Rob Kerr

Rob Kerr

Director, Continuing and Professional Education

Rob Kerr serves as the Director for UIS Office of Continuing and Professional Education (CAPE). His background includes over 20 years in higher education and economic development. His previous positions include Deputy Director for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Technology at the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity; Dean of Enrollment and Career Programs and Registrar at Richland Community College; and Director of Career and Technical Education at the Illinois Community College Board. In addition, Rob served as an adjunct faculty member at Benedictine University Springfield for 18 years.

Contact: rkerr6@uis.edu


Maude Yacapsin

Dr. Maude Yacapsin

Special Projects Coordinator, Instructional Development Specialist

Maude earned a Doctoral Degree in Educational Leadership and Online Teaching from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, NE.  She works for the Office of Continuing and Professional Education (CAPE) at the University of Illinois Springfield.  Here, she gets to collaborate with professionals from the cities and towns surrounding Springfield, Chicago, Champaign, and Urbana, Illinois.   Working with the team at UIS has allowed her to experience collaborative opportunities for faculty development at UIUC and UIS, as well as with state agencies and community partners designing trainings and workshops to meet the needs of personnel and the constituents served by their work.  She readily and intuitively embraces diversity and inclusion in her work and personal life. 

Contact: myaca2@uis.edu


Russ Stoup

Russ Stoup

Coordinator of Professional Programs, ION Professional eLearning Program

Russ serves as the Coordinator of Professional Programs at UIS. Previously he directed the Instructional Technology program at a community college for twenty-three years, where he trained instructors and facilitated the distance learning program as the Education Technology Administrator. He concurrently served as an adjunct instructor of Career Development and Career Decision-Making. During that time he earned a Master of Online Teaching (MOT), Master Online Leader & Administrator (MOLA) and Digital Accessibility for Educators Certificate (DAE) through the ION Professional eLearning Program. 

Contact: wstou2@uis.edu


Deb Antoine

Deb Antoine

Instructional Development Specialist

Deb worked as a video producer at various studios and taught multimedia and radio/television at Capital Area Career Center for 15 years. While working for the Center for Online Learning, Research and Service (COLRS) at UIS, she earned her Master of Online Teaching (MOT) through the Illinois Online Network (ION).  She taught media production and communication courses full time for five years in higher education. In addition, she taught as an online adjunct for UIS, ION eLearning and Benedictine University. 

Contact: danto2@uis.edu


Jacob House

Dr. Jacob House

Instructional Development Specialist

Jacob has been developing instructional content and working to create courses and other materials to help learners reach their goals. Jacob has also been teaching in higher education for a decade. He received a Ph.D. in History from Kent State University, where he taught as an online adjunct.

Contact: jhous2@uis.edu


Emily Keener

Emily Keener

Instructional Development Specialist

Emily has been developing instructional content for over a decade, working with diverse design teams to create courses, simulations, job aids, and other material to help learners reach their goals. She has also consulted with educators on the effective use of technology to improve learning outcomes. Emily holds a MSEd in Instructional Design and Performance Improvement and is certified in technical communication from the Society for Technical Communication. 

Contact: emart2@uis.edu


Lindsey Kurfman

IT Support CAPE and ION eLearning Programs

Contact: ion@uis.edu