About Us > Staff Bios
Alison Guest, Learning Specialist
Alison recently moved to the area from Florida where she was a disability provider for the past five years. She received her BS in Special Education from Plattsburgh State University and her MS from Radford University in Radford, VA. Alison has a passion for working with students and looks forward to many more years in this field. In addition to meeting with students regarding accommodation decisions, she works one on one with students around time management, study skills, test taking and note taking strategies. Some of Alison’s hobbies include traveling, reading, walking, and volunteering with animals.
Beth Lyons, Learning Specialist
Beth Lyons, along with her husband and two boys, recently moved to the area from Saratoga Springs, NY where Beth was the Disabilities Specialist at Skidmore College. Beth and her family enjoy outdoor activities and are looking forward to the milder climate North Carolina offers. Throughout her professional career, Beth has had the opportunity to work with numerous populations, but enjoys college-aged students the most. She can work one on one with students or in groups to help with organization, time management, and test taking skills.
Theresa Laurie Maitland, Coordinator
Theresa E. Laurie Maitland is the Coordinator of the Academic Success Program for Students with LD and ADHD. It is Dr. Maitland’s passion to work with individuals with learning, attentional and emotional challenges, helping them turn those challenges into gifts. Dr. Maitland’s career of over 30 years has allowed her to work with people across the age span (ages 2-60) in both public and private settings. She joined the staff at UNC to begin working with college students in 1994. Before then, she was a special class teacher at all grade levels, a college professor, an in-service trainer, and a clinician. In 1984, Dr. Maitland helped to develop a private, multidisciplinary clinic serving individuals with cognitive, emotional and behavioral challenges as well as their families. Throughout her career, Dr. Maitland has conducted numerous local workshops and national presentations on topics related to teaching and parenting children, adolescents and young adults with these challenges.
Since 1996, Dr. Maitland and her colleagues at UNC have studied the field of professional coaching and its application to college students with special learning needs. As a result, she became a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC) in 2003. Since then, Dr. Maitland grew a private coaching practice specializing in work with teens, adults and families with learning, attentional and emotional challenges.
Dr. Maitland has written several children’s books celebrating individual differences, and has also co-authored Coaching College Students with ADHD: Issues and Answers (Advantage Books, 2000). Dr. Maitland also contributed to the development of The National Attention Deficit Disorder Association Guiding Principles for Coaching Individuals with Attention Deficit Disorder.
Kristen Rademacher, Assistant Coordinator
After teaching in New England at the elementary school level for 13 years, Kristen moved to Chapel Hill in 2002. Using the skills she acquired teaching children with learning disabilities, Kristen joined the staff at Learning Disabilities Services (as it was named at the time) in 2003 as an LD/ADHD specialist. Kristen finds working with both undergraduate and professional school students rewarding and challenging. She has also taught reading and writing to adults with learning disabilities at a community college. In January 2007, Kristen became a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach after successfully completing 116 hours of course-work followed by a six month rigorous certification program. She is pleased to offer coaching to her students. Kristen played a key role in the transition (relocation, name change, program redesign) the Academic Success Program (ASP) underwent in the summer of 2007. In September 2007, Kristen became the Assistant Coordinator of the program. In addition to working with students, Kristen is also responsible for writing and/or editing all ASP documents, redesigning the website, and program development. In her free time, Kristen enjoys writing, reading, cooking, knitting and walking.
Billie Shambley, Program Manager
Billie Shambley has worked at the university since 1999, first for Developmental Disabilities Institute and since July 2005, for the Academic Success Program (ASP – formerly LDS). She lives in Chatham County. She is involved in the arts community in Chatham where she volunteers as an advisor on the Chatham Arts Board, works shows for potter Siglinda Scarpa, and is a founding member of the Chatham County Camera Club. She was born in Aruba, graduated from high school in Claremont, California and moved to North Carolina at age 20. Billie has two grown boys who have started their own families, and she now has four grandchildren. She is a lifelong learner and enjoys taking classes offered throughout the community.