Join us for a follow-up to our “Responding to Disruptive Students” webinar in which we will discuss several case studies and take questions from participants about the challenging situations you are experiencing.
Cases will include classroom issues, residence life challenges, and the complex interface between disability and a student conduct process.
Date: Thursday, February 27, 2025, 4:00-5:00 pm ET.
Cost: Free for College Autism Network members. $50 for non-members.
About the Presenters
Catherine Cocks, M.A.
Cathy Cocks is Director of D. Stafford & Associates of Student Affairs, Behavioral Threat Assessment, and Independent Investigation Services. She works with schools on building and managing their behavioral threat assessment teams, student affairs practices, and harassment and discrimination compliance, investigations, and training.
Cathy has been a higher education professional for over thirty years. Prior to joining D. Stafford & Associates, Cathy was the Director of Community Standards for the University of Connecticut for 14 years, where she managed the student conduct process, which included managing all Title IX cases involving student respondents and chaired the University’s student threat assessment team.
Cathy co-authored the chapter “Philosophy of Student Conduct” in the 2nd edition of “Student Conduct Practice” (2020). She was a member of the writing team for CAS Standards’ Cross-functional Framework for Identifying and Responding to Behavioral Concerns.
Cathy is a Past President of the Association for Student Conduct Administration and the 2015 recipient of the 2015 Donald D. Gehring Award in recognition of sustained exceptional individual contributions to the field of student conduct administration. She was a faculty member for ASCA’s Gehring Academy, teaching subjects such as ethics, governance, threat assessment, media relations, and higher education trends. She was an affiliated faculty member for many years in the University of Connecticut’s Higher Education and Student Affairs Master’s program, teaching “The Law, Ethics, and Decision-Making in Student Affairs.”
Cathy is currently the sergeant-at-arms for the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals New England Chapter. She is a past recipient of the NASPA Region I Mid-Level Student Affairs Professional Award and the NASPA Region I Continuous Service Award. She earned her Master’s degree in Higher Education Administration from the University of Connecticut and her Bachelor’s in Communications/Media from Fitchburg State University.
John Caldora
John Caldora is Assistant Director of the Office of Student Accessibility at Sacred Heart University in Connecticut, Previously, he was the creator of the Neurodiverse Educational and Social Initiative at the University of Kentucky. John has over a decade of experience training college staff and faculty on supporting neurodivergent students. John has previously worked in student conduct, residence life, and behavioral intervention and threat assessment.
Alli MacNamara
Alli MacNamara is Director of the ASPIRE Program, part of the Kinney Center for Autism Education and Support at St. Joseph’s University where she has provided counseling, case management and education and career counseling support to autistic students since 2019.
Lee Burdette Williams
Lee Burdette Williams has been Executive Director of the College Autism Network since 2019. Prior to working with CAN, Lee was the Dean of Students at the University of Connecticut and the Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students at Wheaton College (MA). In both of these roles, Lee frequently moderated situations involving disability, disruption, student conduct and Title IX concerns.
