CENTER STAFFCyndy ColavitaRebecca Russo, J.D., Legal Program CoordinatorWendy Scott, M.L.S., M.A.Bonnie Shoultz, M.A.
Pamela Walker, Ph.D.Rachael Zubal-Ruggieri, Information CoordinatorCyndy ColavitaCyndy Colavita is Office Manager at the Center on Human Policy and Advisor for The Self-Advocacy Network.
Rebecca Russo, J.D., Legal Program Coordinator
Rebecca Russo received a Juris Doctor from SU’s College of Law in 2005. As a student at the College of Law, Rebecca served on the Executive Board of the disAbility Law Society, worked as a student attorney (on some disability-related matters) in the Community Development Law Clinic, organized and enrolled in the Center-sponsored Sign Language course, and developed materials for local organizations that work with cancer patients and their families. She also was a Research Assistant for Professor Michael Schwartz, Director of the Public Interest Law Firm. During the summer, Rebecca worked at the Fair Housing Litigation Department of the AARP, in Washington, D.C. She is 2000 graduate of Brandeis University.
As the Center's Legal Program Coordinator, Rebecca coordinates the legal projects of the Center in addition to working with Center faculty, students, and staff to develop and sponsor academic programs and courses, conferences and symposia, publications and resources, research and training programs, and public education and advocacy efforts with, and on behalf of, people with disabilities.
Wendy Scott, M.L.S., M.A Wendy Scott is Assistant Director for Faculty & Outreach Services and Adjunct Professor of Law at the Syracuse University College of Law. Her primary roles within the Law Library are to develop programs and services to support law school faculty and to coordinate the Law Library’s services to the University community and to area educational institutions and libraries. Ms. Scott teaches Advanced Legal Research for the College of Law and has taught research courses for the Syracuse University Legal Assistants Program and the State University of New York, Upstate Medical University.
Recently, Ms. Scott has focused her attention on developing research resources and instructional materials to support the law school’s interdisciplinary institutes and centers. In 2004, she worked with College of Law Professor Arlene Kanter to launch a database on international and comparative disability law resources to support the Center on Disability Studies, Law and Human Policy. She also collaborated with the Syracuse University Library to develop a Disability Studies web site and to create interdisciplinary programs and guides on disability research for Center students and faculty. She is currently working on a comprehensive annotated guide to resources in international, comparative and foreign disability law.
Ms. Scott is the author of Evaluating & Authenticating Legal Web Resources: A Practical Guide for Attorneys, 52 SYRACUSE L. REV. 1185 (2002) and co-author of Legal Research Practicum: A Proposal for the Road Ahead, 6 PERSPECTIVES: TEACHING LEGAL RESEARCH & WRITING 77 (1998). In 1996 she published “Legal Research Methodology,” an award-winning interactive instructional CD-ROM for the national Computer Assisted Legal Research (CALI) organization. She has shared her experience with technology in libraries and legal education at a number of national and regional library conferences, and served as Co-Chair of the American Association of Law Libraries, Academic Special Interest Section Legal Research Committee.
Ms. Scott earned her M.L.S. (School of Information Studies) and M.A. (Art History) from Syracuse University. Prior to coming to the College of Law, she was instructor of art history and librarian at the American College of Switzerland.
Bonnie Shoultz, M.A. Bonnie Shoultz has been active in the self-advocacy and parent movements since 1975 and was co-author of one of the first books published on self-advocacy, Speaking for Ourselves, which was based on her experiences as an advisor to People First of Nebraska. She has served as an advisor to Self-Advocates Becoming Empowered and as a member of the national board of directors of The Arc of the United States. A sister and mother of people with psychiatric disabilities, she also has been active in state and national organizations for families of children and youth with psychiatric disabilities. She has published numerous articles and chapters on community inclusion for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Pamela Walker, Ph.D. Pam Walker has been associated with the Center on Human Policy since 1985 and is involved with information, dissemination, research, and training activities. She has authored numerous research reports, articles, and book chapters on community living and inclusive recreation and has received an award from the American Camping Association for one of those papers. Her dissertation focused on the community participation and social networks of people with disabilities, and an article based on this was published in JASH. She was the recipient of the Thomas G. Haring Award for Research from TASH in 1999. Walker is currently co-editing Toward Meaningful Daytimes, a book on inclusive daytime supports for people with developmental disabilities.
Rachael Zubal-Ruggieri, Information CoordinatorZubal-Ruggieri serves as the Center on Human Policy’s Information Coordinator. She is responsible for technical layout and design of informational materials, the management of dissemination databases, the tracking of information dissemination, and managing the Center on Human Policy’s websites. She has received advanced training in web-based information technology and has expertise in web design and Internet communications.