Financial Aid

Director of Financial Aid Services
Janeen Decharinte
decharja@lewisu.edu
(815) 836-5837

Janeen earned an Associates Degree in Business from Blackhawk College in 1982 and a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 1986.  She started her career in Financial Aid in 1987 at SIUC where she worked for four years.  She also worked for a short time at Belleville Area Community College in Belleville Illinois.  She joined the staff at Lewis in 1991 as the Assistant Director.  She is the mother of two very active boys and jokes that if she wasn’t working with students she would enjoy a career in landscape architecture.

Associate Director Financial Aid Services
Rhonda Pilgrim
pilgrirh@lewisu.edu
(815) 836-5343

Rhonda has studied in southern Illinois and Tennessee and ultimately earned her Bachelor of General Studies at Roosevelt University, Chicago in 2005. In 2003 she began her financial aid career working as the student retention and financial aid officer for Environmental Technical Institute’s south campus. She later performed quality assurance for Career Education Corporation’s student finance department. Rhonda joined Lewis University in June 2007. She appreciates spending time with her family, cooking, and enjoying a great meal. Rhonda hopes to be the author of an exciting series of books one day.

Assistant Director 
Joni Scott
scottji@lewisu.edu
(815) 836-5264

Prior to joining Lewis’ staff in January 2009, Joni was a full-service student advocate assisting and supporting students’ personal and academic success at Augustana College in Rock Island. During her career at Augustana she held simultaneous positions in Admissions, Advising and Financial Aid. Before taking on Augie, Joni worked as the Assistant Director of Financial Aid at the University of Chicago for over five years. Joni is a graduate of the University of Iowa and is looking to further her educational advancement here at Lewis University. Joni loves mentoring college-bound young people, instilling unbreakable confidence and goal-setting. In her spare time Joni enjoys reading, spending time with family and travelling.

Financial Aid Counselor
Lisa Gierich
giericli@lewisu.edu
(815) 836-5674

Lisa is a 2003 graduate of Robert Morris College, with a BAS in Graphic Design. She came to Lewis in July 2005, after several years of living in Arizona, certifying loans for University of Phoenix, in Tempe, AZ. She is currently working towards her M.S. in Information Security here at Lewis.

Financial Aid Counselor 
Liz LaRosa
larosael@lewisu.edu
(815) 836-5153

Liz graduated from Western Illinois University in 2007 with Bachelor’s in Law Enforcement and Justice Administration. Prior to joining Lewis, Liz worked as a T.A. for a behavior disorder classroom, as well as customer support for DeVry University. Liz joined Lewis University in August 2009.

Financial Aid Counselor 
Dana Perez Glick
perezgda@lewisu.edu
(815) 836-5269

Dana has worked in higher education for over 8 years in both admissions and financial aid.  She has received a bachelor degree from Ohio University and both her master and educational specialist degrees from Argosy University Sarasota.  She loves dogs and having lived as a southerner for the majority of her life, she enjoys trying to stay warm and vacationing to warm places. 

Clerk
Jane Foster 
fosterja@lewisu.edu
(815) 836-5546

Jane is a graduate of Lockport Township High School and a longtime resident of Lockport.  She joined Lewis in September of 1997.  She was a member of the United Way committee for a number of years.  In her free time Jane enjoys spending time with her granddaughter, vacationing in Pentwater Michigan with her family, gardening, baking and antique shopping.

 Secretary
Kathy Bruss
Brusska@lewisu.edu
(815) 836-5837

Kathy joined  Financial Aid Services in June of 2008. She comes to Lewis from Joliet Junior College where she worked in the Human Resources Office