The Commission
The Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation (COMTA) consists of
eleven elected Commissioners, including two public representatives.
COMTA staff offices are located at 5335 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Suite 440,
Washington, DC 20015.
Melissa Wade, COMTA Chair (Administrator) - Term ends 2012
Melissa has been employed with the Steiner Education Group since 1989,
and is currently Vice President of Compliance. In this position, she
oversees compliance, regulations, licensure and governmental relations
for Florida College of Natural Health, Baltimore School of Massage,
Virginia School of Massage, Utah College of Massage Therapy Family of
Schools, and Connecticut Center for Massage Therapy. Melissa is a Team
Leader with ACCSCT and has conducted visits since 1995; she has also
served as a member of the standing Appeal Panel. She has been a Board
Member of Florida Association of Post-Secondary Schools and Colleges
(FAPSC), since 1998, served as President in 2001-2002 and 2006-2007.
She has been a member of the Rules Committee for the State of Florida
Commission for Independent Education since 2006. First elected to the
Commission in 2001 and re-elected in 2006, Melissa holds a BS in
Business Administration with a Major in Marketing from Appalachian State
University.
Randy Swenson, D.C., COMTA Vice Chair (Educator) - Term ends 2012
Dr. Swenson is currently a tenured professor and Dean of the
College of Allied Health Sciences at National University of Health
Sciences (NUHS). He developed the Massage Therapy Program in 1999 and
continues to manage the day-to-day operations of the program. He is
also responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Bachelor of
Science in Biomedical Sciences degree completion and professional
pre-requisite programs. He was previously the Academic Dean and the
Dean of Curriculum Development for the chiropractic program at NUHS. He
holds a Doctor of Chiropractic degree from NUHS and a Master of Health
Professions Education from the Department of Medical Education of the
University of Illinois at Chicago. He has led NUHS Steering Committees
for Higher Learning Commission Self-Study Reports (SSR) and Commission
on Chiropractic Education SSR's. He has led and written COMTA SSR's for
the NUHS massage program. Dr. Swenson has been a site-team member,
site-team leader and off-site peer reviewer with COMTA since 2006.
Beverley Giroud, Member of the Executive Committee (Practitioner) - Term ends 2016
Beverley
is a graduate of the Desert Institute of the Healing Arts and has been
practicing massage since 1999. She is certified in Orthopedic Massage as
well as Neuromuscular Therapy. Beverley is also a personal trainer,
certified through the Chek Institute. She runs a private practice in
Tucson, AZ and provides massage and training services to a variety of
clientele. Her practice focuses on injury assessment and treatment which
includes prescriptive exercise for postural alignment, core strength
and injury rehabilitation. She spent seven years teaching a wide variety
of classes at the Desert Institute and is currently an instructor at
the Costa Rica School of Massage Therapy. She has also taught continuing
education classes in ethics, orthopedic assessment, and neuromuscular
techniques. She spent 7 years as a volunteer for the NCBTMB and served
as a subject matter expert, committee member and ultimately as Chair of
the Exam Development Committee. She is currently writing a book on
ethics and professionalism. Prior to her career in massage therapy and
personal training, Beverley was a civil engineer and holds a Bachelor of
Science Degree from the University of Delaware.
Lisa Helbig, Commissioner (Administrator) - Term ends 2016
Lisa Helbig is both a School Director and a Massage Therapist. She is
the founder of The Institute for Therapeutic Massage in New Jersey. She
has written a book for Running Press Book Publishers on Hot Stone
Massage
and has developed several educational videos. What started out as a
love for massage and a dream has grown into six locations and five
different programs including a dual certification program for Massage
Therapy and Personal Training, and an Oncology Massage Program. She has
locations in three different hospitals. In the past 15 years she has
spear headed her schools through the accreditation processes of both
ACCSCT and COMTA. Lisa has added programs and new locations as well as
added and maintained Title IV. In 2007, she was a volunteer with
NCBTMB for Job Task Analysis and attended their meetings in both Chicago
and San Antonio. In 20
08, she was appointed Commissioner for the Commission on Massage Therapy
Accreditation. In 2009, she became a subject matter expert for the
exam development committee for the National Certification Board for
Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork.
CG Funk, Commissioner (Employer) - Term ends 2014
CG Funk is the Vice President of Industry Relations and Product Development for
Massage Envy Franchising. Her department is responsible for the creation of
national programs regarding massage, massage therapists, estheticians and skin
care. These responsibilities include national therapist/esthetician
recruiting/retention strategies, new service and model offerings, and national
public relations programs and campaigns. CG has developed many programs
benefiting the network of 17,000+ Massage Envy therapists, created the Massage
Envy Spa model and designed Massage Envy Careers. Com. CG, a national
spokesperson for Massage Envy, provides outreach to the media, professional
organizations, government regulatory departments, and corporations and
businesses interacting with Massage Envy Franchising. CG has been actively
involved in the massage therapy industry since 1992 as a massage therapist,
instructor, curricula and program developer, writer and presenter, corporate
trainer and school administrator. School administrator responsibilities
included oversight on accreditation processes including working with ACCET and
COMTA during on-site visits, providing responses to educational questions on
accreditation reports and ABHES accreditation visits as requested. CG is a
licensed massage therapist in Arizona and California.
Christine Kiely-Granstaff, Commissioner (Practitioner)
- Term ends 2014
Christine
has been a professional massage therapist since 1995 specializing in manual
lymph drainage. Over the years she has worked in a variety of environments such
as sports rehabilitation, chiropractic office’s, holistic centers and day spas,
making her work very eclectic. In addition to her private practice, Christine
has been involved in the educational side of massage therapy. Most recently,
she was the director of the massage therapy program at Great Bay Community
College in Portsmouth, New Hampshire before residing in Kentucky. At GBCC, she
was responsible for increasing enrollment, writing curriculum, setting up, managing
the massage clinic, and guiding students through their career path. Previously, she developed and successfully
ran the massage therapy program at Hesser College in Manchester, Portsmouth and
Salem, New Hampshire for 8 years. In 2003, Christine was awarded the
President’s Club Award as Key Employee of the New England Region. Christine currently works with ACICS, the
Accrediting Council for Independent Schools and Colleges, as a program
specialist. Christine has served on the New Hampshire massage therapy advisory
board since 2004 and was a founding member of the Federation of State Massage
Therapy Boards and served on the executive board as treasurer for 4 years. During that time, she participated in the
development of the MBLEx, the Massage and Bodywork Licensing Exam. She is
currently licensed to practice massage in New Hampshire and Kentucky.
Cliff Korn, Commissioner (Practitioner)
- Term ends 2016
Cliff has been a professional massage therapist since 1993.
He specializes in clinical and sports massage therapy and has been recognized
by the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA) as a specialist in event
Sports Massage since 1996, when he was admitted to the AMTA National Sports
Massage Team. Cliff is the owner of Windham Health Center Neuromuscular Therapy
LLC, in Windham, NH. He is Nationally Certified in Therapeutic Massage &
Bodywork and is licensed as a massage therapist by the states of New Hampshire
and Florida. Cliff is a professional member and Past-President of the New
Hampshire chapter of AMTA. He is a certified member of Associated Bodywork and
Massage Professionals and a past Chairman of the National Certification Board
for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork. Cliff has served his profession for seven
years as the inaugural Editor of the nationally distributed trade publication,
Massage Today, and was a 2009 inductee in the World Massage Festival's Massage
Therapy Hall of Fame, in addition to his recently elected position as a
Commissioner for the Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation, Cliff
currently serves as a Trustee and Executive Committee member of the Massage
Therapy Foundation.
Dale Healey, D.C., Commissioner (Educator) - Term Ends 2016
Dr. Healey is the Dean of the School of Massage Therapy at Northwestern Health
Sciences University. Dr. Healey was trained as a chiropractor at Parker College
of Chiropractic, but his career has focused on massage therapy education since
1997. He is working toward his PhD in Organizational Leadership, Policy and
Development at the University of Minnesota. Dale is a member of a Massage
Therapy Foundation Best Practices Committee working toward the development of
best practices guidelines for the profession. He has also been actively
involved in his home state of Minnesota working toward state regulation of
massage therapists and has a particular interest in hospital-based massage
therapy.
Jeff Harmon, Commissioner (Public Member) - Term ends 2016
Jeff is currently employed at Ocean County College in New Jersey as the
Associate Director for Elearning. He is an Adjunct Faculty at Ocean
County College and an Associate Professor of Business at Amridge University.
He has been teaching business, management, and human resource management
courses since 2007. Jeff's previous positions include being the Deputy
Director of Client Services at TaskStream (a provider of campus-wide assessment
tools), Director of Accreditation at the Commission on Accreditation for
Marriage and Family Accreditation (COAMFTE), and serving as a consultant to
various DC-area accrediting agencies. He currently serves as the public
member and Treasurer for the Commission on Collegiate Interpreter Education
(CCIE), an accreditor of sign language interpreter training programs.
Jeff holds a BS in Business Administration from Rider University, a
Master's of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix, and a CFP
from Boston University.
Patricia Maloney, Ph.D., Commissioner (Professional Educator) - Term ends 2012
Patricia Maloney, Ph.D., president of Higher Education Consulting and Research,
is an experienced higher education professional and scholar with a background
in higher education administration and policy at public and private colleges
and universities, in state systems of higher education, higher education associations,
and research organizations. Dr. Maloney received her Ph.D. in higher education
at the University at Buffalo. She publishes and presents frequently on higher
education research and policy issues. She is a faculty member in the online
Master of Science program at Drexel University. She is immediate past president
of the Higher Education Group of Washington, DC, and a member of the
Association for the Study of Higher Education.
Wendy has spent over 20 years in higher education as both a faculty member and an administrator involved in the assessment process. Activities included developing pilot assessment activities, implementation of programs, and leading a college in developing an assessment program that resulted in having accreditation warning status lifted. She is a past president of the Virginia Assessment Group and is currently working on a book tentatively entitled Certifying a Culture of Assessment. Having recently been named Dean of the School of Arts and Letters at the College of Southern Nevada, Wendy is leading 150 full-time faculty in managing day-to-day operations of the academic program housed on three campuses, as well as developing new strategic initiatives. In addition, she does freelance public relations work that includes creating brochures and writing press releases. Wendy has a B.A. from the Pennsylvania State University and an M.Ed. and Ph.D. from George Mason University.
Position Open, Commissioner (International Representative) - Term ends 2014
The International Representative advises the Commission regarding professional
expectations and licensure for massage or aesthetics outside the United States.







