First Year Communities

Meet the Faculty

Erik Berquist

Counselor

Department: Counseling Services
Office: CC-250
Phone: 651-450-3374
E-mail: eberquist@inverhills.edu

Schedule Appointment

Advises: Students undecided about their major and Veteran & Military affiliated students

Education Credentials:

Master of Arts (MA) - Texas A&M University Engineering Extension

Master of Arts (MA) - University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Greg Dahlstrom

Reading & Writing Instructor

Department: Reading
Office: L-222
Phone: 651-450-3868
E-mail: gdahlstrom@inverhills.edu

Bio

Greg Dahlstrom has served students in kindergarten through college in a thirty-year career that has taken him to such settings as a remote African village, New York City, the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, a city in the Andes, and his home state of Minnesota. He loves exploring the world of ideas with learners of all ages. At Inver Hills Community College, he teaches courses in Reading and Study Skills.

Education Credentials:

Graduate Certificate (GC) - Minnesota State University, Mankato

Master of Science (MS) - Minnesota State University, Mankato

Master of Arts (MA) - The University Of Texas At Brownsville

Master of Arts (MA) - Teachers College Columbia University

Bachelor of Arts (BA) - Northwestern University

Janet Finlayson

Psychology Instructor

Department: Psychology
Office: S-120
Phone: 651-450-3758
E-mail: jfinlayson@inverhills.edu

Education Credentials:

Doctor of Psychology (PSYD) - Saint Mary's University

Master of Education (MED) - North Dakota State Univ

Bachelor of Science (BS) - Minnesota State University Moorhead

Bachelor of Arts (BA) - Moorhead State University

Honors Program Completed (CERT) - Moorhead State University

Bachelor of Science (BS) - Moorhead State University

Vaughn Paradise

E-mail: vaughn.foster@inverhills.edu

Education Credentials:

Master of Science (MS) - Minnesota State University, Mankato

Bachelor of Arts (BA) - Malone University

Jon Jensen

Psychology Instructor

Department: Psychology
Office: S-214
Phone: 651-450-3482
E-mail: JJensen2@inverhills.edu

Education Credentials:

Doctor of Education (EDD) - The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

Master of Arts (MA) - Saint Marys University Of Minnesota

Kathryn Klopfleisch

Instructor

Departments: English, Reading, Study Skills
Office: LA-116
Phone: 651-450-3273
E-mail: KKlopfleisch@inverhills.edu

Education Credentials:

MASTER OF ARTS (MA) - MINNESOTA STATE UNIV MANKATO

Rob Kolomyski

Art Instructor-Summer

Department: Art
Office: F146
Phone: 651-450-3256
E-mail: RKolomyski@inverhills.edu

Bio

A native of Detroit, Michigan, Rob Kolomyski has an M.F.A. from Michigan State University, a B.F.A. from Eastern Michigan University, and an A.A. in CAD and Styling from Macomb Community College in Warren, Mich. The latter degree led him to a 10-year career as an auto body designer. He worked as an associate engineer at the Toyota Technical Center in Ann Arbor, Mich., for six years before opting for a career change that allowed him to pursue his love for art, painting in particular, at a professional level.

Before becoming full-time faculty at Inver Hills, Rob served as a visiting instructor and visiting assistant professor at MSU. He also taught painting, drawing and art appreciation at South Texas College in McAllen, Texas. Rob teaches beginning and advanced drawing and painting at Inver Hills.

What Rob likes best about teaching is guiding students and getting them excited about art. He enjoys watching students develop their talent as they advance toward a goal. His teaching philosophy is succinct: "Be accessible, honest and fair."

Rob's intention is to create an educational environment that is instructive, stimulating and critical. Students will be challenged to think both creatively and critically to develop a vital decision-making process while enhancing their skills in visualization and spatial organization applicable to all types of media.

His advice to students thinking about the A.F.A. in Art stresses adaptability. "As an artist, you need to develop a lot of skills and be entrepreneurial," he said. "You can make your own job and make your own career. Teaching is an option to support your art—but you have to be willing to work hard. People in the arts work really hard to get where they are."

Rob's favorite artistic medium is painting, especially abstract landscapes. Over the last several years, he has shown at several national and international galleries and museums, including:

Manifest in Cincinnati, Ohio
Soo Visual Arts Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Brownsville Museum of Fine Arts in Brownsville, Texas
Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts in Taipei, Taiwan
Da Xiang Art Space in Taichung City, Taiwan
Ever Gold Gallery in San Francisco, California
The Lexington Art League in Lexington, Kentucky
The Foundry Art Center in St. Louis, Missouri
Max Fish Gallery in New York City, New York

Rob's work has also been selected for inclusion in several art publications, including:

International Painting Annual
- Manifest Press, Cincinnati, Ohio
Weak Painting (exhibition catalog)
- Garden City Publishing, Taipei, Taiwan
"What is Weak Painting?"
- Review by Jian Tzu-Chieh
- Garden City Publishing, Taipei, Taiwan
Studio Visit
- Volume 8
- Open Studio Press, Boston, Massachusetts

Education Credentials:

Master of Fine Arts (MFA) - Mich State Univ All Campuses

Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) - Eastern Michigan University

Nate Maertens

English Instructor

Departments: English, Study Skills Instruction
Office: LI-315
Phone: 651-450-3792
E-mail: NMaertens@inverhills.edu

Education Credentials:

Master of Arts (MA) - San Francisco State University

Brad Manley

Communication Instructor

Department: Communication
Office: LA 114
Phone: 651-450-3877
E-mail: BManley@inverhills.edu

Education Credentials:

Master of Arts (MA) - Northern Illinois University

Bachelor of Science (BS) - Illinois State University

Jennifer Parker

TRIO SSS Academic Advisor

Department: Student Services
Office: C-255
Phone: 651-450-3730
E-mail: jparker@inverhills.edu

Bio

Jennifer has dedicated 20+ years to instructing, mentoring, and advising students within higher education. Jennifer joined the faculty at Inver Hills in 2018 and her experiences with the first-year communities inspired her to serve students in a broader way ultimately leading her to join the TRIO SSS team. Prior to Inver Hills, Jennifer served at Washington State University, Concordia University-St. Paul, McNally Smith College of Music, and the Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists.

Jennifer holds a B.A. in Jazz Studies and an M.M. in Music Performance. Jennifer’s education and career have taught her the benefits of flexibility, musically or otherwise, and the power of bringing creativity and sensitivity to everything you do. She is humbled to be a part of the student journey. Jennifer loves helping people pursue their passions, remove and reframe barriers, and celebrate their unique gifts. Jennifer hopes that students will leave her office feeling seen, heard, hopeful, supported and whenever possible, laughing.

Jennifer lives in St. Paul with her husband, son, and their three dogs. Together they enjoy hiking, games, and all things creative, but especially music.

Jennifer Parta

Psychology Instructor

Department: Psychology
Office: FA-150
Phone: 651-450-3654
E-mail: JParta@inverhills.edu

Education Credentials:

Master of Science (MS) - Moorhead State University

Bachelor of Arts (BA) - Minors: History, General - University Of Minnesota Twin Cities

Sadie Pendaz-Foster

Sociology Instructor

Department: Sociology
Office: FA-149
Phone: 651-450-3724
E-mail: SPendaz-Foster@inverhills.edu

Education Credentials:

Doctor of Philosophy (PHD) - University Of Minnesota Twin Cities

Bachelor of Arts (BA) - Grand Valley State University

Keith Richter

English Instructor

Department: English
Office: L-223
Phone: 651-450-3541
E-mail: KRichter@inverhills.edu

Bio

Even before Keith received his B.A. in anthropology in 1992 from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, he had already made up his mind to abandon archaeology and instead pursue a career teaching English. During his undergraduate years, he had become more interested in excavating texts and analyzing the cultures within those texts than digging square holes in the unforgiving earth and scrubbing rusty nails.

Keith received his M.A. in English from Kansas State University in Manhattan in December 1996, and nine months later, IHCC hired him as a writing tutor and a part time English instructor. While at IHCC, Keith has created a training course for tutors of English Language Learners, co-presented a session called “Beyond the Five-Paragraph Essay” at the Minnesota Association for Developmental Education Conference in 2009, attended the National Summer Institute on Learning Communities at The Evergreen State College in 2011, and presented a session called “Integrating College Readiness in LCOMs” at IHCC's Learning Community Institute in 2012.

Keith has taught full time since 2007, teaching mostly developmental and college-level composition, but his other teaching interests include American Indian fiction and gothic literature.

Education Credentials:

Master of Arts (MA) - Kansas State University

Jared Scharpen

Director of Career Development

Department: Student Services
Office: CC-209
Phone: 651-450-3241
E-mail: jared.scharpen@inverhills.edu

Make Appointment

LeAnne Schmidt

E-mail: lschmidt@inverhills.edu

Education Credentials:

Master of Science (MS) - Saint Cloud State University

Bachelor of Science (BS) - Bemidji State University

Wanda Synstelien

English Instructor

Department: English
Office: B217
Phone: 651-450-3261
E-mail: wsynstelien@inverhills.edu

Bio

Wanda Synstelien is an English Professor in the Department of English at Inver Hills Community College where she has been a faculty member since 2011. Previously, Wanda had been teaching since 2000 at Southwest Minnesota State University. Wanda will complete her Ph.D. in May 2013 at Iowa State University in addition to having already completed a Master's of Science in Education, a Masters of English, and an undergraduate degree in English with a teaching certificate.

Her research interests lie in the area of developing English curriculum and teaching strategies with a focus on online tools, resources and real world applications. Throughout her career, she has also focused on concurrent enrollment partnerships in order to better align educational systems. Wanda has worked on several university and college committees in addition to sitting on NACEP's research committee and serving as the co-chair for the IHCC CEP advisory board.

Education Credentials:

Certificate (CERT) - Minneapolis Community and Technical College

Certificate (CERT) - Saint Paul College

Doctor of Philosophy (PHD) - Iowa State University

Master of Arts (MA) - University Of Dallas

Master of Business Administration (MBA) - St. Cloud State University

Master of Science (MS) - Southwest Minnesota State University

Master of Science in Education (MSED) - Southwest Minnesota State University

Bachelor of Arts (BA) - University Of Dallas

Wayne Whitmore

Sociology Instructor

Department: Sociology
Office: FA-152
Phone: 651-450-3777
E-mail: wayne.whitmore@inverhills.edu

Education Credentials:

Doctor of Education (EDD) - Minnesota State University, Mankato

Master of Arts (MA) - Minnesota State University, Mankato

Master of Science (MS) - University Of Wisconsin-Madison

Amy Zsohar

Speech Communication Instructor

Departments: Communication, Interdisciplinary Studies
Office: FA-147
Phone: 651-450-3659
E-mail: AZsohar@inverhills.edu

Education Credentials:

Doctor of Philosophy (PHD) - University Of Denver

Master of Science (MS) - University Of North Texas