Blackstone Online Career Institute Faculty

For over one hundred years, Blackstone has been widely recognized as a leader in distance education. Our success revolves around our students' eagerness to learn, and the dedicated faculty and staff who support them. Faculty members are leaders in their field of expertise, and the Blackstone staff has many years of experience in distance education. Our faculty includes instructors with years of practice in teaching and developing distance education programs. Their educational and professional backgrounds, as well as memberships in professional organizations, give them access to the most up-to-date training and changes in the field.

They work closely with our administration and staff to provide timely answers to students' questions. Blackstone's support and development team assists in writing and editing our educational materials, as well as updating and reviewing them for accuracy, and helps maintain our electronic databases and the Online Student Center. All of the staff, instructors, and support and development members work under the guidance of a skilled administration that has student satisfaction and course quality as its primary goals.

Administration

Kevin J. McCloskey
President

Kevin J. McCloskey is president of Direct Learning Systems, Inc. (DLS), a Lehigh Valley, PA, based distance education publishing company, which he founded in 1999. DLS is licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Education as a private licensed school and provides an Internet-based distance learning curriculum through Blackstone Career Institute. Blackstone is nationally accredited by the Accrediting Commission of the Distance Education and Training Council, Washington, D.C.

Kevin's previous experience includes over 15 years in senior management. He was Vice Chairman and managing partner of NLKK, Inc. the operator of Keystone National High School, a nationally accredited Internet-based secondary school with an enrollment of over 15,000 students. In 2000, he orchestrated the sale of NLKK, Inc. to KinderCare Learning Centers, Inc., a publicly traded firm. Prior to that time, he held various senior management positions in the medical equipment field. Kevin was primarily responsible for marketing, sales, business development and strategic planning throughout this period. He holds a BA degree from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania.

Professionally, Kevin is active within the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC), served on the Business Standards Committee (Vice Chairman), and was Chairman of the International Marketing Workshop of the DETC in 2000. Additionally, he has served on the long-range planning and membership committees of Brookside Country Club. Other professional affiliations include the Pennsylvania Restaurant Association, the Pennsylvania Food Merchants Association, and the Pennsylvania Association of Private School Administrators. He also serves on the school board of St. Thomas More School as fundraising chairman.

Paul Grumbein
General Manager

Paul Grumbein graduated from Salem College with a bachelor of science in secondary education, earning a dual major in physical education and art with a minor in health sciences and safety education. Upon graduation, Paul was employed as a high school teacher for several years, and was active in the school's scholastic sports programs, theatrical productions and other extracurricular activities. During this time he continued his education by enrolling in a master's program at Millersville College, where he pursued a degree in school guidance. His career took a turn into the business world, where he elevated himself through the sales ranks to the position of district sales manager in a career spanning twenty-four years. Along the way he continued his education, enrolling in Albright College, where he took business-related courses. With the opportunity to merge his educational background and management abilities, Paul joined the staff of Direct Learning Systems, Inc. where he is responsible for the school's operations.

Valerie L. Behrle
Director of Education

Valerie L. Behrle holds bachelor's and master's degrees in education from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. She has over 20 years' experience in education and has worked with students of all ages, including K-12 and post-graduate. She is currently the director of education at Blackstone Career Institute, where she supervises the evaluation staff for our distance-education schools. In addition, she writes and edits new programs for Blackstone. She has edited or written more than ten distance education courses over the past five years.

Staff


Darlene Boyle
Financial Administrator/Human Resource Coordinator

Darlene earned her Human Resource Certification at Penn State University. She is a member of the Society of Human Resources. Darlene is also a Certified QuickBooks user. Her professional experience and educational background in bookkeeping/human resources enable her to coordinate the financial needs and human resources development at Direct Learning Systems, Inc.

Emily Eider

Assistant Director of Education

Emily is a graduate of Cornell University with a BS in communications. She has over 20 years of writing and editing experience, including work on newsletters, technical books and web materials. At Blackstone Career Institute, she is responsible for editing and revising course material, assisting in the development of new programs, and providing educational assistance to students.

Stacy Feifel

Student Services Representative

A graduate of Kutztown University with a BS in telecommunications, Stacy has many years of experience as an administrative assistant and customer service manager. Her responsibilities include responding to student queries, providing educational assistance to students, handling requests for program information, and processing Veterans’ Administration forms. She also assists in the editing of course material.

Tammy Kromer
Financial Assistant/Admissions/Student Services

Tammy enjoys being a team player here at Blackstone Career Institute. Her responsibilities include assisting the general manager and the financial administrator, enrolling new students with Blackstone, processing student payments, and answering students' questions regarding billing and shipments.

Cheri Pagliaro
Student Services Representative

Cheri attended Kutztown University, where she majored in art. She is an assistant in our Education Department, where she handles grading and various student services.

Adrienne Smith

Editorial Intern

Adrienne is a junior at Lehigh University, where she is majoring in English and journalism. At Blackstone, she works with the development team to update course materials and she performs desktop publishing for a variety of editorial projects.

Cathy Vucina

Student Services Representative

Cathy attended Hagerstown Junior College where she majored in nursing. She handles various aspects of student services, including grading, shipping and reporting. She was also recently added to the finance team.

Adria Wetherhold
Student Services Representative

Adria graduated from Penn State University with a BA in integrative arts.  She handles a variety of student service responsibilities as well as assists the Education Department with writing and editing projects to aid in the development and revision of course programs and materials. 

Instructors

Michelle Cranney
Allied Health Consultant

Michelle Cranney, MBA, CPC, CCS-P, has over 15 years' experience in the healthcare industry. Her full-time position as a consultant includes coding, billing, collections, chart auditing, contract negotiation, policy and procedure development, EMR implementation, HIPAA, accounts receivable, fee schedule maintenance, and managing and training staff. She has over six years' experience in education, including both online and traditional formats as well as curriculum development and mentoring. Michelle earned a master of business administration in healthcare management from Davenport University in Grand Rapids, Michigan; an undergraduate degree from Utah State University; and an associate's degree in health information technology. She is a member of the American Academy of Professional Coders and the American Health Information Management Association.

John DeLeo
Consultant/Program Reviewer

As a professor and director of the paralegal program at Central Penn College, John Deleo has been educating paralegals for over 15 years. He has taught courses such as Torts, Contracts, Civil Procedure, Real Estate, Family Law, Administrative Law, Legal Writing, Constitutional Law, Evidence, Criminal Law, Business Law, and Wills. John is a 1984 graduate of Loyola University of New Orleans School of Law (J.D.) and a 1976 graduate of Pennsylvania State University. He is a published author, a former paralegal, and a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association.

Lynn M. Diebolt, CMT
Consultant/Program Reviewer

Lynn M. Diebolt has over ten years' experience as a professional medical transcriptionist, transcription manager, and medical office secretary. She holds an associate of science degree from Middlesex Community Technical College and is a Certified Medical Transcriptionist (CMT). In addition to her work with Blackstone, she has contributed to the development of other distance education training programs for medical transcriptionists.

Jeffrey Peter A. M. Hauck, Sr., CLET
Paralegal Consultant

Jeffrey Peter A. M. Hauck, Sr. is President of Hauck & Associates Corporation, a consulting and training business. He is also a retired municipal police sergeant with 15 years of experience in law enforcement. As a certified law enforcement and police academy instructor, Jeffrey writes and teaches on issues involving Constitutional Law, Use of Force, and Search and Seizure. He holds a bachelor of arts degree in criminal justice from DeSales University, a juris doctor degree from Widener University School of Law, and a certification in law and government from the Law & Government Institute of Widener University School of Law.

Donna S. Lepkoski
Consultant/Program Reviewer

Donna S. Lepkoski has over 30 years' experience in dental education and is a certified dental assistant. She is a full-time faculty member in the dental health department of Luzerne County Community College, Nanticoke, Pennsylvania, where she teaches courses in dental assisting and has served on numerous college committees including the College Senate. Donna is a consultant for the American Dental Association Commission on Dental Accreditation and has developed, presented, and published seminars and articles on dental infection control procedures. She holds a bachelor of science degree in dental health education from Greenwich University. She was awarded a fellowship in the American Dental Assistant Association in 2001 and was the recipient of the Allan Faculty Excellence Award in 1998.

Janet I. B. Seggern
Consultant/Program Reviewer

Janet I. B. Seggern has over 15 years' experience in education. She is a professor of business at Lehigh Carbon Community College in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, where she has taught courses in medical billing and medical coding. She has authored, edited, and reviewed many books about medical office management. Janet is a contributing author of Medical Office Procedures with Data Disk for Medisoft for Windows, published by Glencoe/McGraw Hill, 2002, and From Patient to Payment with Data Disk for Medisoft for Windows, published by Glencoe/McGraw Hill, 2001. She holds a master of science degree in counseling from Chestnut Hill College, a master of education degree from Temple University, and a bachelor of science degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She is a member of the Pennsylvania Business Education Association and National Education Association.

William J. Mulkeen
Consultant/Program Reviewer

William J. Mulkeen is the director of program/curriculum development at Essex County College where he also directs and teaches in the paralegal program. He has created degree and certificate programs and numerous paralegal courses at several colleges and has been involved in legal education for almost 20 years. He is a paralegal specialist reviewer for the American Council on Education (ACE) and the Distance Education Training Council (DETC). He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the American Association for Paralegal Education (AAfPE) serving as Director of Certificate Programs and is a mentor and member of the Academic Council of Thomas Edison State College. William is a graduate of the Seton Hall University School of Law and prior to becoming a full time educator, was involved in the full time practice of law, admitted to the New Jersey Bar, the District of Columbia Bar, and the Supreme Court Bar of the United States. He is currently writing two paralegal textbooks.

Support and Development

Tracey Vasil Biscontini
Editorial Manager

Tracey Vasil Biscontini has over 15 years' experience in distance education. A professional writer, editor, and college instructor, Tracey owns and manages Northeast Editing, Inc., a writing and editing service specializing in educational writing. She holds a master's degree in English from the University of Scranton and a bachelor's degree in mass communications from King's College. She is a member of the American Association of Curriculum Development and the National Writers' Union.

Gerold Chorba
Computer Programmer/Consultant

Gerold has over 17 years experience as a computer programmer and consultant. He has been working with Direct Learning Systems, Inc. since 2001. Specializing in FoxPro, Gerold manages DLS's database system as well as maintains the Online Student Center and performs IT troubleshooting.

Compute Asyst, Inc.
Computer/Network Support

Founded in 1980 by Charles Myers, Compute Asyst, Inc., is a Pennsylvania-based computer consulting and service company located in the Lehigh Valley. Charles and his staff provide computer and network consulting, service, and support to Direct Learning Systems, Inc. Compute Asyst helps businesses and professional organizations of all sizes gain the most productive and cost-effective benefits from today's computer and networking technology.

Camille G. Scarborough
Consultant/Copy Editor

Camille has been running her own writing, editing, and marketing consulting business for over five years, with many clients in the field of education. Prior to starting her own business, Camille worked as a marketing manager for retail banking programs at the American Bankers Association and was the copy manager for NRI Schools, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies. She graduated from Mount Holyoke College with a bachelor of arts degree in English.

Celia Swallow
Creative Services

Celia has over 20 years of experience in the graphic design field, and an association with Direct Learning Systems since 1997. She is responsible for developing and executing the creative concepts for communication projects. Her focus is to create affordable, exciting design solutions for her clients. Celia has a background in graphic design, communication and client development. Previously art director for a leading promotional advertising agency, she currently holds the position of VP of Creative Services for CG2Direct, a direct marketing company targeting the financial industry.