Residential Education - Housing & Residential Education - Student Affairs

Mandy Best

Mandy Best
Coordinator of Residential Education & Housefellow

Email
412-268-2142

In addition to her role as housefellow in the Office of Residential Education, Mandy spearheads spirituality and interfaith initiatives for the campus community, including advising INSPIRE (Interfaith and Spirituality Embassy), a student group focused on advancing interfaith cooperation and spiritual well-being on campus. Mandy can often be found at Tazza D’Oro talking with a student over coffee (medium latte, specifically). In her free time, Mandy enjoys making quilts and spending time outdoors with her husband, Ty, their son, Jack, and their dog, Murray.

Lenny S. Chan
Director of the Office of Community Standards & Integrity

Email
412-268-2142

A member of Carnegie Mellon since 2005, Lenny has been a housefellow for many house communities throughout his tenure in Greek Life, the Office of Community Standards and Integrity, and Residential Education. Lenny is currently a College Liaison for the College of Engineering. In his spare time, Lenny enjoys reading nonfiction, watching Ted Talks, and sampling all that Pittsburgh has to offer. A native of western PA, Lenny lives in the South Hills with his wife Jennifer and their rescue dog Finn.

David Chickering
Associate Director of Residential Education & Housefellow

Email
412-268-9510

With 15 plus years of experience in residential education and part of the CMU community since 2005, David serves as the college liaison for the Schools of Music and Art and CFA transitional. His favorite part of his job is hearing residents’ stories and supporting them through their CMU journey. With a background in creative writing and theatre and a Master’s degree in higher education administration, he infuses his work with humor, humanity, and humility. In his free time, he enjoys cooking, riding and repairing vintage scooters, listening to baseball games, and sharing all that happens at CMU with his wife, two kids, and dog.

Jae Cho-Zollinger
Administrative Assistant for Student Life Suite

Email
412-268-2142

Jae is the first person you see when you walk into the Student Life offices. A member of the CMU community since 2009, Jae has discovered her passion for serving students and happily joined the Residential Education family after working as an administrative assistant in the Department of Chemistry and the School of Computer Science. When she is not at work managing the front desk operations or studying towards her Masters in Social Work degree at Pitt, Jae enjoys spending quality time with her husband and her daughter, Penny.

Grace Choi
Assistant to Community Standards & Integrity

Email
412-268-2140

Grace is serving as the assistant to the Community Standards & Integrity office for the past two year. She currently supports both the academic integrity and community standards side of things within the university. Originally born in San Francisco, she grew up in Pittsburgh and now considers the city to be her home. In her free time, she is usually chasing her toddler Teddy and is excitedly preparing for her second shortly. She is also involved within her church serving as a deacon.

Sara Diem
Coordinator of SLICE & Housefellow

Email
412-268-8704

Hillary George
Coordinator of Community Standards & Integrity

Email
412-268-2140

As a Coordinator of Community Standards and Integrity, Hillary focuses on academic integrity case management and manages the board member recruitment and training process. She recently earned her Masters degree in Higher Education Administration from Syracuse University, where she worked in Residence life. Hillary calls Salem, Massachusetts home, enjoys all things Halloween, and loves spending time with her dog Roxie.

John Hannon
Associate Vice President of Student Affairs for Community Life

Email
412-268-2139

John joined Carnegie Mellon in 1994. He provides leadership to the departments in the Division of Student Affairs that are focused on creating safe, supportive and engaging living environments on campus, including Housing Services, Residential Education, Parent and Family Programs & First Year Orientation, Conference and Events Services, and Pre-College Summer Studies. Additionally, he provides direction for the division’s role in campus incident management and emergency response, while also serving as the university’s ombudsperson for town-gown relations with campus neighbors. A native of Western New York, John possesses a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Colgate University and a master’s degree in Counselor Education from the Pennsylvania State University.

Kristine Kengor
Assistant Director of Residential Education & Housefellow

Email
412-268-2142

Kristine Kengor is currently the Housefellow for Stever House, a Leed-certified first-year residence hall located on Morewood Avenue. Kristine also coordinates Community Advisor (CA) selection and training initiatives for the Office of Residential Education. Kristine is passionate about community service and civic engagement and is always looking for ways to incorporate this into her work with residence hall communities. You can often see Kristine at the Paws to Relax events in the Mindfullness room with her retired racing greyhound, Copper, who is a certified therapy dog through Animal Friends.

Jesse Koch
Associate Director of Greek Life

Email
412-268-8704

Utilizing his skills in organizational operations, program planning, and leadership development, Jesse helps the individuals and organizations within the CMU Greek community thrive and succeed. As the primary liaison for the Greek Housing experience, Jesse advocates for a positive living-learning experience for all residents. When he’s not working, you can find him walking his dogs, walking dogs at the Humane Animal Rescue, asking strangers to pet their dogs, or dreaming about creating a dog sanctuary.

Bryan Koval
Director of Student Support Resources & Housefellow

Email
412-268-2142

Bryan has been working with residential students at Carnegie Mellon since 2010. Part of the Office of the Dean of Students, he leads a team that is focused on student support services within the Division of Student Affairs. He is the proud housefellow of Henderson and Welch. Bryan completed his undergraduate studies and his master’s in higher education from Penn State University, and his doctorate in higher education administration from George Washington University. Out of the office, he is likely training for a half-marathon, listening to podcasts, or walking his Samoyed with his spouse, Laura.

Kumail Lassi
Coordinator for Residential Education & Housefellow

Email
412-268-3635

As the Housefellow for Shirley Apartments and Webster, Kumail loves to help students grow and become the best versions of themselves. In addition to his role as Housefellow, Kumail serves as the Coordinator for Residential Education, guiding the development and implementation of the Residential Curriculum. Kumail is also the staff advisor to Student Dormitory Council (SDC). When not at work, Kumail enjoys traveling, reading and playing games with friends.

Geo Ramsey Miller
Coordinator of Community Standards & Integrity

Email
412-268-2140

Animal lover, lifelong learner and student affairs professional, Geo grew up in the Pittsburgh area. Passionate about society and human behavior, Geo earned his Bachelors in sociology and psychology at Clarion University of Pennsylvania, studied counseling psychology at California State University, served two terms in AmeriCorps and obtained his second masters in student affairs in higher education at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Appreciating that his values of social responsibility and university citizenship aligned with CMU's mission and values, Geo began his official career here in 2019.

Tera Monroe
Associate Dean & Director of Residential Education

Email
412-268-2142

Gina Mulh
Graduate Assistant & Housefellow

Email
412-268-2140

Gina is the housefellow for Fairfax Apartments. Gina graduated from Baldwin Wallace University with a bachelor’s degree in music performance and is now a graduate student at Indiana University of Pennsylvania working towards a master’s degree in student affairs in higher education. Gina can be found playing her harp, cooking or singing along to musical cast albums in her free time.

Thomas Rainey
Coordinator of Residential Education & Housefellow

Email
412-268-9510

Thomas is the housefellow for Fifth & Neville and Residence on Fifth, and a coordinator in the Office of Residential Education. As a housefellow, he is charged with building meaningful and dynamic relationships with all of the residents in Mudge House. Part of the CMU community since 2008, Thomas thoroughly enjoys the opportunity that CMU provides to engage with such passionate and talented students.

Josh Schaldenbrand
Coordinator of Residential Education & Housefellow

Email
412-268-2142

A native Pittsburgher, Josh is the housefellow for Margaret Morrison, Roselawn, Scobell and Spirit House. His passion for the residential experience at Carnegie Mellon can be seen in his work with the HamSco staff and programmatic initiatives that encourage residents to explore the city. Josh also works in the Office of Residential Education where he coordinates Resident Assistant Selection and Training initiatives. Much of his free time is spent as a doctoral student at the University of Pittsburgh.

M. Shernell Smith
Executive Director for the Center for Student Diversity & Inclusion

Email
412-268-4955

Everyone has a story and Shernell is committed to ensuring that at Carnegie Mellon we are fostering environments for authentic and meaningful exchange. She believes that diversity is meaningful exchange and meaningful exchanges can inspire and empower action toward social change. In moments of quiet mindfulness, you will either find Shernell trying to physically plant something in the local community garden, planting seeds of change and activism in the local community through her various non-profit board affiliations, or planning her next travel adventure.

Daniela Somaroo
Coordinator of Community Standards & Integrity & Housefellow

Email
412-268-2142

Originally from Caracas, Venezuela, Daniela comes to Carnegie Mellon from The University of Toledo, where she obtained her bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. After working as a field service engineer for a couple of years, Daniela returned to Toledo to pursue a master’s degree in higher education administration. Aside from her role as a Housefellow, Daniela serves as a liaison for academic integrity violations in the College of Engineering, a process advisor for the University Disciplinary Committee. Growing up in a family of musicians, Daniela is constantly listening to music, and if she’s not singing along, she’s dancing to it!

Gwendolyn Stevens
Coordinator of First-Year Programs & Housefellow

Email

Guided by the Latin phrase cura personalis, care for the entire person, Gwendolyn’s philosophy is to ensure everyone feels heard, seen and valued. She is committed to cultivating vibrant living and learning experiences reflective on the diversity and uniqueness of every CMU student. She seeks to create communities that are enriching and inclusive for all. Outside of work, Gwendolyn enjoys binge-watching Netflix, boxing, and playing with her dog, MiMi.

Sam Waltemeyer
Assistant Director of SLICE

Email
412-268-6635

Sam advises the Interfraternity Council, Multicultural Council and a smattering of fraternity and sorority chapters. He also helps provide leadership opportunities and risk management education within the office of Student Leadership, Involvement and Civic Engagement. Sam can often be found hiking, thrift store hunting and listening to podcasts in his spare time.

Luke Whiteman
Housefellow

Email
412-268-2142

Luke is the current Graduate Coordinator for Residential Education while he completes his degree in student affairs of higher education through IUP. He is primarily responsible for the Margaret Morrison, Roselawn, Scobell, Spirit House and Intersection communities as housefellow. In his free time, Luke enjoys reading, writing, watching TV and movies, as well as relaxing with friends and family.

Sierra Williams
Assistant Housefellow for Morewood Gardens

Email
412-268-1153

As the Graduate Coordinator for Housing Services and Residential Education, Sierra will be an assistant housefellow for Morewood Gardens. She completed her undergraduate studies in psychology at University of California, Merced and is currently working on her master's in student affairs in higher education at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. When she's not working, Sierra can be found playing guitar or watching TV.