On Oct. 5, California State University, Northridge President Dianne F. Harrison joined a group of 10 university presidents in signing a pact as part of the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), working in conjunction with the nonprofit organization Second Nature.

Taking place at Agnes Scott College in Georgia, the event helped to signal the need for universities across the country to make a Climate Commitment to improve sustainability and environmental consciousness on their respective campuses. Through this commitment, university presidents pledged to improve their institutions’ practices to reduce the emission of harmful greenhouse gases as well as adapting to a constantly changing climate, and how those changes can have an extreme impact on their particular regions.

After signing the pact, many of the campus leaders took turns speaking about this initiative. Harrison focused her comments on a subject that shows the impact of the extreme lack of rainfall that has made water conservation so pervasive to Californians.

“In a large public institution that is very diverse, we see ourselves as sort of a living laboratory, engaging with our communities, and now being focused on, in our case, water issues,” Harrison said. “I see this new commitment as an opportunity to truly be leaders. We’re educating a very, very diverse population to be leaders on their own in their communities, and working with our communities to be able use our research, use our education, use our leadership in how we are going to adapt in a new age where there is not going to be as much water. And how do we deal with that? How do we get other campuses and universities to sign on?

“We all have a variety of networks that we operate in, and we all try to reach out to some of those networks, whether it’s for public institutions, or a research network, an education network, an athletic network; we’re looking at different ways to get people committed to this. I think it’s wonderful, the merging of these different commitments.”

California State University, Northridge President Dianne F. Harrison has been appointed to the Board of Governors of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The 20-member Board is the NCAA’s highest governance body and composed of university chief executive officers. Harrison also has been named vice chair of the NCAA’s Division I Board of Directors, where she represents the Big West Conference. Both terms run through August 2018.

“I’m proud to accept these appointments and represent CSUN and the Big West Conference,” Harrison said. “One of the our university priorities is to utilize athletics as a tool for engagement, and I particularly look forward to working with the other members of the NCAA Board of Governors to ensure that student-athletes nationwide take advantage of their opportunities to pursue excellence in the classroom and on the field of play.”

The NCAA is a non-profit association that oversees and regulates 1,281 member institutions, as well as the sports conferences and student athletes in the Association. The Board oversees Association-wide issues and is charged with ensuring that the three divisions that make up the NCAA adhere to the organization’s purposes, policies and general principles.

Three years ago, California State University, Northridge professors Tami Abourezk and Dan Hosken, by happenstance, began the same career journey as associate deans in the College of Health and Human Development and the Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication, respectively.

This fall, Abourezk and Hosken continued along the same path as interim deans of their colleges.

“It’s been great to have someone to share with and bounce ideas off of,” Abourezk said. Both said they share a similar approach and enthusiasm about CSUN’s diverse student body.

“It’s very rewarding to be a part of CSUN’s mission of teaching students in the region, particularly first-generation students,” Hosken said. “It’s very exciting to see that moment when students get something you’re teaching. … That awareness in their eyes.”

Abourezk has been teaching at CSUN for 25 years. She was appointed interim dean in August, after Sylvia Alva accepted the position of provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at Cal Poly Pomona.

She started in the Department of Kinesiology in 1990 as an assistant professor. She has served as assistant chair of kinesiology; chair of the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences; and coordinator of faculty development for the College of Health and Human Development. She has published extensively and written numerous grants.

Abourezk, a native of El Paso, Texas, has a doctorate in movement and science education from Florida State University; a master’s in exercise science from Florida State University; and a bachelor’s degree from Lander College in physical education. She first came to CSUN because of kinesiology’s use of both science and movement in teaching the discipline. She first came to CSUN because the philosophy of the department encompasses the art and science of human movement.

“I love the diversity at CSUN and that I’m surrounded by a team of staff and faculty who share a core value centered around student success,” she said.

Hosken has been teaching at CSUN for 16 years. He accepted the job as interim dean this summer, upon the retirement of Jay Kvapil.

Hosken, a native of Michigan, came to CSUN in 1999 as faculty in the Department of Music with an expertise in music technology. During his tenure at CSUN, he has served as assistant chair of the Department of Music, a member of the board of directors of the University Corporation, and served on the music and theater departments’ personnel committees. As a composer, his music has been performed in major world cities and has been featured at prominent festivals of electronic music.

He has a doctorate in musical arts in composition from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, a master’s in composition with academic honors from New England Conservatory of Music and a bachelor’s in humanities and science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“The top priorities are student success and engaging with the community,” said Hosken about his new role as interim dean. “It’s an exciting job.”

Among the group of honorees Friday, Oct. 23 at the Hilton Woodland Hills for the 14th-annual California State University, Northridge Volunteer Service Awards was a small group of young alumni.

Most of the people being honored for their service to the university and the CSUN Alumni Association’s chapters were mid-career professionals and retirees. However, 10 Volunteer Service Award recipients graduated from CSUN within the past decade. And despite being early in their careers and focused on their post-graduate lives, they still devoted time and energy to remaining a part of CSUN.

And thus, a quarter of the honorees at the VSA event set an example for young alumni and dedication to CSUN.

“It’s not really about my time versus not having time. It serves multiple purposes in terms of giving back,” said Semee Park ’13 (MPA, Political Science), who received an Alumni Chapter Award for her service to the Master of Public Administration Alumni Chapter. “When you help other students, you never know, in 10 years that student might be helping you out in your career. It’s really a communal, altruistic effort.”

Park, a 29-year-old Stevenson Ranch resident, is the legislative deputy for Los Angeles City Councilman Mitchell Englander. Giving back and cultivating the next generation of leaders is part of the culture in her job, so keeping close ties to CSUN was easy for her, she said.

For Los Angeles resident Nicki Katz ’11 (Cinema and Television Arts), she gave back to CSUN and got involved in its alumni association because she saw a need. There wasn’t an alumni association chapter for people in the entertainment industry until the 26-year-old helped co-found the Entertainment Alumni Network.

“Growing up can be hard and now that I’m older, I feel like I want to mentor young professionals,” Katz said. “Even though I’m young (in my career) compared to most of the attendees at this event, I want to inspire people.”

It was a similar story for 31-year-old Nursing Alumni Chapter honoree George Higgins ’06, ’13 (English, Asian American Studies).

He reaches out to fellow young alumni and students to help them realize that CSUN can provide so much for them — not just during the pursuit of their degrees, said Higgins, a Montrose resident and president of the Nursing Alumni Chapter.

“The great difficulty in reaching out to the student body right now is that (there’s this label of CSUN being) a commuter school,” he said. “It’s very easy to come, forget and leave. But if people don’t go back and realize what this school has given them or come to terms with how much college can really provide, they’re really losing out on what it is to be part of society or a community or an alumni association.

“CSUN was wonderful for me because it set me straight a couple of times,” Higgins continued. “The resources are there. A lot of people don’t realize what’s available to them and how they can best benefit from a continuing relationship with their school.”

David Malone ’81 (Accounting), more than 35 years into his successful professional career, briefly spoke about the benefits of his schooling and post-graduate relationship with CSUN.

Malone echoed Park, Katz and Higgins. His appreciation for his education led him into volunteering at CSUN shortly after receiving his degree.

Malone, who serves as chairman of BBCN Bank, the largest Korean-American bank in the U.S., was the recipient of one of the afternoon’s most prestigious awards, the Dorothea “Granny” Heitz Award for outstanding volunteer leadership.

“The message I received (when I went to CSUN) was ‘dream big, study hard and don’t think your education here isn’t on par with some of the most prestigious schools in the nation,’” he said in his acceptance speech.

The other big award of the day went to former longtime psychology professor Richard Smith, who received the Dean Ed Peckham Award for emeritus or retired faculty or staff service to the university.

For more on Malone and Smith and the full list of honorees, click here.

The National Center on Deafness (NCOD) at California State University, Northridge has been an important fixture on campus and a strong voice in the Deaf community for 50 years. Cathy McLeod, the new director, is starting the next half-century with big ideas to help the center empower students in the digital age.

McLeod, who began her directorship in July, has served deaf and hard-of-hearing students at CSUN and in the region for 15 years as the director for the federally funded Postsecondary Educational Programs Network 2 (pepnet 2). Pepnet 2 partners with other universities to provide stakeholder resources and training to increase access for deaf and hard-of-hearing students in postsecondary programs, and to support professionals to enhance retention, persistence and graduation rates for this targeted population. NCOD at CSUN is the lead institution for pepnet 2.

Cathy McLeod

McLeod said she wants to continue her mission to support the CSUN campus. While her role in pepnet 2 was focused on providing resources to professionals working with deaf students, she is excited to be more involved with students as the center’s director.

“I wanted to have direct contact with the students and go down into the trenches with them with NCOD,” McLeod said. “I want to see how we can make improvements for some of our services and expand the number of students we serve. Ultimately, I’d like to see more successful outcomes for deaf and hard-of-hearing students upon graduation.”

McLeod said that means taking the pulse of the community and evaluating the ways NCOD is currently operating on campus, possibly through surveys and open forums with students, faculty and staff.

She noted that a majority of the center’s time is spent coordinating interpreting or captioning services for about 175 to 200 deaf and hard-of-hearing students each semester — a momentous task, as many students need these services for each of their classes. She said she hopes to make services more efficient by exploring current technology, such as using remote technology in the classroom.

McLeod also wants NCOD to do more than provide services and create a platform for student voices.

“I want something even more tangible than filling interpreters in the classroom,” McLeod said. “We need some stories to attach to those successes. If we’ve got the evidence to show why we are here, why we are successful, we will be able to support our students and staff. Their stories will translate out into the real world, and it will reinforce what we are doing here at NCOD and CSUN.”

Social media is important to today’s students, McLeod said, and she wants NCOD to engage them through that medium. “We need to digitize because we are dealing with digital natives now — the culture has changed,” she said.

Part of that culture change includes the challenges of transitioning from high school to university. In high school, students typically do not make their own arrangements for interpreting and captioning services, McLeod explained. She said she hopes that in college, students will gain self-advocacy skills and empower themselves to voice their needs.

“They have to speak up if they are not satisfied with the services they receive,” she said. “They have to express their frustration, their concerns, their struggles and say what is and is not effective. Everybody is different — it’s not a one-size-fits-all situation. Each one has their own unique preferences and abilities.”

McLeod said she hopes that sense of empowerment will continue into students’ professional lives after they graduate, and that NCOD can help tell their stories of success and keep the community inspired.

“The youth are our voice,” she said. “They drive us.”

Photo courtesy of Salvador Esparza.

California State University, Northridge health administration professor Salvador Esparza was recently appointed to the Los Angeles City Health Commission, where he represents the 12^th Council District which includes Porter Ranch, Canoga Park and Northridge.

Esparza, who has more than 30 years of experience as a health care administrator for various health organizations, said he is looking forward to expanding the commission’s understanding of health care needs.

The panel, which is charged with understanding the public’s health needs and finding ways to meet those needs in an efficient and effective manner, is an exciting frontier for Esparza to help bring different perspectives.

“Health is much more than a doctor’s visit,” he said. “It is having a safe place to walk, proper access to job routes and having healthy food available. I’m excited to be a part of the commission and bring my perspective to the table.”

Esparza’s passion for educating people on providing effective health delivery began at CSUN.

“It was a calling, more than anything else,” he said. “One of my driving forces into getting involved in academia was that I observed a lot of competence, but also, unfortunately, incompetence in health administration. I felt it was my responsibility to educate students who would be effective leaders in the health administration fields.”

With the commission, Esparza hopes his perspective and background, as the associate director for CSUN’s Institute for Community Health and Wellbeing, will promote a more community-based understanding of health care.

“A lot of my research is in organization development and behavior,” he said. “Because of my involvement with [CSUN’s] Institute for Community Health and Wellbeing, its goals very nicely align with the goals of the commission. My focus is to bring a broader perspective of delivering health care services to the community, and defining the public’s need for it.”

California State University, Northridge biology professors MariaElena Zavala and Steve Oppenheimer are well known in their department and on campus, and have been recognized by the White House for being mentors and role models for students.

Zavala, who has been teaching at CSUN since 1988, and Oppenheimer, who has been teaching here since 1971, have both been awarded the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics & Engineering Mentoring. Together, they have mentored hundreds of undergraduate and graduate students, many of whom have gone on to become successful researchers, teachers, professors and medical doctors.

So what does being a mentor mean, and what unique things do these professors do to help students become so successful?

Oppenheimer, who received the award from President Barack Obama in 2010, said being a great mentor means being a great professor and inspiring students to develop a passion for science. He said his own professors and mentors opened the doors of science for him and showed him how to do science right.

“In many cases, the person who takes more interest in a student, actually turns the student on to science,” Oppenheimer said. “Part of loving science is loving the teachers who presented the science. You want students to love their professors because it helps the student in their own careers, in their own striving for success. In my case, they say they love my jokes. I’ve been telling the same jokes for 45 years, but students have come back to me 20 to 30 years later and they remember. It brings a warmth to [learning].”

Steve Oppenheimer points to sea urchins, used in cancer research.

Greg Zem, who earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from CSUN in 1985, is one of Oppenheimer’s former students. He currently teaches eighth-grade science at Ernest Lawrence Middle School, a highly gifted magnet school in the San Fernando Valley. Zem still works with Oppenheimer on research publications, and said the professor continues to mentor and teach him.

“Dr. Oppenheimer is probably the most influential person ever, as far as my career goes,” Zem said. “You want him to teach you science — it’s crystal clear when he explains it. A teacher like him comes along rarely. I had an initial love for science and he expanded it exponentially.”

Zem said Oppenheimer also influences the lives of his own students. He brings about 80 of his students to CSUN every year to present in a K-12 science symposium coordinated by Oppenheimer. Zem’s students also publish their work in CSUN’s New Journal of Student Research Abstracts, which Oppenheimer helped to create more than 20 years ago and still manages as editor-in-chief.

“[Oppenheimer] helps my students’ academic careers,” Zem said. “[At the symposium], he gives them a great speech and they’re so inspired after that. They just float out of that symposium.”

Zavala, who received her mentoring honor in 2000 from President Bill Clinton, said mentoring can be done in the short term or long term, and on professional or personal levels. It involves building trust with students, having cultural competency and providing opportunities for networking. Her ultimate aim as a mentor is to foster her students’ independence and support their vision for success.

“The idea is to try to help people and share knowledge, to help them achieve their goals,” Zavala said. “It’s not my job to make decisions for the students — it’s to help them think through what their choices are, to help come up with approaches that might help them achieve their goals.”

MariaElena Zavala speaks to MARC students. Photo by David Hawkins.

Zavala, who was the first Mexican-American woman in the country to earn a Ph.D. in botany, also has served as the director of CSUN’s Minority Access to Research Careers Undergrad Science Training and Academic Research (MARC U-STAR) program for more than 25 years. She said developing good mentoring relationships in scientific fields is important because those fields lack first-generation, minority and women scientists.

“[Mentoring] is so important for people whose families don’t include a lot of professionals,” Zavala said. “Being a professional involves more than knowledge of and passion for your profession; you have to be given opportunities to talk about your science. The mentor can provide an entree into the profession, where students get to meet the ‘boss’ ’ friends and develop a network of scientists. You need to gain cultural capital.”

Zavala’s former MARC program student, E. Lisako Jones-McKyer, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology from CSUN in 1995, is now a tenured associate professor of health promotion and community health sciences at Texas A&M University. She said Zavala helped prepare her for her doctoral program and future career.

“She prepped us for the kind of challenges we would face in grad school in a research career,” Jones-McKyer said. “At CSUN, there is a significant number of first-generation students. A lot of us have impostor syndrome — a feeling that you didn’t achieve things because you are good, but for other reasons, as if you don’t belong. She knew we would face discrimination and gave us the confidence we needed.”

Jones-McKyer said Zavala has positively influenced her and she still looks up to Zavala for advice and mentorship.

“She changes people’s lives — it’s one thing to teach someone, but it’s another thing to change the entire trajectory of someone’s life,” Jones-McKyer said. “I would not be here today if not for her. Through my graduate career, to this day, she hasn’t stopped mentoring me.”

Recognizing the “incredible” innovative work already taking place at California State University, Northridge, President Dianne F. Harrison encouraged faculty to rediscover efforts already underway on campus and develop new innovations.

“The good news is that CSUN is already doing incredibly innovative work,” said Harrison during her keynote address at CSUN’s annual Faculty Retreat on January 19. She highlighted a range of programs, including the Art of Innovation Conference, BUILD PODER, the GE Paths Program, CSUN AppJam, the Help Make CSUN Shine Bright Program, LACI@CSUN and the Institute for Sustainability.

Harrison, who titled her speech “Infusing Innovation Throughout CSUN,” said CSUN has a strong foundation of research, scholarship and expertise, “thanks to an outstanding and talented faculty and staff, a well-known commitment to student success and strong connections with the community.”

“It is just a matter of harnessing and directing this energy in productive and targeted ways — and finding creative ways to encourage more innovation and creativity among students, faculty and staff,” Harrison said. “Just as challenging, how do we scale up and permeate our entire student body and curriculum? We must offer these opportunities to every single one of our students.”

About 200 faculty attended the two-day retreat themed “Rediscovering CSUN.” The event was opened with a welcome from Faculty Senate President Adam Swenson and event co-chairs Anne Eipe and Christina Mayberry.

“People here are really committed to collaboration and working hard to make things better,” said Swenson during his remarks. “Innovation really does run deep here.”

The retreat included a variety of panels and presentations, from “Re-discovering Service Learning: Breaking Down Myths and Presenting Opportunities to Engage Students in Our Community” and “Discovering CSUN Wellness through the Institute for Community Health and Wellbeing” to “Higher Education and the Labor Market: CSUN as a Case Study.” Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Yi Li offered remarks on “My Discovery of CSUN.”

The event ended with “The Amazing CSUN eScavenger Hunt.”

Li said he has been impressed by the campus’ embrace of the president’s seven priorities and the collaborative spirit. His goals include a commitment to faculty diversity, student success and increasing research activity.

Walking across the campus of California State University, Northridge, you’d be hard pressed to find a student whose life has not been touched by Debra Hammond, executive director of the University Student Union (USU).

Whether they sit under an umbrella in the USU courtyard, run on a treadmill in the Student Recreation Center or attend a lecture in the Grand Salon, thousands of students over the years have been positively impacted by Hammond. For that, the California State University (CSU) Board of Trustees recognized her with its highest honor, the Wang Family Excellence Award, on Jan. 26.

The honor is given each year to five CSU faculty and staff members for their extraordinary commitment to student achievement and exemplary contributions in their fields. The awards, which include a $20,000 grant to each recipient, were established through a gift from CSU Trustee Emeritus Stanley T. Wang and are administered through the CSU Foundation.

“This is so surreal, overwhelming and amazing,” Hammond said. “It is wonderful to have your work recognized like this. There are a lot of people on campus who really care about the students, so I’m really honored and humbled to receive this award.”

This is the second consecutive year that the CSU has tapped a CSUN staff or faculty member for the award. In 2015, CSUN cinema and television arts professor Nate Thomas won the faculty award for his groundbreaking achievements and enormous impact on his students.

Hammond earned a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University and a master’s degree in educational administration from CSU Los Angeles, where she also served as the USU director for six years, before coming to CSUN in fall of 1993. During her 22 years at CSUN, she has been responsible for the overall strategic direction and vision for the union.

Under her leadership, CSUN’s USU has become a central gathering spot on campus, where students deepen their connection to the university community and have access to resources that foster their progress to graduation. She said supporting students’ paths to graduation is rewarding because she knows just how much a college degree can change their lives.

“I love CSUN students,” Hammond said. “I love the fact that we serve so many first-generation students because they want to be here. I feel like they have a deeper appreciation because they know that by going to CSUN, it’s a game changer — not just for them, but for their families. It can change generations. We have the opportunity to expose them to concepts, ideas, thoughts, things they have not necessarily seen before, but they want to explore. What we do is important, and that’s why I continue to do it.”

Hammond helped to open “resource centers” within the USU that provide spaces for underserved student populations. The Veterans Resource Center serves about 50 students daily, and the Pride Center serves about 100 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer students daily.

Hammond has advocated for innovative ways to support student health. She led a team of 62 people in establishing the Student Recreation Center (SRC), which opened in January 2012 and has won 11 architectural awards for design. The SRC has more than 31,000 student members and serves 4,300 members daily. She also oversaw the development of the Oasis Wellness Center, which opened in 2015, to mitigate the impacts of students’ poor sleep habits and ineffective stress management on their academic performance. It is one of the first comprehensive wellness centers on a college campus in the United States.

Hammond said these projects came from “truly” listening to students and figuring out their needs, as well as engaging students in the facility development process.

“You have to keep asking them questions and be open to experiences and discovery,” Hammond said. “As directors of a department, we can have a lot of preconceived notions about what we think is right, and sometimes we are not right. We have to be open enough to really hear people, to listen at a deeper level and then ask questions. That’s the greatest tool we have.”

Senior Shataj Khan, chair of the USU board of directors, said Hammond’s ability to listen to students and support their growth fosters student success.

“I cannot think of anyone else who is more deserving of this award,” Khan said. “She has been a great mentor to me in my life. She always knows how to help you find the answer to any problem or situation that you are in. She has an open-door policy that makes anyone feel comfortable approaching her. The fact that she believes in us as students and holds us to high expectations gives us the encouragement we need to do the best that we can. She’s just a phenomenal woman.”

Hammond takes every opportunity to connect with students. Beyond leading the USU, she also teaches graduate students in college counseling and student services. Teaching future student affairs professionals after a long day’s work at the USU reinvigorates her, Hammond said.

Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students William Watkins called Hammond a “giant” within the profession, bringing positive recognition and visibility to CSUN.

“It says so much that her nomination sprang from the initiative of her colleagues, who have had the good fortune of working alongside her as she has transformed the lives of students and employees, developed countless student leaders, been an innovator in the field of student affairs, and shown exceptional creativity and leadership in developing excellent programs and facilities at CSUN,” Watkins said. “Beyond leadership skills, one finds in Debra a person who deeply cares about lifting and enriching the lives of others. On more occasions than I can count, I have stood back and watched as Debra’s eyes filled with tears of joy upon witnessing a student or employee achieve some success to which she had contributed. Debra Hammond is an exceptional human being!”

Hammond gave credit for her success to the university.

“The passion of the people here — that’s what gets you out of bed in the morning saying, ‘I’m going to work!’” Hammond said. “I’ve always wanted a job that didn’t feel laborious. It should be something that you want to do, where you are being of service, having an impact, contributing to a greater good. I feel like I get to do that every day.”

Walking across the campus of California State University, Northridge, you’d be hard pressed to find a student whose life has not been touched by Debra Hammond, executive director of the University Student Union (USU). Whether they sit under an umbrella in the USU courtyard, run on a treadmill in the Student Recreation Center or attend a lecture in the Grand Salon, hundreds of thousands of students over the years have been positively impacted by Hammond. For that, the California State University (CSU) Board of Trustees recognized her with its highest honor, the Wang Family Excellence Award, on Tuesday, Jan. 26.

So what drives Hammond to work as hard as she does? What makes her shine? Hammond reflects on her experience and offers valuable wisdom for all CSUN students.

Q. Congratulations on the award! How do you feel? 

It feels surreal.  It’s overwhelming and amazing — all of those things wrapped up into one. It’s wonderful to have your work recognized like this.  This work is what I love to do. There are a lot of people on this campus who really care about the students, so I’m just really honored and humbled to receive this.

Q. You’ve been working at this campus for 22 years, you seem to have really made CSUN your home.

“I have! I love CSUN. There are three main reasons why I have stayed here.

First, I love the students. I love the fact that we serve so many first-generation students and that we are a Hispanic serving institution.  The diversity of CSUN enriches us all.   Students want to be here and I think our students have a deeper appreciation for college because they know that by going to CSUN it’s a game changer — not just for them, but for their families. It can change future generations of families. We have the opportunity to expose students to concepts, ideas, thoughts, things they have not necessarily seen before but they want to explore. And they have a right to do that. We are not a USC, [our students] are not students who [have] legacies in their families for generations. We are starting something here. What we do is important. And that’s why I continue to do it.

The other thing is that I absolutely love the staff I work with. They are really creative, innovative, energetic, enthusiastic, never-say-no kind of people. They want to serve. Our philosophy in the student union is about servant-leadership. So our job is to serve first and then we lead and teach as we are doing that. We consider ourselves educators outside of the classroom.  We are in partnership with the academic side of the house and that’s really important to us.

The third reason why I’ve stayed here is the support from the leadership of the institution. What they have allowed us to do here is to be creative, to have an idea and say, okay, we can actually bring it to fruition, and not say no. We have some freedom and latitude.  If we can work with students and help them realize concepts or programs that are really important – then we can be deeply instrumental in connecting them with the campus, staying here and graduating.  Student success is what drives me.

Q. Other than your work for the USU, you teach graduate courses in the college counseling and student services program. How do you do it?

I love it because if you work all day and teach in the evening, it gives you a different kind of energy. The students who are in the master’s program also want to be there. I think my responsibility is to mentor people well. My job is to prepare the next generation of people who are going to take my job. I don’t want them to come out and not have the skill sets and the passion needed to do this kind of work. You have to be compassionate and competent.

Q. So many people on this campus are passionate about what they do, such as yourself. How important is that passion?

The passion of the people here — that’s what gets me out of bed in the morning and say: “I’m going to work!” I’ve always wanted a job that didn’t feel laborious. It should be something that you want to do, where you are being of service, having an impact, contributing to a great good. I get to do that every day. I see some people who hate their jobs and I say find something that inspires you! You have to think about it, you really have to know yourself. You have to figure out what is going to make you happy and sustain you for a long period of time. I think a lot of the professions we choose are related to who we are and what our values are, so if you know yourself, it’s a lot easier to be clear about what you want to do for your future, and that doesn’t mean you have to do that forever. But if you have a number of passions, strengths and talents, you need to figure out how to coalesce them together to create a career for yourself where you are going to be happy.

Q. How did you figure out that this was what you wanted to do?

I was a sociology major and criminal justice minor in college and I spent one semester working in a prison. I hated it. It was soul sucking and I said, “I cannot do this job.” I started being much more reflective about what I wanted to do and what it is that I loved doing. I loved planning programs on the campus. I was involved as a student leader at Rutgers so I talked to some mentors who showed me there was a career in higher education administration and that people did this for a living. I shadowed some people and I took a part-time job as an assistant to the dean for minority affairs, which was academic counseling and social programming. And I took it even though it was part time — some people now don’t want to take things that are part time, but you’ve got to get your foot in the door. That job led to another part-time job, so I had two part time positions. Six months later, I got a full-time position and two years after that I became the assistant dean of students and the director of the campus center. It was about being at the right place at the right time and letting your work speak for you.

Q. We’ve had many new resource centers open up since 2012, such as the Pride Center, the Veterans Resource Center and the Oasis Wellness Center. How did all these projects come about?

With the Pride Center and Veterans Resource Center, most of it came from the students. The LGBTQ students and the veteran students both approached the USU Board of Directors the same year and wanted centers. They had petitions and voices – it was a movement. At the end of the year, the USU wanted to dedicate space to them, but because we are an auxiliary, we had to charge for the space. We asked them if they could raise money for the space, but that didn’t happen. So we had to ask ourselves, are we really committed to this and is this something the USU could take on? We sat down and put together a budget, and we worked with the students and with faculty and staff from those communities over the course of a year to get that program up and running. We applied for campus quality fees, we hired a former student to develop the programs, and the student union contributed the space and infrastructure. And now the spaces are bigger and in different areas because more people are using them. The Pride Center moved into the USU Sol Center building and now it’s about three times the size it used to be. The Veterans Resource Center now encompasses the space where the Pride Center used to be, and now it has doubled in size.

The concept of the Oasis Wellness Center came from listening to the students. I am a huge believer in assessment so that we can make effective decisions. Sitting with a group of students and listening to what they say and what they need is amazing, because they will tell you exactly what they think and feel. And then it’s our job to figure out what it is we can put in place to address those issues. That’s how the wellness center really came about. We also worked with campus colleagues – faculty and staff from the Klotz Health Center, University Counseling Services and the College of Health & Human Development to refine the concept.  We did some research, some surveys, focus groups and based on the National Collegiate Health Assessment, we committed to trying to do something about student stress and lack of sleep. We wanted to create something of quality. We visited other campuses and saw their wellness centers, and some were tiny with three bean bag chairs on the floor. And I said, oh no – that’s not my idea of what it should look like, based on what the students said they needed.

Q. You’ve been in college or working at colleges for most of your life. What do you see that has changed during that time and what has remained the same? Are there any new challenges that students have?

There are some things that are the same and some things that are different. I think a big challenge for students is having so many competing priorities. There are so many things to worry about because they have to work, they have to put a certain amount of time into their school, their families. I was doing a workshop for students called ‘What’s on Your Plate?” and I asked them to identify the things that they do in a day. They were adding up their time and on average it was 18 or 20 hours a day without factoring in sleep. So if you are a student and are working or have other commitments and it’s taking up all these hours in your life – and there are only 24 in a day, something is going to be compromised. Some people don’t have an understanding of just how important sleep is! I like sleep, it’s restorative. For me, seven hours is optimally what I would like to have, but most nights I get about 6.5 hours. There are a couple nights when I get four hours and I don’t function as well the next day and I’ve got to make up for it.

Technology was a game-changer — it’s a different world now. Students have the devices in their faces all day long, but that’s how they communicate. I remember when a young staff member sent me a text saying they are going to be sick and I thought, how come he’s not calling me? But that’s not how people communicate any longer. And social media does suck up time. You can use it for good and not as a time waster, but it’s about discerning between those things.

Q. You are known to help students deepen their connection to the university to get them to graduation. Many of our students are low-income and the first in their families to go to college, so that must be especially important for these students.  

That’s why I have such a deep appreciation for students at CSUN. They know this can open up all sorts of doors for them. They know this is an opportunity that they need to take advantage of. CSUN provides hope, it promotes dreams and positive change. The greatest gift is a change in mindset, how you feel in your heart — it’s not just an exercise. Younger siblings and relatives come and see their brother or sister graduate and that encourages the next generation. Education provides options and opportunities and that is the true value of education. It’s not just to get a degree or just get a good job, it’s to explore, to come to know yourself and figure out who you are in the world, how you can contribute while still taking care of your family and being happy.

Q. Being happy — do you try to teach your students the importance of that?

I try to teach my students that they should enjoy their lives. I want them to work hard but also have fun. You may not be able to do it all at the same time, and not at the same degree. It’s about work-life rhythm. There is a rhythm to your life and if you can figure out the rhythm of your life, wouldn’t that feel good? It’s about choices, and sometimes we don’t always make the best choices for ourselves. We’ve got to figure out ways to help students make better choices. You can do it all, but not all at the same time.

Q. What is the biggest challenge you have faced in your time at CSUN?

I started working here about a month before the Northridge earthquake. Recovering from the earthquake was huge. When I first got here we had almost 31,000 students and after the earthquake when we reopened in February, we had 23,000. That was a huge drop and our budget is driven by student fees. We had to figure out what we needed to do in order to keep the programs open and not lay people off. We were one of the few buildings on campus that was standing and that was secure. Counseling services, admissions and records, and the art department occupied our building.  We also used it for classroom space.  One of the biggest lessons I learned — was having to figure out and navigate a new system in the midst of a crisis and how to innovate while you are recovering.

I’m somebody who believes all things happen for a reason. If you learn the lessons from an experience, then you are better prepared for it the next time or that particular lesson is not repeated. That was a great opportunity to learn and meet people, to see people come together to do something and repair the campus. We opened about a month later, and we all figured out how we were going to make that work. We had some tough, lean years during that time period. It was also an opportunity to look at things with new eyes and truly ask ourselves, what do students really need and what do they care about? Why are we even doing this particular thing? Sometimes you are doing things because we’ve always done them, but not because it’s what people need. It was a time for action as well as reflection.

Q. What a way to start at CSUN!

“I know! It was like baptism by fire.”

Q. What is the greatest thing you have learned from your students?

The greatest lesson I get from students is how to really listen. You have to keep asking those questions – being open to new thoughts and discovery. I think that as directors of departments, we can have a lot of preconceived notions about what we think is right. Sometimes we go into meetings or situations with those notions, and they are not always right. So we have to be open enough to really hear people, listen and hear at a deeper level and then ask questions. That’s the greatest tool we have. It is our ability to ask questions and then listen for the answers as opposed to mentally preparing our arguments. We have to overcome that. And I get that lesson over and over again. It’s like yoga or meditation – something you have to continually practice while mitigating distractions.

Q. What are your future goals and plans?

I have lots of ideas, but it’s all about deepening students’ connection to the campus and figuring out how we can serve them better to achieve their educational goals and change their lives. We are possibly envisioning a new center, a ‘center on centers,’ so we can put all of our resource centers into one space. They would all still have their own identities, but they would be able to collaborate together. We are in the exploration phase of this concept and we are going to talk to students and other stakeholders about it. With our current centers, we can see the difference in how various communities feel about the institution. These centers help students feel safe on campus, feel accepted; this is a place for them. That’s what deepens the connection between the students and CSUN and that’s one of the things that gets them through. So these physical spaces are not just because we think it’s nice to have, it’s deeper than that. There is a physiological, psychological connection that’s formed and that’s really important in making sure people feel like they are included, their existence is validated and they matter to this institution.

And then we’ll see where the next road takes me. I’m not quite sure where that’s going to be, but that’s a good thing.

When you walk through the doors of the 138,000-square-foot Student Recreation Center (SRC) at California State University, Northridge, the first thing you see is a three-story rock-climbing wall.

If you walk further, you see an abundance of state-of-the-art exercise equipment and hear a cacophony of weights clanging. As you ascend the stairs of the building, you come across fitness rooms, basketball and volleyball courts and a beautiful indoor track.

Helping manage all of this fast-paced action are two CSUN graduates — Sandra Salute, a Valley girl with a passion for fitness, and Kaila Lavin, an Arizona native who came to CSUN wanting to be a part of the birth of the SRC.

“As someone who sees Kaila and Sandra’s interaction on a daily basis, I can attest to the fact that they share both a professional and personal connection,” SRC Director Jimmy Francis said. “This is a good thing because their offices are only separated by about four inches of drywall.”

Sandra Salute

Salute ’05 (Family and Consumer Sciences), M.A. ’11 (Nutrition Science, Dietetics) always has had her heart in the San Fernando Valley.

While earning her master’s in 2011, the Canoga Park High School graduate heard about the construction of the SRC from her sister, Amy Orsini, a CSUN kinesiology student.

Initially, Salute was unsure about applying for a position at the SRC — she had a stable job as a group exercise coordinator at the local YMCA and had plenty of clients as a personal trainer.

However, her uncertainty quickly vanished after she saw the prototype of the SRC and was given a tour by her future co-worker, Lavin.

“When the SRC was being built, I thought it was going to be another parking structure,” Salute said. “When [Lavin] showed me the model of what the SRC would look like, I thought it looked amazing and I knew I wanted to be a part of this.”

Salute, who’s been teaching fitness classes since 2003, was hired as the fitness and wellness coordinator in June 2011 before being promoted to a manager position. She currently serves as the assistant director for fitness and wellness. Salute’s fitness certifications include: National Academy of Sports Medicine, National Council on Strength and Fitness, and Aerobics and Fitness Association of America.

Some of Salute’s many roles as assistant director include overseeing the personal training program, fitness equipment, group exercise zones, the boxing program and the Oasis Wellness Center.

Kaila Lavin

While studying at the University of Arizona, Lavin spent a chunk of her free time working at the university’s recreation center. By the time she graduated with a degree in psychology, she knew the recreation industry was the career path she wanted to take.

However, she knew her future was not in Arizona.

“I came to CSUN because of the SRC,” Lavin said. “I knew [the SRC] was being built because I had a connection with [Physical Plant Management Senior Director] Jason Wang, who was working at the University Student Union at the time. He did his doctorate at Arizona, and his boss [in Arizona] was my boss as well.

“When my boss in Arizona knew I was looking to go to graduate school and work at a rec center in Southern California, he connected me to Wang,” she said.

Lavin M.A. ’12 (Tourism, Hospitality and Recreation Management) arrived at CSUN in the summer of 2010, and she worked as a graduate assistant until being promoted to SRC membership services coordinator in August 2011.

Perhaps Lavin’s greatest joy is being able to show her staff of more than 85 students the diplomas that are framed in her office.

“I love hanging my Arizona and CSUN degrees on the wall, because I can tell my students who may be struggling, ‘Hey, I did it, I’ve been there, I know what you’re going through.’”

Lavin is now the assistant director of facility operations, a job that requires her to spend most of her time doing what she called “back-of-the-house stuff,” such as overseeing the front desk and the two outdoor pools, and supervising her staff of students.

The Connection

In addition to helping enrich the lives of students, Lavin and Salute also help manage a fitness center that does the same for CSUN alumni.

Alumni also have access to the SRC and receive a discount for being a CSUN Alumni Association member.

“We do a lot of work with the alumni association,” Lavin said. “We give tours to alumni all the time, and every single person says, ‘We didn’t have this when I was here — this is amazing.’”

Managing a building that sees thousands of people walk in and out every day takes a special kind of tandem — and this pair, as fitness advocates and proud Matadors, has a vested interest in the center.

Francis credited Lavin and Salute’s tireless work as a significant reason why the SRC is what it is today.

“Kaila and Sandra were both a part of opening the facility in 2012 and have not stopped trying to make it one of the premier programs in the CSU and in the country,” Francis said.

“The relationship they have developed allows them the ability to have tough conversations and play devil’s advocate with each other, but along the way know that they have each other’s, and the SRC’s, best interest in mind,” he continued. “Without their leadership, the SRC would not be where it is today.”

California State University Chancellor Timothy P. White visited California State University, Northridge on Jan. 29, as part of his statewide tour of the university system’s innovative learning environments.

During the daylong visit to CSUN, White met with students, faculty, staff and alumni and learned about groundbreaking academic, student-life and campus infrastructure programs.

“It’s very impressive what you’re doing here,” said White about the innovative programs and projects at CSUN. He told the campus community, during an open forum at the Plaza del Sol in the University Student Union, that part of his goal in making campus visits is to get feedback on the common “touchstones” for talking about the CSU system and its success.

Friday’s visit was part of the chancellor’s tour of the 23-campus CSU system. President Dianne F. Harrison and CSU Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs Loren J. Blanchard joined him during some of the day’s activities.

“Hosting Chancellor White gave CSUN the opportunity to demonstrate the outstanding work being done across the university by our faculty, staff and students,” Harrison said. “He saw first-hand the abundance of innovation and creativity that are hallmarks of a CSUN education.”

The chancellor’s day began with breakfast at CSUN’s Physical Plant Management’s Ground Shop with the staff members who maintain the campus landscaping. They demonstrated a unique and innovative system that monitors the campus’ irrigation system in “real-time” to detect malfunctions, helping the campus conserve water.

White answered staff questions and talked about his humble beginnings as a first-generation college graduate.

“We don’t often connect the grounds back to learning and student success,” White said. “But a welcoming, clean, beautiful campus is a much more engaging place to live and to work and learn than a place that does not have that kind of ambience.”

The College of Engineering and Computer Science showed off its innovative, award-winning projects including the El Toro, an autonomous robot built by CSUN students; a Formula SAE race car designed and built by CSUN students; a hybrid layer 3-D printer; a portable solar charging tree; and a solar- and wind-powered reverse osmosis desalination system designed by students.

White also met with Associated Students President Jorge Reyes and about 30 other students to discuss a range of issues including financial aid and student access. During the open forum, White called on all CSU faculty and staff to commit to eliminating achievement gaps and providing access to all underserved communities.

“When we succeed we will eliminate the disparities from graduation success,” White said. “We declare a war on the achievement gap.”

Later in the day, White visited the Matador Emerging Technology and Arts (META) Lab. Thanks to an interdisciplinary partnership between the Department of Computer Science and the Department of Art, undergraduates and graduate students at CSUN are working together to develop web applications to help improve academic- and student-centric services, as well as taking on projects for external clients.

With this new lab, faculty advisers and university officials aim to educate and train the next generation of industry professionals (computer scientists, graphic designers and engineers) — armed with the tangible skills they’ll need for employment and success in the region’s burgeoning tech industry.

With White looking on, students demonstrated some of the state-of-the-art work with “gamification,” the concept of applying game mechanics and game design techniques to engage and motivate people. Students talked about the “DevOps” movement, a new approach and collaboration between developers and operations staff.

“It’s good to see the chancellor interested in what we’re doing,” said Lisa Smith, a student employee at the META Lab, majoring in computer information technology. “This lab is definitely innovation at CSUN. We are learning new ways to work together and collaborate.”

The panel of speakers at the screening of Bridging the Divide: Tom Bradley and the Politics of Race in the Armer Theatre. From left: Lorraine Bradley, Tom Bradley’s daughter; Alison Sotomayor, co-producer; Lyn Goldfarb, co-producer; and Kent Kirkton, director of the Tom and Ethel Bradley Center at CSUN. Photo by David Hawkins.

The daughter of legendary Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley was among a panel of experts who talked about his extraordinary life, during an event that kicked off Black History Month at California State University, Northridge on Monday, Feb. 1.

“Perhaps this film will ignite the fire. … Spark an interest in the next leader,” said Lorraine Bradley, after a screening of a film about her father’s life, Bridging the Divide: Tom Bradley and the Politics of Race, in CSUN’s Armer Theater.

CSUN political science major Zakiyyah Babatunde-Bey said she was inspired by the film. “Everyone should see it,” she said.

The film chronicles the life of Bradley, the first African-American to be elected as mayor of a major U.S. city with an overwhelming white majority. His extraordinary multi-racial coalition redefined Los Angeles, ushered in police reform and transformed American politics.

Bradley’s daughter was joined by the film’s producers, Alison Sotomayor and Lyn Goldfarb, and Kent Kirkton, the director of the Tom & Ethel Bradley Center at CSUN, during a panel discussion. Lorraine said telling her father’s story is part of the mission of the Tom and Ethel Bradley Foundation.

The foundation partnered with CSUN last year to form the Tom & Ethel Bradley Center at CSUN. The center has continued the work of the Institute for Arts & Media to preserve the visual history of Southern California, but will have a renewed focus on the years when Tom Bradley served as Los Angeles’ mayor, from 1973 to 1993.

“It’s an amazing period in our history,” Kirkton told the audience. “We should mine it for the lessons it can teach us.”

The center’s online, digital collection can be accessed through the Oviatt Library website.

Sotomayor and Goldfarb said they decided to produce a documentary on Tom Bradley in 2008 during Barack Obama’s campaign for president. They were surprised to discover there were no documentaries, scholarly biographies or substantive interviews about Bradley, who died in 1998.

“Tom Bradley laid the foundation for the kind of coalition politics that allowed President Obama to be elected,” Goldfarb said.

CSUN alumnus Jacquil Constant ’02 (Radio Television Video Film/Pan African Studies), M.A.’14 (Cinema and Television Arts /Pan African Studies) who coordinated the event called Tom Bradley a “transformational leader.”

The event, which was sponsored by the Department of Art, Department of Cinema and Television Arts, Department of Africana Studies and the CSUN Black Alumni Association, was the first of several events planned for Black History Month.

For more information about Black History Month events, contact the Department of Africana Studies at (818) 677-3311.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis shared memories from his presidential campaign and explored the current political landscape during a lecture on Feb. 23 at California State University, Northridge.

Drawing on his own campaign experience, Dukakis said he believes the future is unclear for the 2016 presidential candidates.

In the beginning of the 1988 presidential campaign, Dukakis was at one percent in the polls and virtually unknown, but he went on to win the Democratic nomination. His biggest takeaway was that running for president is not for the weak or unprepared.

“All of us were pretty serious about what we were doing, and there were no [Donald] Trumps in the field at that time,” said Dukakis, who ultimately lost the 1988 election to George H.W. Bush. “This is the most open political system in the world. You don’t need a ticket for admission.”

He didn’t make it to the White House, but Dukakis said he does not regret going into politics because it gave him an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of citizens.

Guests at the CSUN event included students, professors and members of the community. Dukakis encourages students to actively get involved in politics and public service. He is a distinguished professor of political science at Northeastern University and a visiting professor in the School or Public Affairs at UCLA. Dukakis’ speech at CSUN was presented by the Department of Political Science.

“I tell my students that getting deeply and actively involved in the politics and public service of their community is not only the single most important thing they can do, it can be a source of great personal fulfillment,” Dukakis said.

California State University, Northridge President Dianne F. Harrison joined CSU leaders from throughout the state attending churches on Super Sunday with the message that “college is for you.”

Harrison, who spoke during services at H.O.P.E.’s House Christian Ministries on Feb. 28, was among four CSUN officials who attended local churches.

“Whatever your circumstances, whatever your age, know these three things: you can attend college; you can afford college; and you can succeed in college,” said Harrison, noting that the deadline for submitting the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which is the form needed to qualify for financial assistance is due March 2.

Since 2005, the CSU has partnered with California churches serving predominantly African-American congregations. The goal of the initiative is to increase the college preparation, enrollment and graduation rates of African-American students.

While Harrison was in Granada Hills at H.O.P.E.’s House, CSUN Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students William Watkins ’74 (Urban Studies) spoke at the Living Praise Christian Center in Chatsworth; and CSUN Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Brandon E. Martin spoke at Bethel AME Church in Oxnard. Also, on Feb. 14, Associate Vice President of Financial Services Deborah Wallace spoke at Agape Community Church in Lancaster. All delivered similarly motivating messages.

As part of her closing message, Harrison acknowledged the CSUN alumni and students in attendance at the church.

“To those who are standing, tell your story and be a voice of inspiration for the next generation, in the same way someone may have inspired you,” Harrison said. She said the CSU and CSUN are committed to ensuring a pathway to college success.

After the service, parents and students had an opportunity at all the churches to engage with CSU representatives, obtain posters on How to Get to College and learn how to navigate CSUMentor.edu — a website that helps students explore campuses and majors, as well as apply to the CSU. Representatives of the CSUN Black Alumni Association were also in attendance.

For more information about CSUN student outreach programs, visit the campus’ Office of Student Outreach and Recruitment Services (SOARS).

Months of planning, deliberating and discussion led to the 20th annual Student Research and Creative Works Symposium, showing off some of the best and brightest work that California State University, Northridge has to offer.

Students from every college and background came together in the University Student Union’s Northridge Center to present their research on a number of topics, ranging from solutions to the obesity epidemic and ways to help those living with autism, to the relationship between the Los Angeles River and the federal government.

The event began with students presenting their research to a panel of judges, faculty members and representatives from other organizations. The judges evaluated the content and delivery skills of the students, and the top entries were honored at a ceremony later in the day.

The second part of the symposium was a gallery with posters lining the walls, produced by students participating in various research programs. Visitors were free to walk around and admire the students’ hard work, as well as interact with the students presenting on a more personal level. There was a huge crowd, and the room was packed as students, faculty, and guests walked through the aisles. Assistant Vice President of Graduate Studies Maggie Shiffrar spoke in admiration after talking to each of the presenters.

“There was a young man, and his presentation was impeccable,” Shiffrar said. “Afterward, I asked him what doctoral program he intended to go to, because he was a doctoral-caliber student. It turned out that he was an undergraduate junior. It’s just phenomenal. You have faculty talking about how much they’re learning — these students are upping the bar for all of us. If I could do a cartwheel, I would.”

The accessibility of the symposium allowed other students to learn from one another and become inspired by their peers, Shiffrar said.

“Students can see people with whom they can relate, who look like them, talk like them, from the same background, and they see them doing world-class research,” Shiffrar said. “That changes conversations, because a conversation is no longer, ‘Some people can do cutting-edge research, but I’m not one of those people.’ That’s the beauty of this event. It turns that entire framework on its head, and the conversation becomes, ‘Wow. Look at what my peers are doing. I can do this.’”

Hedy Carpenter, associate director for research programs at CSUN, said she was impressed by how much the symposium had grown since it began.

“This symposium has come a long way,” Carpenter said. “When it first started 20 years ago, we had about 70 participants in total, and today we have 192. We’re even thinking about renting more space and spreading it over two days to accommodate all the projects.”

As Shiffrar took a moment to absorb the talent of the CSUN students on display at the symposium, she was overcome with excitement.

“These are all people who are using their smarts to make the world a better place, and that’s the best thing there is,” she said.

Here is a summary of all the honorees at the symposium:
10-Minute Presentations

Session 1

College of Social and Behavioral Sciences

First Place

Holly Gover, Graduate, Department of Psychology

“Teaching Functional Play Skills to Preschoolers with Developmental Disabilities”

Second Place

Michele Zamora, Undergraduate, Department of Political Science

“Federalism and the LA River: National Government and Local Water Resource Management”

Session 2

College of Science and Mathematics

First Place

Kevin Kossick and Alex Schultz, Undergraduate, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

“N,N-diarylbenzimidazolium Compounds”

Second Place

Eric McDonald, Graduate, Department of Geological Sciences

“Basin Analysis and Detrital Zircon Geochronology of the El Paso Mountains: Permian Stratigraphic Sequence”

Session 3

College of Health and Human Development/Michael D. Eisner College of Education

First Place

Amy Edwards, Graduate, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

“Gender in Higher Educational Leadership”

Second Place

Eugenne Rivas, Undergraduate, Department of Health Sciences

“Text You Later: Preliminary Results of a Texting and Driving Health Education Program”

Session 4

Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication/College of Humanities

First Place

David Stamps, Graduate, Department of Journalism

“Entertainment Media’s Perception of SNS Use Among Teenagers”

Second Place

Hsiao-Hsien Shen, Graduate, Department of Music

“Chopin Piano Concerto No. 1 in e minor, Op. 11”

Mrinalini Watson, Graduate, Department of Linguistics

“An Examination of Inter-Generational Language Transfer in the Marwari Speech Community of India”

Session 5 

College of Science and Mathematics

First Place

Sarah Merolla, Graduate, Department of Biology

“Effects of Ocean Acidification and Water Flow on Calcification for Different Morphologies of Coralline Algae”

Second Place

Barbara Weiser, Graduate, Department of Biology

“Estuary Opening Effects on Population Connectivity of California Killifish”

Session 6

College of Science and Mathematics

First Place

Andrea Haberkern, Graduate, Department of Biology

“Spider Form and Function: Foraging Guild, Morphology and Performance”

Second Place

Nickie Cammisa, Graduate, Department of Biology

“Genotypic Variation in Response to Mutualists and Drought in an Invasive Plant”

Session 7

College of Science and Mathematics

First Place (tie)

Malachia Hoover, Graduate, Department of Biology

“Identification of a Novel Cripto/MyosinII Interaction that Promotes Stem Cell Mediated Tissue Regeneration”

Justin Molnar, Graduate, Department of Biology

“Quantification of the Metastatic Potential of HER2 Positive Breast Cancer Using the Chorioallantoic Membrane Assay”

Second Place

Sa La Kim, Undergraduate, Department of Biology

“The Role of ITGA1 in Pancreatic Cancer”

Session 8

College of Science and Mathematics

First Place

Eliana Ochoa-Bolton, Undergraduate, Department of Biology

“BMP Signaling Patterns Dorsal Interneuron Populations Throughout Spinal Cord Development”

Second Place

Stephanie Kennedy, Undergraduate, Department of Biology

“Regulation of Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha-induced Protein 8 and Its Association with B-Cell Lymphomas”

Session 9

College of Science and Mathematics

First Place 

Bobby Teng, Undergraduate, Department of Biology

“Characterization of TBX5 Cardiac Progenitor Cells Derived from Human Embryonic Stem Cells”

Second Place 

Osvaldo Miranda, Undergraduate, Department of Biology

“Developmental Genes Regulate Stress-Induced Sleep in C. elegans“