First Year Experience

Page content

Staff Bios

Nicole Craven, Associate Director

  • Nicole earned a BA in English from The Ohio State University and an MA in College Student Personnel from Bowling Green State University.
  • Nicole’s areas of responsibility include oversight of the FYE Peer Leader model, the First Year Success Series and managing data collection and analysis to support student retention and persistence.
  Nicole Craven

DeeDee Cruz, Transfer Student Specialist

  • DeeDee earned a BA in Psychology and Spanish from Butler University and an MS in Student Affairs in Higher Education from Colorado State University.
  • DeeDee’s areas of responsibility include orientation for new transfer students, ongoing support and programming for transfer students throughout the year, and building collaborative partnerships with campus colleagues who work most closely with Ohio State’s transfer student population.
  DeeDee Cruz

Carla Elliott, Program Coordinator

  • Carla earned a BS in Business Administration, a BA in English and an MEd in Integrated Language Arts from The Ohio State University.
  • Carla collaboratively supervises FYE Peer Leaders and contributes to programs and initiatives geared toward students who would benefit most from support and resources in their first year; Carla works most closely with the First Year Success Series.
  Carla Elliott

Sydney Green, Program Coordinator

  • Sydney earned a BS in Human Development and Family Science and MA in College Student Personnel from Bowling Green State University.
  • Sydney collaboratively supervises FYE Peer Leaders and contributes to programs and initiatives geared toward students who would benefit most from support and resources in their first year; Sydney works most closely with the Land Grant Opportunity Scholars and the Focusing on the First Year conference.
  Sydney Green

Matthew Nolan, Program Coordinator

  • Matthew earned a BA in Psychology from Bowling Green State University and MS in Education in Higher Education and Student Affairs from Indiana University.
  • Matthew collaboratively supervises FYE Peer Leaders and contributes to programs and initiatives geared toward students who would benefit most from support and resources in their first year; Matthew works most closely with Peer Leader recruitment, selection and training.
  Matthew Nolan

Jenny Osborn, Associate Director

  • Jenny earned a BS in Psychology from The Ohio State University and an MEd in Higher Education and Student Affairs from the University of South Carolina.
  • Jenny's areas of responsibility include developing and coordinating University Orientation, Land Grant Opportunity Scholars and collaboration with colleagues in academic units.
  Jenny Osborn