Staff

Laura Schraven has over 25 years of experience at UMBC, currently serving as Director of Student Affairs Communications and Marketing (SACM). She previously served as Director of Student Affairs of Creative Services. She is deeply passionate about applied learning, student development, and fostering inclusive, supportive environments in both creative and academic spaces.

As Director of SACM, she provides visionary leadership and expertise for the Division of Student Affairs, advancing and supporting university and divisional branding, digital strategy, accessibility, and student-centered storytelling. Her work consistently centers student voice, representation, development, and mentorship, ensuring that students are not only contributors but leaders in the creative and strategic processes that shape campus life.

She serves as a co-lead for UMBC’s partnership with the National Institute for Student Success and as staff advisor for The UMBC Review, a peer-reviewed academic journal led by undergraduate students, further reflecting her commitment to student scholarship and growth. She has also served as staff support for faculty-led study abroad programs, helping to pioneer a collaborative relationship between the Division of Student Affairs and the Office of Global Engagement that expands access to high-impact global learning experiences for students.

Laura began her tenure at UMBC in fall 2000 as a multimedia assistant in the University Center. The following year, as the new student center, The Commons, prepared to open, a new opportunity emerged. In partnership with then-director of The Commons, Joe Regier, Laura helped establish commonvision, a student-driven creative center that supports student organizations and campus departments in the development of promotional materials for events, programs, and initiatives.

Over more than two decades, commonvision has grown into a robust in-house design and production operation within the Division of Student Affairs. It includes six full- and part-time staff members and more than 25 graduate and undergraduate students, offering hands-on, applied learning experiences that prepare students for professional success while amplifying campus engagement.

Laura holds a B.A. in Marketing, a M.S. in Nonprofit Management, and a M.B.A., along with certifications in information design, information architecture, and public relations.

Katie Chrzanowski, ’07, visual arts, is the Associate Director of Digital Strategy for Student Affairs. She started with Student Affairs in 2015, leads web experience for the division, and is passionate about accessibility. She assists in managing commonvision, UMBC’s Student Design & Print Center, working closely with her team of animators and photographers/videographers. She has over 20 years of experience in digital and web design, including time spent on the web team at the U.S. Naval Academy. As an undergraduate at UMBC, Katie concentrated in both animation and interactivity as part of the visual arts program, and completed double minors in computer science and art history. She was also a CWIT Scholar and IRC Fellow. In her free time, she has a corgi art business, Corgasaur, collects Pez dispensers, and is the host and designer for the Maryland Pez Gathering.

Emma Hagen ’14, media and communication studies, is the Associate Director for Student Affairs Communications and Marketing. Emma’s start with the department was as a student staff member at commonvision in 2013, before transitioning to a full time staff member in 2017. Emma leads the commonvision studio, supervising project management, graphic design and print production. Emma has also served as an adjunct professor for UMBC’s media and communication studies and information systems departments. Emma graduated in 2021 with her M.F.A. in Integrated Design from University of Baltimore, where she did her thesis work on punk design and DIY culture.

Rebecca Huppman joined Student Affairs Communications and Marketing as a project manager in 2024. As part of the team at commonvision, she oversees project progress, manages timelines and deliverables, and facilitates client communications. Prior to joining UMBC, she served as a project manager and course developer at an education technology company. Rebecca is a Certified Scrum Master and has a B.S. in Mass Communication from Towson University.

Eleanor Lewis joined Student Affairs Communications and Marketing in 2018. She has over 30 years experience in higher education and nonprofit communications, most of that time at UMBC. In her current role, she is responsible for content strategy and storytelling for the division, serving as writer/editor; guiding communication strategies that support the divisional and university missions and visions; advancing Student Affairs departmental priorities; serving as liaison to University Communications and Marketing; and enhancing the visibility of Student Affairs on campus and beyond. Prior to joining Student Affairs, her UMBC roles have included senior director of communications, and she also managed communications for the arts, humanities, and social sciences as well as alumni and development programs. When she’s not working she is usually reading, writing poetry, attending and reading at local literary events, listening to music, and buying books and more bookshelves. She is the former co-editor of The Pearl, an award winning Baltimore literary magazine, and is currently working on her second book. Eleanor has a B.A. in Communications, a M.S. in Professional Writing, and a M.A. in Spiritual Care.

Dan Neeley became IT Operations Manager for the Division of Student Affairs in March 2023, and joined Student Affairs Communications and Marketing in July 2024. He provides technical expertise, IT project consultation, and serves in a supporting administrator role for the information systems utilized by departments within the division. Dan’s ongoing goal is to ensure effectiveness of secure and usable systems to help facilitate the division staffs’ work. Dan earned a M.S. in Human Centered Computing from UMBC in 2015. Prior to joining Student Affairs, he served as Operations Manager for the Graduate School at UMBC.

Tori has been with commonvision, the student design and print center of SACM since 2019. She is an alumni of UMBC’s Visual Arts department and received her M.S. in Interaction Design and Information Architecture from the University of Baltimore. Tori oversees commonvision’s production space and helps train all the students in technical print design.

In her free time Tori loves sewing, knitting, and weaving as well as taking walks with her dogs.