Meet the Team
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Jen Leptien
Director of Learning Communities
(she/her/hers)
Director of Learning Communities
(she/her/hers)
Jen Leptien
About Jen's Role
- Provides administrative leadership of over 80 learning community options, serving over 6,500 undergraduate students.
- Became the program coordinator for Learning Communities in 2005 and served in this role until being named Director in 2018.
- Gives numerous presentations on various learning community topics to international audiences.
Education
- B.S., Child and Family Services, Iowa State University
- M.F.C.S., specialization in Gerontology, Iowa State University
- Ph.D., Human Development and Family Studies, Iowa State University
Awards and Recognition
- President of the National Learning Communities Association (2022-2023)
- Serves as a mentor for the Learning Communities Association Professional Mentorship Program (2019-present)
- Serves as a resource faculty member for the National Summer Institute on Learning Communities at the Washington Center for Improving Undergraduate Education (2019-present)
- Council-at-Large and Chair of the Professional Development Committee for the National Learning Communities Association (2016-2018)
Jen's Linkedln Profile
jenl@iastate.edu 515.294.1948
(she/her/hers) -
Kyle Holtman
Assistant Director of Learning Communities
(he/him/his)
Assistant Director of Learning Communities
(he/him/his)
Kyle Holtman
About Kyle's Role
- Provides administrative support to over 80 learning community options
- Creates training and development opportunities to more than 100 learning community coordinators and more than 600 peer mentors at ISU.
- Spent three years as a program coordinator in the Office of New Student Programs and five years as an academic advisor and learning community coordinator in the Department of Kinesiology, before taking on his current role with the Learning Communities program in 2018.
Education
- B.B.A., Management, University of Iowa
- M.Ed., Education, emphasis in Higher Education and Student Affairs, Iowa State University
- Graduate Certificate in Applied Research Methods in the Human Sciences. Research projects have focused on persistence and success factors of learning community participants, as well as first-generation college students.
Awards and Recognition
- CYtation Award recipient (2021)
- Council-at-Large member of the Learning Communities Association (2018-2020)
- ISU Award for Early Achievement in Academic Advising (2018)
- Exemplary Peer Mentor Supervisor (2015, 2016)
Kyle's Linkedln Profile
holtman@iastate.edu 515.294.5165
(he/him/his)