College Supports
Across the College, supports are embedded within teams to foster international student success. With student and faculty facing support roles, tools and resources are available to support broader conversations on campus internationalization and foster a welcoming community.
Student Supports
The Student Support team includes the intercultural counsellor, the student career advisor, student coaches, program advisors, and the welcoming officer. These roles are champions of the international student experience and provide support which enhances the international student journey while providing access to services that support their settlement in their studies and new community.
Note: The contact information for Student Coaches as well as Program Advisors is located on the Student Services webpage. Contact information for the Welcoming Officer is located on the Language & Culture Centre webpage.
Mona Fathieh
Intercultural Counsellor
Mona is a Registered Psychotherapist who provides confidential support, information and strategies to improve International student well-being. Mona can provide strategies to manage the various stressors that often come from moving to a new country. These may include: expectations to succeed, adjusting to Canadian culture, homesickness (leaving family and friends), crisis, isolation, loneliness, worrying, uncertainty about the future, the challenge of balancing new responsibilities, and difficulties with family, friends or other relationships. Additionally, Mona provides support for students who want to learn skills to improve their academics and/or want to explore potential careers in Canada.
Languages: English and Farsi
Hussam Eldib
International Student Career Advisor
Hussam has the privilege of assisting students in identifying and fostering their strengths as they embark on their journey to build a successful career. Having lived in the Middle East and experienced the wonderful cultural differences, Hussam recognizes the value of international students and their positive impact on the Canadian workforce. With the ability to speak Arabic, Hussam hopes to provide some students an option to speak in their native language to better express themselves and their goals.
Languages: English and Arabic
Faculty Supports: The Faculty Leads - International
The Faculty Leads - International are champions in the Schools to lead the development and implementation of tools and strategies that promote the academic success of international students.
Alison Diamond
International Faculty Lead – School of Health, Professor, BScN Program
Alison is a Registered Nurse (RN) and a graduate of both Mohawk College (1985) and McMaster University, with both a BScN (1989) and a Master’s degree in Science with a focus on Teaching (1999). She worked as a nurse and educator at the Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation where her clinical focus was in cardiovascular disease and health promotion and also worked as a Public Health nurse. She has been a nursing professor in the Collaborative Mohawk-McMaster BScN Program for the past 18 years and a lead for the Global Health program at the Mohawk site. She is currently coordinator for the Canadian Healthcare for Internationally Educated Health Professionals program. She brings her knowledge of our health care sector and joy of working with international students to this role.
Sheva Leon
International Faculty Lead - School of Community, Justice & Liberal Studies,
Professor, Community Studies
Sheva Leon is a full time professor in the Child and Youth Care (CYC) department. Prior to teaching she worked with children, youth and families, both locally and internationally. Having arrived in Canada in pursuit of further education from India, Sheva feels passionately about the international student experience. She holds a Masters of Science in Child and Youth Studies from the University of Strathclyde, Scotland, and completed her dissertation on the experience of CYC faculty in supporting student mental health. When she is not teaching, Sheva is busy in her role as a suicide interventions skills trainer which she has been doing since 2013. Witnessing the increasing number of international students across programs, she hopes to use her role as International Lead for the Community Studies department, to be a part of a strong network of support for both faculty and students.
Tara Dinyer
International Faculty Lead - School of Health, Professor, Health, Wellness and Fitness
Tara is a professor and program coordinator in Health, Wellness and Fitness at Mohawk College. Tara has worked in the industry as a fitness facility manager, presenter, personal trainer, group fitness instructor, strength and conditioning coach, and personal trainer/group fitness leader course conductor. Tara is currently International Faculty Lead for the School of Health and vice-president of the Board of Directors for the Community Support Centre Haldimand Norfolk. Tara owns her own small business, and was a nominee for Small Business of the Year Haldimand Norfolk 2018 & 2020, YMCA Peace Medal award and recipient of the Hearts of Haldimand award in 2018.She was the recipient of the President’s Award of Excellence - Faculty from Mohawk College in 2023.
Wayne Aubert
International Faculty Lead - School of Business
Professor, Advertising and Marketing Communications Management Program
Wayne has been teaching at Mohawk for over 21 years, with the last decade having a particular concentration of teaching hours with First Year students in Business programs, with about 50% of the student enrolment being International students. He is a committee member of the EDI Academic Division Committee and the Alumni Relations Committee. Wayne enjoys introducing students to topics in Intercultural Competence, EDI, Emotional Intelligence and Volunteering.
Jamshed Turel
International Faculty Lead - Media and Entertainment, Co-ordinator Applied Music
Internationally renowned as a musician, Jamshed frequently performs and writes music for concerts and films all over North America, the Caribbean, Europe and Asia. Alongside his position at Mohawk College, Jamshed enjoys sharing his passion for music with youth, regularly leading academic panels and various workshops worldwide, from creating new digital musical instruments, to writing music for film and television, and sound design in musical theatre. In addition to his musical exploits, Jamshed is an avid traveller, cinema and food enthusiast, frequently globetrotting and exploring films and cuisine of diverse cultures.
Kelley Hoyt
Teaching & Learning Consultant – International Education
Kelley Hoyt works in both the Centre for Teaching & Learning and Mohawk International supporting faculty in developing tools and strategies to promote the success of international students. Kelley was a professor in the Human Services program at Mohawk College and actively involved in managing overseas global experiences for both student and faculty for many years before taking on this new role. Kelley is an IDI qualified administrator and her deep passion for understanding diverse cultures and countries of the world aids in her promotion of intercultural competencies across Mohawk.
Julie Nusca
International Faculty Lead – McKeil School of Business, Professor, Tourism
Born and raised in the Hamilton area, Julie has come full circle settling into a teaching career in a city she has always called home. Julie is self-directed educator, with passion and a commitment to student development and the learning experience. With over 25 years in the tourism industry, she is able to share first-hand knowledge in the areas of airlines, the hotel/accommodation sector and travel and event planning.
Her passion for teaching and travel coupled with an MBA in Hospitality and Tourism from the University of Guelph enable her to foster a positive learning environment for all students.
Mini Thomas
International Faculty Lead – School of Engineering Technology, Professor, Computer Science
Mini Thomas is a full time Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Information Technology at Mohawk College. Mini teaches and develops courses for the Electrical and Computer Engineering, Computer Science, and the Digital Health Programs at the College. Mini is a researcher with MEDIC, IDEAWORKS at Mohawk College. She also serves as a member of the Research Ethics Board at the College.
Mini has over 25 years of experience in academics and industry in Canada and internationally, in diverse roles. Before joining Mohawk, Mini was a faculty at the Electrical Engineering Department, Qatar University, wherein she also served as the Program Schedule Coordinator and Focal Academic Advisor for the department. In addition, she has prior experience as Lecturer in College and Technical Lead in industry.
Mini has extensive experience working in diverse applied research projects. She has worked very closely with many industrial partners through Research and Development projects in varied fields of Electronics & Communication, Signal Processing and Machine Learning, Healthcare and IIoT 4.0. She has also published papers in international journals and conferences. Mini has also guided and mentored students for their final Capstone projects.
Mini holds a Master’s and Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering. She is a Professional Engineer from PEO and APEGA. Mini is the certified FANUC Robotics Instructor at Mohawk college. Mini is currently doing her Ph.D. in Software Engineering, at McMaster University.
Mini believes, teaching is her way to make a positive difference in the world, and that, "by learning you will teach and by teaching you will learn”.
Anthony Fazzari
International Faculty Lead - Marshall School of Skilled Trade & Apprenticeship
Professor, Transportation
A licensed 309A Construction & Maintenance Electrician since 2018 and a full-time Instructor since 2019. Anthony has worked in different roles at Mohawk College since 2014 including research at IDEAWORKS. In addition to his skilled trades certification, and Electrical Engineering Technology - Control Advanced Diploma. Anthony holds a Bachelor of Technology in Energy Engineering from McMaster University.
With a passion for teaching and learning he looks forward to expanding his knowledge of other cultures and using that to provide a better overall learning experience.
Jenn Horwarth
International Faculty Lead - Librarian
Jenn Horwath is a Librarian in the Library. She has worked in various departments at Mohawk including International & Partnerships where she supported faculty internationalization efforts and global engagement initiatives such as GLO and CICAN GSO. She completed the Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE) Foundations of Intercultural Development course and has presented at the annual CBIE and GIFT conferences on internationalization projects. Jenn is inspired by the journey of international students and in her current role, seeks ways for the Library to support international student learning. She loves exploring diverse cultures, having traveled to 25 countries and counting.
Language: English