Department of Special Education Faculty and Staff
Dr. Anne Papalia
Office: Shippen 125
Phone: (717) 477-1345
Department Chair and Associate Professor
About Dr. Papalia:
Dr. Anne Papalia is an Assistant Professor and the Department Chair of the Department of Educational Leadership and Special Education. She holds a Ph.D. in Special Education from Penn State University, an M.Ed. in Counseling from Alfred University, and an M.Ed. in Special Education and a B.S. in Special Education/ Elementary Education from the State University of New York at Geneseo. Dr. Papalia’s academic interests are in learning disabilities, reading instruction for students with disabilities, Duane’s Syndrome, and Animal Assisted Therapy. Her recent publications and presentations involve school emergency planning for students with disabilities, service dog in schools, and therapy dog use with children with disabilities. Dr. Papalia trains and owns therapy dogs, shows her Labrador Retrievers in obedience and agility, and judges dog obedience trials.
Dr. Thomas Gibbon
Office: Shippen 101
Phone: (717) 477-1498
Associate Professor
About Dr. Gibbon:
Thomas C. Gibbon is an Associate Professor of the Department of Educational Leadership and Special Education at Shippensburg University. He earned an EdD in Developmental Education from Grambling State University, Louisiana, and a Masters in Special Education with Special Education Teaching Certificates from McDaniel College, Maryland. He has published or presented about the following: transition to adulthood and higher education for students with disabilities; sexual harassment and safety of SWD; sexual education for SWD; multicultural competence for pre-service teachers; teaching children with chronic illness; inclusion; family advocacy for transition services; self-regulated learning; interventions for college students on academic probation; summer bridge programs; others.
Dr. Jacquelyn Chovanes
Office: Shippen 129
Phone: (717) 477-1349
Associate Professor
About Dr. Chovanes:
Dr. Chovanes earned a master’s degree in special education from the University of Pittsburgh and taught elementary, middle and high school students with severe and multiple disabilities, learning disabilities, autism, and emotional and behavioral disabilities in Alaska, Michigan, Maine, and Pennsylvania prior to earning a doctorate in special education at Lehigh University. Dr. Chovanes’ research interests include best practices in teacher preparation, data-based individualization for students with intensive needs, peer mediated social communication interventions for students with autism, culturally responsive teaching, and positive behavior support strategies for classroom management. Her recent publications and presentations include structured literacy instruction for preservice teachers, sexuality instruction for students with disabilities, navigating respectful language use with respect to identity and disability, and the history and evolution of special education in the U.S.
Cindy Poe
Office: SPH 127
Phone: (717) 477-1591
Department Secretary
About Cindy:
Cindy Poe is the Department Secretary at Shippensburg University for the Department of Educational Leadership and Special Education, the Wood Honors College, and the Shippensburg University Superintendent Study Council. Cindy graduated from the Central Pennsylvania Business School with an Associate’s Degree in Office Administration in 1996 and excelled in the field before beginning her career at Shippensburg University in 2009. Cindy is an asset to the department, mentors the department’s student workers and Graduate Assistants, and supports the department’s professors. Cindy is a loving cat mom of two and a dedicated Shippensburg community member.