Staff
Seth Langley, Ph.D.
Associate Vice President for Academic Student Services and Affairs
College of Medicine | College of Nursing | School of Health Professions | School of
Graduate Studies | School of Public Health
Dr. Seth Langley is an educational psychologist, clinical professor of psychiatry, and Associate Vice President for Academic Student Services and Affairs. As Associate Vice President, he provides administrative oversight and psychoeducational counseling for students enrolled in programs within all five SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University academic units including, College of Medicine, College of Nursing, School of Graduate Studies, School of Health Professions, and the School of Public Health. Additionally, he works with physician residents dealing with issues of stress, anxiety, or metacognitively related factors.
Dr. Langley earned his Ph.D. and M.A. degrees in Educational Psychology with a specialty in learning and cognition from the University of Minnesota and his BS degree in Psychology/Human Development from Howard University.
Dr. Langley’s teaching experiences of more than 20 years at the university level have ranged from undergraduate principles of psychology courses, to graduate educational psychology, nursing, and mental health counseling courses. In addition to his teaching experiences, his qualitive and quantitative research has covered diverse subject matters from examining psychophysiological responses to stress, to identifying psychoeducational factors that influence the academic achievement motivation of underprepared students. Dr. Langley has published in the Journal of Research and Teaching in Developmental Education on related topics and was awarded the Outstanding Research Award by the New York College Learning Skills Association for his published work.
Dr. Langley is currently involved in the collection of data researching the effects
of self-regulation and self-efficacy on the academic achievement motivation of physician
residents, and his scholarly work reflects an ongoing interest in achievement motivation.
Dr. Langley discusses Academic Support & Advisement
Dr. Langley discusses Emotional Intelligence
Email: seth.langley@downstate.edu
Susan Kane, Ph.D.
Senior Assistant Director, Academic Services
College of Medicine | College of Nursing | School of Health Professions | School of
Public Health
Dr. Susan Kane is the Senior Assistant Director for the Office of Academic Services at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University. She is an educator who has spent over 20 years in medical and healthcare education. She has worked with faculty, staff, and students developing executing curricula to ensure success at all levels of implementation. Much of her curricular work has been with programs designed to provide early clinical experiences for first and second-year medical students. She has found that, in the foundational years, clinical experiences help reinforce learning in the basic sciences.
Dr. Kane has proven to be particularly effective in the establishment and development of newly established programs in the medical school environment. She has been successful in the promotion and administration of these programs to faculty and students and has often been asked to assist in the formation of innovative programs and procedures.
Dr. Kane earned her Ph.D. degree in Educational Psychology from the Graduate Center, City University of New York, and MPH degree from Columbia University. Her dissertation was on The Effects of a Longitudinal Patient Experience on Empathy in First- and Second-Year Medical Students. She has a strong interest in how adults learn, and is particularly concerned with the effects of stress, time constraints, the imposter syndrome, implicit bias, and other issues that may affect learning in medical school settings.
Email: susan.kane@downstate.edu
Vanessa Vales-Lewis, Ph.D.
Assistant Director, Academic Services
Dr. Vanessa Vales-Lewis is an Assistant Director for the Office of Academic Services at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University. She is a formally trained educator with over 15 years in K-12 and higher education institutions. Her background in higher education includes faculty development and mentorship in Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, & Mathematics (STEAM), STEAM course content evaluation and development & the achievement gap in STEAM. Dr. Vales-Lewis is an alumna and former employee of the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health (a non-profit public health organization partnered with SUNY Downstate). At this organization, her work increased K-12 historically disenfranchised students' access to health science education and careers.
Now a SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University Academic Counselor, she plans to continue bridging this access gap in her new advisement role for the Office of Academic Services. Currently, as a professor of science and educational researcher, she is interested not only in the learning of science but also in the science of learning. She advocates for and adapts the practice of reflexivity with students by eliciting active learning strategies that help them interrogate their attitudes, thought processes, values, assumptions, prejudices, and habitual actions in understanding as it relates to their complex roles in knowledge development.
Dr. Vales-Lewis has a Ph.D. in Urban Education - Learning Sciences at the CUNY Graduate Center, a Master of Philosophy — in Urban Education from the CUNY Graduate Center, a Master of Arts in Adolescent Science Education (7-12) from CUNY Brooklyn College, and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Northeastern University. Her current research interests include matrescence (the transition to motherhood), maternal wellness, and mindfulness. Her dissertation research title is Maternal Wellness: Self, Matrescence, Obstetric Violence, and Self Care.
Email: vanessa.vales-lewis@downstate.edu
Nick Cromie, M.A.
Assistant Director, Academic Services
Mr. Nick Cromie is an Assistant Director for the Office of Academic Services at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University. He is an experienced educator who has spent 15 years working with students and administrators in faculty and advisement roles.
Throughout his academic advisement career, Mr. Cromie has contributed significantly to the success of many engineering, nursing, pre-health, pre-medical, and physical therapy undergraduate and graduate students. Mr. Cromie takes a strengths-based approach while assisting students in achieving their academic goals.
Mr. Cromie is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the CUNY Graduate Center in the Policy, Oversight & Administration Program finalizing his dissertation on Lethal Autonomous Weapons and the Principle of Distinction and Proportionality. He earned a M.A. degree in psychology from John Jay College and a BA degree in communication from the University of Scranton. His areas of interests focus on community-centered policymaking and researching current trends in higher education. He is excited to use his experience to best help SUNY Downstate students thrive academically.
Email: nicholas.cromie@downstate.edu
Sze-Ying Lee
Office Coordinator
Mrs. Sze-Ying Lee is the Office Coordinator for the Office of Academic Services at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University.
Mrs. Lee has worked at SUNY Downstate since 2001. Throughout her years at Downstate, she has enjoyed working with students and faculty, and has established excellent working relationships with administrators and staff in multiple departments.
Mrs. Lee has previously worked as the Administrative Coordinator for the SUNY Downstate College of Health-Related Professions, College of Nursing, and the School of Public Health. She has also worked as a Translation Language Coordinator, and is certified as a medical translator in Cantonese, Mandarin, and Spanish. In that capacity, Mrs. Lee has worked with many physicians, medical students and patients within the SUNY Downstate community and looks forward to serving Downstate for years to come.
Mrs. Lee earned her BA degree in Political Science from Baruch College.
Email: sze-ying.lee@downstate.edu