Meet the Faculty & Staff

Dr. Beth Smith

Dr. Beth Smith is the director of Boston-based Pathway Programs at Northeastern University. In her role, she oversees advising and programming of both NU Immerse and Global Pathways. She works closely with faculty and staff to ensure connectivity between program curriculum, advising, and co-curricular activities. Beth completed her master’s degree in international law and diplomacy at the Fletcher School at Tufts University, and she received her doctoral degree in international higher education administration from Northeastern University. Her research focused on the transition of Chinese students to American higher education through an extended summer bridge program. Beth also teaches in the Global Studies and International Affairs program within the College of Professional Studies and has led sections of NU Immerse discussion groups.

Jessica Dilliner

Jessica Dilliner is an Academic Advisor for the Global Pathways program at Northeastern University. She is passionate about helping students realize their potential, and contributing to both their personal and academic evolution. In so doing, students are better prepared to take on the challenges the Global Pathways program entails, as well as those they’ll experience in their graduate degrees. Jessica earned her master’s degree in nonprofit management and has an extensive background in higher education, having held various roles at Northeastern over the last two decades.

Dr. Ilka Kostka

Dr. Kostka is a teaching professor in the NU Immerse and Global Pathways Programs in the College of Professional Studies at Northeastern University, where she teaches English language courses to undergraduate and graduate international students. Since 2014, she has taught a range of courses at Northeastern, including reading and writing, listening and speaking, culture and communication, public speaking, and community learning. Her scholarly interests center on teaching approaches (e.g., flipped learning) and the pedagogical use of generative artificial intelligence in English language instruction. Dr. Kostka is the current Secretary of Northern New England TESOL, an affiliate of TESOL International Association, and a member of the Board of Directors of Literacy Volunteers of Greater Worcester, a non-profit organization that provides free language instruction to adult learners and immigrants. She completed her PhD in bilingual education at New York University and has taught English in the United States and in China.

Dr. Veronika Maliborska

Dr. Maliborska is an assistant teaching professor in the NU Immerse and Global Pathways Programs. Her research interests include second language writing, the learning potential of writing, and teaching pronunciation, prosody, and vocabulary to international teaching assistants. Her recent research focused on the pedagogical potential of individual conferences in a composition course for international students. She is a member of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages and the American Association for Applied Linguistics, where she presents her research findings.

Previously, Dr. Maliboska was a graduate instructor in the English department at Purdue University. She taught writing courses in the ESL Writing and ICaP programs; worked as an instructor, tutor, and rater in the Oral English Proficiency Program, preparing international graduate students from various majors to become teaching assistants; and developed ESL content for the Purdue OWL website. She was also an instructor at the EF Englishtown’s online English program and a graduate instructor and writing tutor at Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Egle Slezas

Egle Slezas is a part-time lecturer in the NU Immerse and NU Global programs. She teaches international students in various formats, focusing on academic proficiencies and language skills. Her courses encompass Critical Writing, Advanced Reading and Writing, Reading in the Field of Studies, and Career Exploration. Additionally, Egle Slezas holds a part-time lecturer position at Northeastern University’s College of Professional Studies, where she teaches the Foundations of Professional Communication course. By employing diverse teaching methodologies to meet the needs of diverse learners, she creates an engaging and inclusive learning environment. Egle Slezas holds an MA in Education from the University of Massachusetts Boston alongside an MPS in Learning Experience Design and Technology from Northeastern University. She is a member of the TESOL International Association.