Jill Seaholm she/her

Head of Genealogical Services, Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center

• Phone: 309-794-7204
• Email: JillSeaholm@augustana.edu
• Office: Denkmann 135

• Related: Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center

An Augustana graduate, Jill Seaholm has worked at the Swenson Center since the early 1990s, assisting patrons with genealogy and helping them bridge the Atlantic to their living relatives in Sweden. She runs the center's annual genealogy workshop in Salt Lake City, heads the publishing of Swedish American Genealogist, and more recently hosts the Swenson Center's immigration history themed tour in Sweden. Jill also occasionally sees her name fly by as an additional researcher in the credits of the PBS show Finding Your Roots, with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Specializations: Swenson Center

Kaitlyn Goss-Peirce

Research and Instruction Librarian

• Email: kaitlyngoss-peirce@augustana.edu
• Office: Tredway Library

Specializations: Library

Braden Frazelle

Police Officer

• Phone: 309-794-7000
• Email: bradenfrazelle@augustana.edu
• Office: Sorensen Hall

Specializations: Public Safety

Rebecca L. Wee

Professor of English

• Phone: 309-794-7242
• Email: RebeccaWee@augustana.edu
• Office: Old Main 123

Rebecca Wee joined the Augustana English department in 1994; she teaches poetry, literature, first-year writing, and directs independent studies in creative writing.

In 1995 she and her students established After Hours, a campus writing group which has since evolved to include fiction writing as well as poetry. Wee is a faculty advisor for Saga, Augustana's literary arts journal, as well as an instructor for the Mid-River Writers Workshop, a 2-week summer writing program for high school juniors and seniors.

She is a graduate of St. Olaf College (B.A. English) and George Mason University (M.F.A. Poetry) and her first collection of poetry, "Uncertain Grace," won the Hayden Carruth Award for New and Emerging Poets in 2000. In 2003 U.S. Poet Laureate, Billy Collins, awarded her a Witter Bynner fellowship in poetry from the Library of Congress, and from 2003-2005 Wee served as the second poet laureate of the Quad Cities. She has published poems in online and paper journals and is at work on her second book, "Instead."

Specializations: Poetry

Kara Meyer works with psychology, neuroscience, economics and institutional research.

Specializations: Library

Kassidy Belcher

Senior Admissions Counselor

• Phone: 309-794-7593
• Email: kassidybelcher@augustana.edu

Schedule a meeting with Kassidy

Hometown: Crystal Lake, Ill.
Current town: Davenport, Iowa

What do you most love to tell prospective students about Augustana?

Augustana truly is more than a place. It is a family filled with driven individuals who are not afraid to get their hands dirty, fail and fail again until they reach their goals. Everyone here is extremely welcoming and the faculty/staff are truly driven to support their students through everything they do. 

What is your favorite time/tradition of the Augustana school year?

Spring! Watching campus come alive as the days start to get warmer is truly a breathtaking experience. Students will picnic in the lower quad or hammock in the trees, and you can feel the smile spread across Augustana’s face. 

What's great about the Quad Cities?

It is such a large area with something for everyone. Whether you enjoy studying in local coffee shops, are searching for the best pizza in the QC or just want to enjoy a day by the river, the Quad Cities is an awesome place to call home!

What do you like to do around the community?

During the summer months, I LOVE either going to the farmers market for fresh vegetables or picking them myself at Happy Hollow U-Pick in East Moline. This gives me a chance to enjoy the outdoors! I am also obsessed with movies, so I try to go to the drive-in theater in Blue Grass when I can. 

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

I like to check out local festivals or just snuggle on the couch and watch a good movie to decompress. 

What advice do you have for students who are searching for the right college for them?

Find a place where you will feel comfortable failing over and over again. College is a time where you will start to find yourself, and you want a home filled with individuals that will help pick you back up each and every time you fall in the process. Augustana was that for me, and I can’t wait to help you discover your home away from home.
 

Specializations: Admissions