Faculty

Thomas Basso | Technology

AAS—ITT Technical Institute, Mount Prospect, IL
BA—ITT Technical Institute, Mount Prospect, IL

Thomas Basso has been with the Prince Institute and Stenograph organizations for over four years. Thomas is a level 3 technical support professional with Stenograph and an instructor of Case Catalyst software, the very same software that he helps troubleshoot with professionals in the industry. There is no other school in the country that has access to the unique brand of experience that Thomas brings to the classroom. Expect to learn a great deal and have a great deal of fun in Thomas’ class.

Thomas holds an Associate of Applied Science in Computer Networking Systems and a Bachelor of Applied Science in Project Management. In his spare time, Thomas enjoys spending time with his family and friends. He also owns an antique store and is always looking for new things to learn.

Jennifer Chiappetta | General Education/Academics, Realtime Reporting

BS—Saint Xavier University, Chicago, IL
MS—Walden University, Minneapolis, MN

Jennifer Chiappetta holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education and a Master’s Degree in Elementary Literacy and Reading. She taught first through third grades for eight years before staying home with her children full time. She enjoys teaching adults, as well, and has been teaching in the online program at Prince Institute since 2010. Currently in the process of obtaining her COI and CRI with Prince, Jennifer enjoys scrapbooking and reading in her spare time.

Brianne Demma | English

Brianne Demma Faculty Prince Institute Great Lakes

BA—Illinois State University, Normal, IL

Brianne Demma has been with Prince Institute—Great Lakes since its inception in June of 2011. Her focus is on preparing students for the punctuation requirements and grammatical demands of producing transcripts. A graduate of Illinois State University, she holds a Bachelor's Degree in English Education and has worked as a high school English teacher and Director at Sylvan Learning Center. Brianne loves sharing her passion for the English language with her students and enjoys watching them succeed in her class. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, exercising, and spending time with friends and family.

Laura Durden | Realtime Reporting

Certificate—Prince Institute of Professional Studies, Montgomery, AL

After graduating from Prince Institute in February 1994, Laura Durden was a freelance realtime reporter providing services in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi for seven years. In 2001, she began providing CART services to students at the University of Alabama in Birmingham and also coordinated services for the University of Montevallo in Alabama. Her career has come full circle with her return to Prince Institute as an instructor—giving back to the school that launched her career and helping others prepare for an honorable lifetime career.

Debbie Field | Speedbuilding

Debbie Field Faculty Prince Institute Great Lakes

BS—University of Illinois, Champaign, IL
MA—Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, IL

Debbie Field began teaching Speedbuilding at Prince Institute—Great Lakes when the campus opened in 2011. She previously worked at the Court Reporting Institute of America, where she led Speedbuilding classes. With many years of teaching experience and degrees in education and administration, Debbie has spent most of her life educating others. She has a strong interest in motivational instruction, particularly in helping students discover how to identify and overcome hurdles in their path to success. Debbie grew up in the same Chicago suburb where she now resides with her family. She enjoys reading, playing the piano, experiencing the great outdoors, and discovering anything having to do with computers.

LaDonna Gray | Academics

BS—DeVry University
MPA—Keller Graduate School of Management

LaDonna Gray, a court reporter for more than 35 years, joined Prince Institute—Great Lakes in 2012. Previously, she was an official within the court system in Chicago working in the Criminal Division, and in Atlanta she worked in the Superior Court taking down civil and felony criminal cases.

A lifelong learner, LaDonna holds an undergraduate degree in Network and Communications Management from DeVry University and a Master’s in Public Administration from Keller Graduate School of Management. She was also a Registered Professional Reporter (RPR), a certification provided by the National Court Reporters Association. Her next educational goal is to obtain her doctorate degree.

LaDonna, who teaches Academics at Prince Institute, is excited to meet her students each quarter, whether onsite or online. In her spare time, she loves to travel, read, and exercise. She also enjoys parasailing, ziplining, and listening to her favorite jazz artists.

Karen Henke | Theory

Karen Henke Faculty Prince Institute Great Lakes

Associates—William Rainey Harper College, Palatine, IL
BA—Illinois State University, Normal, IL

Karen Henke has a teaching degree from Illinois State University and has been with Prince Institute—Great Lakes since the campus opened in June 2011. She is a theory instructor and leads the Enrichment Workshops, where students receive that extra little “boost” they need to be successful. She also offers positive encouragement to every student with whom she interacts.

Previously, while teaching at the Court Reporting Institute of America, Karen led Phoenix Theory and Speedbuilding classes for five years. She believes that one of the most important skills a teacher can teach a student is not so much what to learn, but how to learn.

Combining her two passions—teaching and music—Karen is a piano teacher and performer of classical singing outside of school. She also loves opera!

Maribeth Kopriva | Theory

Shorthand Reporting Certificate—Chicago College of Commerce, Chicago, IL

Maribeth Kopriva joined Prince Institute—Great Lakes in January 2012 as the lead Theory instructor. She attended Chicago College of Commerce where she earned her certification in shorthand reporting. Maribeth then worked as a freelance court reporter for 15 years focusing on medical malpractice and other facets of complex litigation. In her last position, Maribeth provided individualized literacy tutoring at the school-age level. Her breadth of experience—from complicated court reporting cases to educational tutoring—and her passion for helping people, make her a perfect fit to instruct realtime theory students.

A lifelong Chicagoan, Maribeth enjoys cooking, gardening, fishing, family, friends, and anything having to do with words. She is looking forward to meeting the new students in her class!

Glendine Lipford | Theory, Speedbuilding

Associate of Applied Science—Institute of Dallas, Dallas, TX
BS—Howard Payne University, Brownwood, TX

Glendine Lipford is a current Texas Certified Shorthand Reporter and a Certified Reporting Instructor with NCRA. She has worked as a freelance reporter and has taught court reporting since 1985. Glendine joined the Prince Institute team in 2010 and the Great Lakes team in 2012. Glendine is an experienced instructor and an inspiration to the students with whom she interacts.

Merle Zbrog | English

BA—University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Merle Zbrog started with Prince Institute—Great Lakes in 2011 with over 20 years of educational experience under her belt. She has also been an educational consultant since 2003. Merle enjoys teaching English and helping teachers meet the needs of every student in the classroom—allowing each student to reach his or her potential. She cautions her students: “The writer who neglects punctuation, or mispunctuates, is liable to be misunderstood.”—Edgar Allen Poe

A long-time resident of California, Merle has a passion for learning, teaching, dancing, and being with her family.

Administration

Marc Alexander | Branch Campus Director

Marc Alexander is the Branch Campus Director of Prince Institute—Great Lakes. He is a Certified Reporting Instructor (CRI), holds a Master's in Education from National Louis University, and a Bachelor's in Business from Indiana University. Prior to his current position at Prince, Marc worked in Stenograph’s Education Team, where he spent six years developing educational content for court reporting, CART, and captioning schools nationwide—training teachers and staff on Best Practices and providing technologies to the reporting community.

Upholding the highest standards of instruction at Prince and ensuring that students and faculty have a voice in the program are two of Marc's passions. He believes that sometimes we need to be reminded about our untapped potential: “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."—Ralph Waldo Emerson

Marc enjoys hiking, traveling, and spending time with his wife and his pet—a Dalmatian!

Constance Catlett | Admissions Representative

Constance Catlett joined the Prince Institute—Great Lakes team in January 2012 as an Admissions Representative. She is dedicated to helping students reach their goals, and is responsible for the admissions process from inquiry to graduation. Constance strives to provide students with the necessary motivation and confidence they need to succeed not only in the classroom, but also in life. A graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago, she volunteers with many nonprofit organizations.

Constance enjoys, shopping, exercising, and playing sports. She believes “a successful person is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at them.”

Vivian Han | Financial Aid Coordinator

Vivian Han Faculty Prince Institute—Great Lakes

Vivian Han joined Prince Institute—Great Lakes in June of 2011 and has recently moved into the position of Financial Aid Coordinator. She enjoys helping students reach their goals and wishes everyone success. One of her favorite sayings is: “If you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time."

Vivian was born and raised in the Chicago area and has lived in Delaware and New Jersey. She is the mother of two children and enjoys cooking, couponing, and doing crossword puzzles.

Emily Lee | Director of Financial Aid

Emily Lee joined Prince Institute—Great Lakes in August 2011 as the Director of Financial Aid. In this role, she works closely with students to complete the financial aid portion of the enrollment process. Helping students navigate the sometimes overwhelming world of college financial aid is something she finds both professionally and personally rewarding. Emily has been involved with student financial aid for the last three years. Prior to that she held positions in Internal Audit with some of the country's largest retailers.

Emily holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and an MBA from ITT Technical Institute. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her two dogs, gardening, and listening to live music. Emily’s philosphy on education (and life) is: "The difference between a dream and a goal is having a plan."

Shari Mayner | Admissions Representative

Shari Mayner Prince Institute Great Lakes Admissions Representative

Shari Mayner joined the Prince Institute—Great Lakes team in January of 2012 as an Admissions Representative. With her caring attitude and passion for learning, she takes pride in working with students to help them achieve their career goals. Nothing makes her happier than welcoming future graduates to the Prince Institute family. Her philosophy is: “There may be someone who has more talent than you, but there’s no excuse for anyone to work harder than you.” Shari truly believes that each of us can achieve excellence if we apply ourselves.

A graduate of North Park University, Shari was a teacher at Larkin High School and later worked as a Claims Support Representative for Country Financial prior to joining Prince Institute. She enjoys coaching and playing volleyball, baking cookies, and spending time with her husband.

Jessica Munge | Online Coordinator

Jessica Munge, Online Coordinator, joined Prince Institute in November of 2011. She works with new online students to guide them through orientation and get them started with their program. In addition, Jessica collaborates with online instructors to help them enhance their courses. Prior to joining Prince Institute, she taught communication courses at the community college level.

Jessica has a Master of Arts in Communication from the University of Illinois at Chicago, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Western Illinois University. In her leisure time, she enjoys taking pictures, traveling, running, and being with her husband and dog, a Shih Tzu named Poof.

Mark Oleferchik | Admissions Manager

Mark Oleferchik, Admissions Manager at Prince Institute—Great Lakes, has been working with students to help them attain their personal and professional goals for more than 10 years. After graduating from Northern Illinois University with a Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Mark continued his education and earned an MBA.

Biking, fishing, eating out, and visiting new places while vacationing with his wife are some activities Mark enjoys in his free time. He is a firm believer in the idea of “treating everyone like you would like to be treated yourself.”

Samantha Riccetti | Receptionist

Samantha Riccetti joined the Prince Institute team as the Receptionist at the Great Lakes campus in early 2012. Previously, she served as a department supervisor at JC Penney. Samantha, who enjoys meeting and getting to know new people, has always worked in the customer relations industry. With her positive attitude and energetic personality, she takes pride in her work at Prince Institute.

In her free time, Samantha likes to go horseback riding, drink hot tea, and watch marathons of her favorite classic TV shows. Her life motto has always been: “Don’t ever settle for less, if you are going to dream, dream BIG!”

Brian Scurr | Admissions Representative

Brian Scurr is an Admissions Representative at Prince Institute—Great Lakes. Prior to joining the Prince team, Brian worked as an Admissions Professional for more than 14 years, guiding students and helping them discover new careers through education. A graduate of Eastern Illinois University, Brian holds Bachelor degrees in Business and Philosophy.

In addition to spending time with his wife and two “spoiled” dogs, Brian enjoys collecting and selling vintage toys and comic books. He agrees with the Greek philosopher, Socrates, who said: “The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance.”

Programs offered at
Great Lakes campus:

Campus News:

Faculty

Administration

©2012 Prince Institute

Programs offered at Great Lakes campus:

Campus News:

Faculty

Administration

©2012 Prince Institute

Programs offered at
Great Lakes campus: