Dr. Rafferty’s academic experience ranges from creation and directorship of an English as a Second Language (ESL) department that supported 11 public school districts in Pennsylvania. To serving as the Director of the Adult Education department which existed solely on through grants that Dr. Rafferty wrote/administered. She held directorship for these departments concurrently for 17 years. Presently, she is a full-time professor in Tulane’s English for Academic and Professional Purposes (EAPP) department located within Tulane’s Center for Global Education (CGE).
Within these varied experiences she acted as grant writer, budget director, curriculum director and primary staff supervisor for a large team of educators that worked both in the public school system and within the broader scope of adult education. Her current position in EAPP at Tulane University includes instructing composition, methodology, program planning, and courses taught to a spectrum of students ranging from freshmen through graduate and Law students.
Her strong commitment to her students includes continual professional education, the creation of two International Student Writing Awards and her current publications (Where Art and Science Meet...Writing. And International Students Guide to Writing, and Scholars of the Storm(s)) and two International Student Champion Awards in 2023.
