Cassandra is originally from upstate New York and graduated from Marist College with a BA in Spanish, a minor in Latin American and Caribbean Studies and a concentration in Bilingual Education/ESL. She earned her Master's degree in Teaching English as a Second Language from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she currently works as the Teaching Coordinator and a Senior Lecturer of the ESL Program. Since 2012, this work includes teaching academic writing for international students and coordinating the teaching support, training, and development of the ESL instructors. Her teaching interests and experiences have developed particularly in the areas of instructional design, learning outcomes, educational technology, online teaching, and Universal Design for Learning. She regularly serves on the Linguistics faculty committees for Website & Publicity and Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion.