Staff in the Capital Scholars Honors Program
Dr. Marc Klingshirn
Director, Capital Scholars Honors Program/
Associate Professor, Chemistry
Email Dr. Klingshirn
Dr. Klingshirn joined the Chemistry Department at UIS in 2006 and has taught in the Capital Scholars Honors Program since the Spring of 2007. He became the Director of CAP Honors in the Fall of 2013. When not teaching and administering within CAP Honors, he enjoys spending time in the lab developing green, environmentally friendly laboratory procedures for the high school and undergraduate chemistry curriculum. When not on campus, he enjoys running, kayaking, and exploring his “fascination with water.”
Karen Barker
Senior Coordinator of Recruitment and Operations,
Capital Scholars Honors Program
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Karen has been with the Honors Program since 2005. She holds a master’s degree in Human Development Counseling from UIS and a bachelor’s degree in Psychology (with minor in Sociology) from Southern Illinois University – Edwardsville. Karen taught CAP 102 for 9 years. She enjoys working out, is addicted to shopping, and loves spoiling her dog, Ruby.
Cortney Trencevski
Admissions Counselor, Advisor and Peer Mentoring Program Assistant,Capital Scholars Honors Program
Email Cortney Trencevski
Cortney joined the Capital Scholars Honors Program in the fall of 2015. She has a master’s degree in Human Development Counseling from UIS and a bachelor’s in Business Administration. Cortney is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Illinois. Outside of the office, she partakes in a variety of hobbies including volunteering, fitness, and traveling.
Patti Young
Business Administrative Associate
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Patti has been with UIS since May 2011. She joined the Capital Scholars Honors Program in Fall of 2019. Patti holds a bachelor’s in Business Administration and Marketing. Outside the office, she enjoys taking classes at UIS to further her education, reading Danielle Steel books, cheering on the Chicago Cubs and Chicago Bears, watching NASCAR and hanging out with her granddaughter.
Dr. Elise LoBue
Instructor,
Capital Scholars Honors Program
Email Elise LoBue
Elise has been with the Program for seven years, becoming a full-time instructor in 2018. She has taught CAP 111, 122, 123, 253, 402 and will teach CAP 115 in spring. Elise’s scholarly interests include: postsocialist transitions in the former Soviet Union where she served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Kazakhstan, gender studies/gender and development, sports and media, and interdisciplinary research and writing. She is currently working on research focusing on Turkish refugees who are members of the Islamically based Hizmet civil society movement seeking political asylum in Canada. Outside the office, Elise enjoys gardening, health and wellness, going to the beach, watching kids’ sports, and Ubering them to activities.
Diana Dabek
Coordinator and Instructor of Honors Composition & Student Academic Support,
Capital Scholars Honors Program
Email Diana Dabek
Diana Dabek joined CAP in Fall 2019 as Instructor and Coordinator of Honors Composition and Student Academic Support. Since then, she has designed and implemented a new civics-infused writing curriculum for the program. In addition to teaching CAP 111 and CAP 115, she helps oversee the peer tutoring program and CAP Studios. Diana also serves as faculty mentor for Continuum, the CAP Honor’s academic journal. Diana holds an M.A. in Literature from Florida International University and is currently finishing her dissertation on Early American Literature from the University of Miami. In her spare time, she likes to go antiquing and museum hopping in Springfield and the neighboring areas of St. Louis and Chicago.
Dr. Katie Carlson-Eastvold
Instructor,
Capital Scholars Honors Program
Email Katie Carlson-Eastvold
Katie Carlson-Eastvold joined CAP Honors as an Instructor in 2022. She earned her PhD in Nineteenth-Century British Literature from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research and writing interests include Romantic and Victorian British literature, the history of childhood, and the genre of microhistory. Recently she completed her first book, a work of popular nonfiction on the phenomenon of children who were bestselling authors in the nineteenth century. Katie is an avid photographer and traveler who is possessed of more hobbies than time. Her family's pandemic project has been to design (and eventually build) a writer's cabin on two small lakes in Northern Michigan. She lives with her brilliant husband, four charming tween/teen stepchildren, a feisty toddler named for a Tennyson poem, and a litter-trained house rabbit with the patience of a dog.
Rith Scott
Student Worker
Capital Scholars Honors Program
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Rith has been a part of the CAP Program since Fall 2020 with a major in English and a minor in Women and Gender Studies. They currently also work as a Peer Tutor and are involved in the Writer’s Guild, editing for Continuum, and the CAP Steering Committee. In xir free time, they love to do art, crochet, write, and do makeup. You can spot xem on campus talking with friends or with a coffee in their hands.
Jade Rack
Graduate Assistant
Capital Scholars Honors Program
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Jade is a 2021 graduate from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville where she got her Bachelor's in Psychology and a minor in Child and Family Studies. She is currently a second-year graduate student pursuing her Master's in clinical Mental Health Counseling here at UIS. For almost two years, she has been the CAP peer mentoring graduate assistant and enjoys working with the undergraduate class to help them succeed while also building relationships with them. In her free time, outside the office she likes listening to podcasts, baking, and watching reality tv.
Shelby Karch
Teaching Assistant for CAP 111/361
Capital Scholars Honors Program
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Shelby Karch is the Capital Scholars Honors Program Peer Tutoring Teaching Assistant. She is currently in her first year in UIS’s Human Development Counseling Program in the Marriage, Couple, and Family Counseling Track. She was a Psychology major at Illinois State University and obtained her M.A. in Religious Studies from Olivet Nazarene University where she wrote an over 100-page thesis. For fun, Shelby enjoys reading, painting, and crafting various fun activities.
Kara Phelps
Teaching Assistant for CAP 141/142
Capital Scholars Honors Program
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Kara is a graduate of Indiana State University with a BS in Biology and a Minor in Environmental Science: Sustainability. She received her Master Naturalist Certification from the University of Illinois Extension in 2017, while volunteering with the Illinois Natural History Survey Mollusk collection, and the Center for Bat Research, Outreach, and Conservation. In 2019 she started working at the Illinois River Biological Station, assisting with field surveys and in the lab with zooplankton identification. In 2020, she was promoted to technician crew leader, and works with Whooshh Innovations to study implementation and effectiveness. Kara wants to pursue a career as a professor after graduation.