Cohort 9

Ron Andrade is the manager of the Learning Center at College of San Mateo in the San Mateo County Community College District. In addition to managing the daily activities at the center, he is responsible for the development and coordination of support programs including peer tutoring and supplemental instruction. Before coming to the College of San Mateo, Ron held roles in academic advisement and graduate student support at private and public 4-year institutions. His research interests include effective student support services for community college students, as well as issues of access and success for low income and first generation students. Dr. Andrade holds a Master of Education in Postsecondary Administration & Student Affairs and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Southern California. Ron earned his doctorate after successfully defending his dissertation titled The Influence of Validation on Academic Outcomes for Oceania Community College Students.

Jack Ballard is an assistant principal of instruction at Gunn High School in the Palo Alto Unified School District. He supports the STEM, CTE, and PE departments within Gunn High School. Before taking on this role, Jack has served as an instructional coach, a department chair, a yearbook adviser, and an English teacher. Jack’s research interests include collective teacher inquiry, student-centered instruction, and the organization of school systems.

Jack holds a Master of Education in Educational Leadership from California State University, Northridge, and he holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Jack earned his doctorate after successfully defending his disssertation titled Anti-racist Leadership in a High Perfroming Public High School: A Design-based Study of Detracking Mathematics.

Wissem Bennani manages the International Student Program (ISP) at Skyline College. He is responsible for overseeing the ISP, recruitment and marketing, providing immigration advice, and international student services. Wissem holds a master’s degree in Managerial Accounting from the University of Tunis III, a bachelor’s degree in Business from the University of Michigan Flint and a Master of Business Administration from Saginaw Valley State University. Wissem earned his doctorate after successfully defending his dissertation titled Contributors to the Successful Transfer of International Community College Students.

Hope Emry Ortiz is currently serving as the Study Away Programs Coordinator in the Center for International Education at Sonoma State University. She assists students in pursuing studying away opportunities in other states and countries. As the program Coordinator, she coordinates study away program development, works with faculty, and conducts marketing, coordination, and advising for students to participate in various study away opportunities, including CSU International Programs, the National Student Exchange program, and Faculty-Led Programs. She also oversees the CIE Student Ambassador Program and has taught various first-year experience courses. She also serves on Facutly Academic Senate as the SSP Representative, as well as the President's Diversity Council, and the GE Revision Sub-committee. 

Hope’s passion for education began in high school with the initial goal of becoming a high school counselor to assist students to go to college. However, after studying abroad in Mexico and getting involved in various student leadership positions at Sonoma State University, she decided to pursue a career in higher education. Hope has a bachelor’s degree from Sonoma State University in Psychology with a minor in Spanish, and Master of Arts in Postsecondary Educational Leadership with a Specialization in Student Affairs from San Diego State University. She looks forward to continuing and expanding on her education, to grow as a leader, and researching the long-term benefits of high-impact co-curricular activities for college students, and the issue of inequitable access for underrepresented students.​ Her research is on the effectiveness of the Hispanic Serving Institution recognition, and successful practices in serving Latinx students. 

Jose Lopez Libertad works is Senior Program Coordinator at San Francisco State University’s Institute for Civic and Community Engagement. The Institute for Civic and Community Engagement (ICCE) provides opportunities for SF State University faculty and students to become aware and address issues of social justice through community service learning and civic engagement. Through innovative courses, experiential learning, political engagement, participatory action research, and direct services, ICCE partners the resources and expertise of the urban university with the knowledge and assets of diverse communities.

Jose’s current work and academic interests are threefold. First, he would like to explore the relationship between service-learning and high-impact practices in higher education. Second, he would like to investigate the academic contributions of community-based research built on a service-learning pedagogical approach. Finally, he is interested in helping develop curricula and pedagogy that would allow educators to engage as “transformative intellectuals” and students to become critical and engaged learners.

Jose attended San Jose State University where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology San Jose State University with a concentration in social change and a Bachelor of Arts in Social Science with a concentration community change. He also received a Master of Arts in Philosophy from San Jose State University where he fell in love with Latin American philosophy and thought. Born in Santa Cruz, CA and raised in Salinas, Watsonville, Castroville, Fresno, Las Vegas, Miami, Oregon, Mexpan (Nayarit, Mexico) and Tijuana, to name a few, he takes great pride in calling San Jose home. He is the youngest in the family and the first to graduate high school. Having been in 20 countries, Jose enjoys activities that bring balance and joy to his life such as traveling, playing the guitar, and participating in triathlons and marathons. Jose earned his doctorate after successfully defending his dissertation titled The Effects of Service-learning on the Academic Success of First Generation College Students.

A child of immigrant refugees and first generation low-income college student, Vanson Nguyen has been teaching mathematics in the community colleges for over 10 years, serving the system that has given him access to higher education. He has been at College of Alameda since 2013 and has led the Mathematics department in several initiatives such as co-requisite development and communities of practice. Both of Vanson's prior degrees are in mathematics. The master's program included little coursework on pedagogy, something common for many community college faculty. His doctoral research focused on breaking traditional power relations in community college math classrooms through co-construction. He hopes to transform community college classrooms with his dissertation.

Arielle Smith is a general counselor at College of San Mateo. She has previously held positions with the TRiO SSS Program, as well as coordinator, counselor, and instructor of a First Year Experience learning community, aimed at providing support to first year students as they navigate community college. Her research interests include investigating issues of institutional inequality, support and success for low-income and first-generation college students, college access and equity for historically underserved populations. She is also interested in high school-to-college pipelines, especially for first generation students.

Arielle holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies, with concentrations in Political Science and Latin American Studies, from UC San Diego. She received her Master of Science in Counseling from San Francisco State University. Arielle earned her doctorate after successfully defending her dissertation titled Social Reproduction in the Community College Classroom.