Meet the Staff

SAS Staff

• Sandra (Sandie) Cardinale

  Assistive Technology Specialist & Testing Coordinator

  Sandra Cardinale is the Assistive Technology Specialist & Testing Coordinator with Student Accessibility Services at Western New England University. Sandra started working with SAS in September of 2021. She has a passion for supporting students along their academic journey and decided to pursue this position to continue to advocate for students to promote inclusivity, diversity, and accessibility across the campus. In her free time, Sandra enjoys being with family, traveling, and reading books!

• Tynisha Henderson-Mitchell

  Director

  Tynisha Henderson-Mitchell has more than 20 years of progressive experience in student support, beginning her professional career as an advisor with Talent Search, a federally funded TRIO program serving first-generation students.  Tynisha’s career has been untraditional by some standards, but she has always maintained her personal commitment to supporting students and access to higher education. 

  Tynisha Henderson-Mitchell joined the Office of Student Accessibility Services at Western New England University in Springfield, Massachusetts in June 2020. She has an undergraduate degree in Psychology and Sociology and a graduate degree in Educational Psychology from American International College and is currently a doctoral candidate. Tynisha is a strong advocate for disability rights and marginalized populations and continues to create policy, develop programming, and working tirelessly to ensure students maintain equal access to all facets of their education. 

  Tynisha is a life-long resident of western Massachusetts and currently serves on the board of Western Mass Training Consortium, an organization dedicated to community-based approaches to meet the needs of people with disabilities.  Tynisha enjoys building community, working as a collaborative campus partner, and supporting students.  She is passionate about supporting student self-advocacy and cultivating student growth, as well as promoting access and accessibility for the community. In her free time, Tynisha enjoys spending time with her family, reading for pleasure not research, going to museums, and watching Star Wars. Tynisha plans to retire and live in Disney World, one day in the distant future when accommodations are no longer required.

• Sally Kim Nguyen, OTD

  Graduate Assistant

  Sally was born and raised in Springfield, MA. To her, this is home, no matter where she goes. She currently lives in East Longmeadow, MA. Sally grew up bilingual, speaking Vietnamese and English. She is an alumni of Western New England University with a bachelor’s degree in health sciences and a doctorate degree of occupational therapy. She has professional experience working as a patient care attendant and pharmacy technician.

  During the OTD program, she was a member of the Student Occupational Therapy Association, Coalition of Occupational Therapy Advocates for Diversity, Inspired Minds, and Interprofessional Student Alliance (between the OT and pharmacy program). Sally’s fieldwork II experience was in the district of South Hadley Public School systems (ages 7-14) and at Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Woburn in an inpatient/acute care unit. Sally’s doctoral experiential capstone (14-week project) was on the stress experiences and coping mechanisms of students with disabilities at WNE.

  She pursued a career in Occupational Therapy because she wanted to be an advocate for individuals with all different types of disabilities and to understand the impact of the disability in multiple settings. Sally’s grandmother and nephew were a big inspiration in this pursuit, and she wants to reciprocate the same time, love, and effort to help others. Sally’s greatest passion is to be able to contribute to the accessibility and inclusivity of others in all aspects of daily life. Being a graduate assistant of Student Accessibility Services allows her to help students with various diagnosed disabilities remove barriers from their environment as an effort to support them in their academic occupations.

  In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family, chasing waterfalls, painting abstract and cartoon art, trying new foods, and watching anime (Japanese animation).