Staff

Kimberly M. Goff-Crews, Secretary & Vice President for University Life

Kimberly Goff-Crews is secretary and vice president for university life at Yale. She is responsible for the university’s work to further diversity, equity, and inclusion in service of the university’s mission, and ensures the alignment of policies and procedures to maximize support for all students. She also oversees the university chaplaincy and the conduct of official university functions, including Commencement.  Read more

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Heather Samson Calabrese, Director of Communications and Director of University Events

Heather Samson Calabrese joined the Office of the Secretary in October 2013. She oversees communications initiatives within the Office of the Secretary; major university events including Commencement; and the Gordon Grand Fellowship Lecture. Prior to joining Yale, Heather was an independent nonprofit consultant and the chief operating officer of United Way of Greater New Haven. She is active in Greater New Haven civic efforts and has served on several community boards, including New Haven Reads and The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven’s Fund for Women and Girls. She is a fellow in Ezra Stiles College.

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Carolyn Claflin, Chief Resource Officer

Carolyn Claflin serves as Chief Resource Officer for two key divisions of the university – Alumni Affairs & Development and Secretary & University Life.  In this role, she provides senior leadership and guidance in budgeting and finance, human resources, operations, and strategic planning.  She currently also serves as a member of the university’s Emergency Operations Team and as health and safety leader for her two divisions.  Prior to her current position, she helped lead Yale Alumni Association as Deputy Executive Director.  Between 1984 and 2003, Claflin worked in the Yale University Library system, ultimately serving as Director of Library Development. She received a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Providence College and attended the Université de Fribourg.

Elizabeth Conklin, J.D. , Associate Vice President for Institutional Equity, Accessibility, and Belonging and University Title IX Coordinator

Elizabeth Conklin, J.D., joined Yale University in the inaugural role of associate vice president for Institutional Equity, Accessibility, and Belonging in September 2020. In this role, she works closely with other leaders across the university to support institutional equity and accessibility, and to guide strategy and initiatives that create a culture of belonging. Elizabeth oversees the Office of Institutional Equity and Access (OIEA), Student Accessibility Services (SAS), and the Office of LGBTQ Resources. Since January 2022, Elizabeth also serves as the University Title IX Coordinator and oversees the Title IX Office, providing leadership and oversight for Yale’s Title IX programs and staff. Elizabeth’s work focuses on ensuring appropriate response to incidents of discrimination and harassment as well as training for university community members on responding to discrimination and harassment and creating a culture that prevents such behaviors. 

Prior to joining Yale, Elizabeth worked at UConn for ten years, including serving for nearly nine years as Associate Vice President for the Office of Institutional Equity, Title IX Coordinator and ADA Coordinator. Before her time in higher education administration, Elizabeth was an associate attorney with a midsize Hartford law firm practicing labor and employment law.

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Ryan Croteau, Assistant Director of University Events and Communications

Ryan Croteau is the assistant director of university events and communications. She joined the Office of the Secretary and Vice President for University Life in March 2017 as a program coordinator. In her role she produces major University events and ceremonies including Commencement, Baccalaureate, and Opening Assembly. She also leads various communications initiatives, including website development and strategy for Belonging at Yale. Ryan has been at the university since 2011, and previously served in various administrative and communications roles at the Office of the Vice President for West Campus and Human Resources.

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Nina Fattore , Associate Director for University Life

Nina Fattore joined the office in November 2022 as the associate director for university life. She is the governing administrator for Yale Connect, coordinates Yale’s voting initiatives, and works with Pilar Montalvo in supporting student life at the university level, particularly responses to student and campus crises. Nina is the second resource behind Pilar regarding the university’s protocol in event of a student’s death or serious injury.

Nina began her career at Yale in 2018 at the President’s House as an event coordinator. She also worked in the dean’s offices of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the Law School, as well as the Office of the President. Her experience in a variety of offices gives her unique insight into the many perspectives at Yale.

She is a Branford local and enjoys traveling, fishing and Formula One.

Burgwell Howard, Senior Associate Dean of Yale College, Associate Vice President of Student Life

Dean Burgwell “Burgie” Howard joined the Yale College Deans Office in August 2015, and serves as the Dean of Student Engagement within Yale College and Associate Vice President of Student Life at the University.

Dean Howard has made a career supporting students at colleges and universities, including those at Bowdoin College, Colgate University, Santa Clara University, Dartmouth College and, most recently, Northwestern University where he served as Asst. Vice President and Dean of Students.

He is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Stanford University. He loves dogs, lacrosse, tennis, skiing and meeting, and helping students. He never ceases to be amazed at the creativity and capacity of students. He enjoys exploring and contributing to the Yale community.

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Sharon Kugler, University Chaplain

Sharon M.K. Kugler became the seventh University Chaplain to Yale in July of 2007. She came to New Haven from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore where she had served as the University Chaplain since 1993.  Sharon has over two decades of experience in ministry in higher education, interfaith collaboration, pastoral and social ministry. Her main focus at Yale is to further cultivate a chaplaincy for students, faculty and staff which defines itself by serving the needs of the richly diverse religious and spiritual traditions on campus allowing for deeper dialogue, increased accessibility, personal growth, creative educational opportunities and pastoral leadership.  Sharon holds the appointment of Lecturer of Inter-Religious Engagement and Chaplaincy at the Yale Divinity School and is a contributing author to the recently published College & University Chaplaincy in the 21st Century: A Multifaith Look at the Practice of Ministry on Campuses across America.  She is the first woman, first lay-person and first Roman Catholic to hold this position at Yale.

Sharon is the past president of both the National Association of College and University Chaplains (NACUC) and the Association of College and University Religious Affairs (ACURA).  She currently serves on the Executive Committee of the International Association of Chaplains in Higher Education (IACHE).  In June of 2012 she hosted the Global Conference of Chaplains in Higher Education at Yale University welcoming over 450 participants from 25 countries and 11 religious traditions.  Sharon received her Masters degree from Georgetown University and is a member of the Theta Alpha Kappa National Honor Society for Religious Studies and Theology. Her masters thesis, “The Limits and Possibilities of Building a Religiously Plural Community” was used by the United States Department of Defense Office of the Chief of Chaplains as a training tool for new chaplains in the military. Sharon has received honorary doctorates from St. Joseph University in West Hartford, CT, Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, CA and Fairfield University in Fairfield, CT. She is married to Duane Isabella, has two daughters and four grandchildren.

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Gena McGuire, Senior Executive Assistant

Gena McGuire joined the Office of the Secretary as Senior Administrative Assistant in February 2018.

In this role she supports the Secretary and Vice President for University Life while working on special projects as needed.  Before joining the Office of the Secretary Gena spent over a decade in New York City enjoying a successful career in hospitality management.

Gena is a professional musician and enjoys spending time with her husband, three sons, and dog.

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Pilar Montalvo, Assistant Vice President for University Life

Pilar Montalvo joined the Office of the Secretary and Vice President for University Life in October 2021. In this role, she will lead and support student life at the university level. Pilar will assist in furthering collaborations between Yale Public Safety and student life, Mental Health & Counseling, and will convene colleagues from across departments and schools who support safety and wellness. She will maintain awareness of a wide range of campus needs and concerns involving students, adding capacity, and taking an essential role—if the situation requires—in supporting responses to student and campus crises. Pilar will continue to lead the university’s protocol in event of a student’s death or serious injury.

Pilar began her Yale career in 2002 in what is now the Yale School of the Environment. As an assistant dean, she managed every aspect of academic administration and assisted the dean in the development and implementation of strategic initiatives and programs. As the school’s inaugural diversity coordinator, she created and coordinated a range of initiatives that enhanced community building and strengthened the learning environment. Pilar was recruited to the Office of the President in 2012 to assist the president on special projects. In 2013, she was appointed the director of administrative affairs to work with faculty and staff across the university on major initiatives and advance the president’s goals and priorities. As the public face of the Office of the President, Pilar was the point of contact for students, faculty, and staff on a broad array of emerging matters.

She is a fellow of Branford College.

 

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