Mr. John S.C. Romans, Ph.D., Project Director & Principle Investigator

Dr. Romans' academic background in counseling and career development brought him to the Gear Up project originally. He has been at OSU for twelve years, and holds a Ph.D. in Counseling & Psychology from the University of Kansas. Dr. Romans is a native of Iowa, and has degrees from Iowa and Iowa State Universities. He and his wife Connie have two children. Their family loves to read; they enjoy reading the same book and then discussing it. They are currently reading "Holes" by Louis Sachar.

Mr. David Yellin, Ph.D., Director, OSU GEAR UP Book Club

Dr. Yellin is a Professor in the School of Teaching and Curriculum Leadership. He teaches courses in language arts and children's literature for the OSU College of Education.

Ms. Camille DeBell, Ph.D., Faculty Member

Dr. DeBell is in her fourth year at OSU as an Assistant Professor in the Counseling Area in the School of Applied Health and Educational Psychology. She teaches on both the Tulsa and Stillwater campuses. Her research, teaching, and practice specialty is career development. She has worked as a career counselor for many years, publishes research on career related issues, and teaches most of the career counseling and vocational psychology courses in the Counseling Area at OSU. Dr. DeBell was on the faculty at Texas Tech University for 10 years before coming to OSU, and her Ph.D. is from the University of Minnesota. "You practically HAVE to specialize in career development if you graduate from Minnesota!" she says.

Mr. Lance Millis College Prep- 101

Lance Millis is an academic advisor with OSU's College of Education. He advises undergraduate students majoring in Health Promotion, Athletic Training, Leisure Services Management, Therapeutic Recreation, Physical Education, Elementary Education, Secondary English, and Science and Social Studies Education. He holds both Bachelor's (Recreation Management, 1988) and Master's Degrees (Interdisciplinary Sciences, 1999) from OSU. Lance holds the distinction of having served as OSU's university mascot, Pistol Pete, as an undergraduate. Mr. Millis is the creator of CollegePrep-101, an award-winning website aimed at helping high school students prepare for and be successful in college.

Ms. Jamilah Salim, Program Coordinator

Jamilah is spending her first year as Program Coordinator for OSU GEAR UP, and is enjoying the experience of being a member of a team that is directly associated with a major university in Oklahoma.  She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Oklahoma and masters’ degrees from The Ohio State University and the University of Missouri.

Mrs. Janna Morgan, Graduate Associate

Janna is a second year doctoral student in the OSU Counseling Psychology program and has been a graduate assistant with OSU College of Education GEAR UP since 2000. She received her bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Tulsa in 1998 and completed her master's degree in Community Counseling from OSU in May 2002. Her future plans include completing her Ph.D. and developing her career in Counseling Psychology. Janna and her husband, Keith, currently reside in Tulsa. In her spare time, she enjoys doing anything outside, listening to music, reading, writing, watching her husband compete in rodeos, and spending time with her family, her horse Thistle, and her cat Siatee.

Ms. Aditi Mitra, Graduate Assistant

Aditi Mitra is a doctoral candidate at the deparment of Sociology at OSU, specializing in inequality, social psychology and stratification studies. She has a Masters in Mass Communication from England and has been working with Gear Up as a graduate assistant at Stillwater since July 2004.

Mr. James A. Reid

James is presently completing his third year of doctoral study in the Oklahoma State University Counseling Psychology program. James joined the OSU College of Education GEAR UP in July of 2004 as a graduate assistant. He completed undergraduate education at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology.