

East Georgia State College

Faculty Champion: Deborah Lee
dlee@ega.edu
Library Champion: Meghan Crews
mmcrews@ega.edu
Design Champion: Terri Brown
thbrown@ega.edu

Fort Valley State University

Faculty Champion: Patcharin Marion
tragoonsirisakp@fvsu.edu
Library Champion: Frank Mahitab
mahitabf@fvsu.edu
Design Champion: Amanda Glover
glovera@fvsu.edu

Georgia College and State University

Faculty Champion: Shaundra Walker
shaundra.walker@gcsu.edu
Library Champion: Jonathan Harwell
jonathan.harwell@gcsu.edu
Design Champion: Jaclyn Queen
jaclyn.queen@gcsu.edu

Georgia Gwinnett College

Faculty Champion: Marie Firestone
mfiresto@ggc.edu
Library Champion: Catherine Downey
cdowney@ggc.edu
Design Champion: Tracy Adkins
tadkins5@ggc.edu

Georgia Highlands College

Faculty Champion: Sharryse Henderson
shenders@highlands.edu
Library Champion: Susanna Smith 
sussmith@highlands.edu
Design Champion: Rachel Rupprecht 
rrupprec@highlands.edu

Georgia Institute of Technology

Faculty Champion: David Joyner
david.joyner@gatech.edu 
Library Champion: Mack Freeman
john.freeman@library.gatech.edu
Design Champion: Chaohua Ou
cou@gatech.edu

Georgia Southern University

Faculty Champion: Chelda Smith
cheldasmith@georgiasouthern.edu 
Library Champion: Nikki Rech
dcannonrech@georgiasouthern.edu
Design Champion: Debbie Walker
dwalker@georgiasouthern.edu

Georgia Southwestern State University

Faculty Champion:
Judy Orton
judy.orton@gsw.edu
Sally Merritt
sally.merritt@gsw.edu
Library Champion: Ru Story-Huffman
ru.story-huffman@gsw.edu
Design Champion: John Wilson
john.wilson@gsw.edu

Georgia State University

Main Campus:
Faculty Champion: Scott Jacques
sjacques1@gsu.edu
Library Champion: Denise George
denisegeorge@gsu.edu 
Design Champion: Joju Cleaver
jcleaver@gsu.edu

Perimeter College:
Faculty Champion: Cyntoria Johnson 
cjohnson5@gsu.edu
Library Champion: Stephanie Burnham
sburnham@gsu.edu
Design Champion: Mustafa Elsawy
elsawy@gsu.edu

Gordon State College

Faculty Champion: Lynn Rumfelt
lrumfelt@gordonstate.edu
Library Champion: Carla Fredd
cfredd@gordonstate.edu
Design Champion: Angiah Davis
adavis1@gordonstate.edu

Kennesaw State University

Faculty Champion: Nasrin Dehbozorgi
dnasrin@kennesaw.edu
Library Champion: Femi Jayeola
ojayeola@kennesaw.edu 
Design Champion: Kelley Price
kgermain@kennesaw.edu

Middle Georgia State University

Faculty Champion: Donna Balding  
donna.balding@mga.edu
Library Champion: Dana Casper
dana.casper@mga.edu  
Design Champion: Katie Shepard  
katharine.shepard@mga.edu

Savannah State University

Faculty Champion: Antonio Velazquez
velazqueza@savannahstate.edu
Library Champion: Elle Davis
davise@savannahstate.edu
Design Champion: Alberto De La Cruz
delacruz@savannahstate.edu

South Georgia State College

Faculty Champion: Molly Smith
molly.smith@sgsc.edu 
Library Champion: Janice Williams
janice.williams@sgsc.edu
Design Champion: Sara Selby
sara.selby@sgsc.edu

University of Georgia

Faculty Champion: Megan Mittelstadt
megan.mittelstadt@uga.edu
Library Champion: Mariann Samuel
mariann@uga.edu
Design Champion: James Castle
jcastle@uga.edu

University of North Georgia

Faculty Champion: Laura Getty
laura.getty@ung.edu
Library Champion: Monique Martinez
monique.martinez@ung.edu
Design Champion: Bonnie (BJ) Robinson
bj.robinson@ung.edu

University of West Georgia

Faculty Champion: Agnieska Chwialkowska
achwialk@westga.edu
Library Champion: CJ Ivory
civory@westga.edu
Design Champion: Brian Roberts  
broberts@westga.edu

Valdosta State University

Faculty Champion: Julie Lester
jlester@valdosta.edu
Library Champion: Kytt Everdeen Moore
kytt@valdosta.edu
Design Champion: Bryan FitzGerald
brfitzgerald@valdosta.edu
Jeff Gallant

Jeff GallantProgram Director

Jeff Gallant has been with ALG since 2014 when it was a pilot program. He regularly consults with new open education programs and presents on program management, strategic planning, grant programs, data collection, and reporting. He has been a mentor in the SPARC Open Education Leadership Program since its inception in 2017, a mentoring faculty member of the AAC&U Institute on OER since its inception in 2021, and a co-author of The OER Starter Kit for Program Managers. 

Nakita Afaha

Nakita AfahaProgram Manager

Nakita Afaha joined Affordable Learning Georgia in May 2023. She earned her bachelor's degree in business education from James Madison University in Virginia and holds a master's degree in adult education from Troy University in Alabama. She also holds an education specialist degree in instructional technology from the University of West Georgia. Before coming to ALG, Nakita worked at other USG institutions, including Georgia State University in the area of online education. 

How we created our statewide champions network