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Director
Ph.D. in Political Science, State University of New York, Stonybrook
Dr. Best designs research studies for CSRA and provides senior guidance for the administration of those projects. Additionally, he is an Associate Professor of Political Science. Dr. Best teaches quantitative methods courses in that program. His research focuses on survey research methods and the social political consequences of computer mediated relationships.
Contact Info:
Phone: 860-486-2451
email: sam.best@uconn.edu
Monika McDermott, Ph.D.
Research Director
Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Her background in survey research includes working for the Los Angeles Times Poll and the CBS News Election and Survey Unit (where she continues as an election consultant) polling on public affairs, national and local issues, and elections. At CSRA she has managed election and issue surveys for the Hartford Courant and the Stamford Advocate. Her academic research focuses on American voting behavior, elections, and public opinion.
Contact Info:Phone 860-486-3002
Email: monika.mcdermott@uconn.edu
Associate Director
Ph.D. in Adult and Human Resources Education, University of Connecticut
Dr. Kraus specializes in CSRA research involving women’s issues, business issues, and higher education issues, as well as projects for governmental agencies at the local, state and national level. She brings a unique combination of management consulting and college teaching experience. Chris’ particular areas of focus include organizational surveys, executive development, and coaching. She has worked as a consultant with clients in pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, the financial industry, and state government. Her work includes management of comprehensive, global, cross-cultural employee surveys for several Forbes 500 companies. Prior to joining CSRA, Chris worked at Leadership Research Institute and taught business classes at several colleges.
Contact Info:Phone: 860-486-8863
email: christine.kraus@uconn.edu
Sanjeewa Karunaratne
Project Coordinator
M.A. in Survey Research
M.P.A in Public Administration with concentration in Finance
Sanjeewa's work at CSRA encompasses public opinion and market research projects including customer satisfaction studies, market segmentation studies, evaluation of programs and services and public policy analysis. He is also responsible for sampling and data weighting. Sanjeewa brings solid background in data analysis and demographic research through his experience as the Employment System Analyst and Researcher at the Office of Diversity and Equity where he prepared statistical analysis for the University's Affirmative Action Plan. He interned at the Town of West Hartford. Sanjeewa is a graduate of the University of Peradeniya and Sri Lanka Law College.
Contact Info:
Phone: 860-486-5257
email: sanjeewa.karunaratne@uconn.edu
Andrew Magda
Project Coordinator
M.A. in Survey Research, University of Connecticut
Andrew manages many of CSRA’s survey and research projects from the planning stage to analysis and reporting. His experience is varied and includes work on political polls, market research, web studies, and customer and employee satisfaction surveys. His expertise includes SPSS analysis, focus group work, and survey research and design. He received his B.A. in Political Science, with a certificate in Public Opinion, from Marist College. At Marist, Andrew was involved with the Marist Poll and also interned at WNBC-TV in New York City in their political unit. He has studied abroad in Sydney, Australia.
Contact Info:
Phone: 860-486-3565
email: andrew.magda@uconn.edu
Chris Melchiorre
Project Coordinator
M.A. in Survey Research
Chris specializes in managing projects regarding public policy research, political polling, and market research analysis. In addition to his duties as a project coordinator, he is also responsible for sampling. His initial work at CSRA in 2001 as a telephone interviewer provided him intrinsic knowledge in fielding and managing survey projects. Prior to returning to CSRA, he worked for a year providing the government with ad tracking for the armed forces.
Contact Info:
Phone: 860-486-3456
email: Christopher.Melchiorre@uconn.edu
James Carter Pailthorpe
Call Center Manager
B.A. in History, University of Connecticut: December 2007
Mr. Pailthorpe is responsible for maintaining evening call center operations, enforcing policies and procedures, and improving productivity. He is also responsible for hiring and training new interviewers. James has worked for CSRA since 2003, starting as a Telephone Interviewer and working his way up to Call Center Manager.
Contact Info:
Phone: 860-486-9141
email: james.pailthorpe@uconn.edu
Janine Beckwith
Daytime Call Center Manager
Ms. Beckwith is responsible for maintaining the daytime call center operations. Along with her full-time supervisory responsibilities, she continues to contribute to CSRA by conducting telephone interviews as part of her daily work. Ms. Beckwith has extensive phone room experience, as she has been a dedicated employee of the Center for 16 years.
Contact Info:
Phone: 860-486-0770
email: janine.beckwith@uconn.edu