Fall Conference 2024

General Faculty and Staff Resources

From RPT policies to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion modules, CLA-specific faculty and staff resources can be found here.

Diversity Action Plan

Both data-driven, and vetted by members of our diversity community, the CLA's Diversity Action Plan will guide us for the next five years as we work toward creating a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive college across several fronts. View the Diversity Action Plan.

Department Chairs

View the 2024-25 department chair roster.

New Faculty and Staff

The College of Liberal Arts is excited to welcome the following new faculty and staff to Cal Poly.

New Tenure/Tenure-Track Faculty

Travis Neel
Assistant Professor, Art and Design
Specialty: Foundations

Julie Lynem
Assistant Professor, Journalism
Specialty: Ethics and Emerging Media

Jayme Yen
Assistant Professor, Art and Design
Specialty: Graphic Design

Jamaal Baptiste
Assistant Professor, Music
Specialty: Director of Jazz Studies

Sasha Sanders
Assistant Professor, Communication Studies
Specialty: Multi/Culture Performance Studies

Nolan Bennett
Assistant Professor, Political Science
Specialty: Law and Society

Sergio Juárez
Assistant Professor, Communication Studies
Specialty: Basic Course Director

Jared Van Ramshorst
Assistant Professor, Political Science
Specialty: Latinx Immigration/ Migration Studies

Colum Yip
Assistant Professor, English
Specialty: Linguistics/TESOL

Güneş Ertan
Assistant Professor, Political Science
Specialty: Public Policy

Dallas Donnell
Assistant Professor, Ethnic Studies
Specialty: African-American Studies

Ivan Hernandez
Assistant Professor, Psychology and Child Development
Specialty: Social Psychology

Christine Lee
Assistant Professor, Graphic Communication
Specialty: User Experience/User Interface

Daniel Rodriguez Ramirez
Assistant Professor, Psychology and Child Development
Specialty: Developmental Psychology

Aron Ramirez
Assistant Professor, History
Specialty: Modern Latinx and/or Chicanx History

Melissa Manzanares
Assistant Professor, Interdisciplinary Studies
Specialty: Global Studies

Timothy McHale
Assistant Professor, Social Sciences
Specialty: Sociology – Biomedical Anthropology

Maggie Mang
Assistant Professor, Interdisciplinary Studies
Specialty: Health Science

Elizabeth Minor
Assistant Professor, Social Sciences
Specialty: Sociology – Applied Anthropology/UX or Museum Studies

New Full-Time Lecturers

Unique Shaw-Dismuke
Ethnic Studies

Jamie Ascher
Communications Studies

Joshua Losoya
Communications Studies

Carmen Navarro
Communications Studies (Winter 2024)

Stephenson Whitestone
Communications Studies

Alexander Otruba
Political Science

Lata Murti
Social Sciences

Richard Jackson
Theatre and Dance (Winter 2024)

New Staff

Paula Rygg
Art and Design (new assignment)

Gracie Mayorga
Ethnic Studies

Camille Frace
Political Science

Dan Van Dorn
Political Science

Katie Beth Riforgiate
Cal Poly Arts

Eric Flores
Academic ITC (CLA)

Catherine Castro
CLA Advising

Eric Cuvelier
CLA Advising

Luis Ramirez
Student Success Coach

Isabella Papazian
Student Success Coach

Alessandra Gardner
LAES temp

New Promotions and Tenure

New Department Chair Appointments

Anuraj Dhillon – Communication Studies (Interim)

Brady Teufel – Journalism (reappointment)

José Navarro – Ethnic Studies

Brian Healy – Theatre and Dance (reappointment)

Joel Orth – History

Silvia Marijuan – World Languages and Cultures

Promotion to Professor

David Askay – Communication Studies

Taylor Smith – Psychology and Child Development

Mira Rosenthal – English

Silvia Marijuan – World Languages and Cultures

Jennifer Denbow – Political Science

Promotion to Associate Professor

Rachel Ma – Graphic Communication

Thanayi Jackson – History

Karin Hendricks-Bolen – Theatre and Dance

Martha Galván-Mandujano – World Languages and Cultures

Tenure

Anuraj Dhillon – Communication Studies

Leslie Nelson – Communication Studies

Rachel Ma – Graphic Communication

Anya Foxen – Philosophy

Nancy Arrington – Political Science

Andrew Fricker – Social Sciences

Martine Lappé – Social Sciences

Karin Hendricks-Bolen – Theatre and Dance

Martha Galván-Mandujano – World Languages and Cultures

Dean's Office Contacts

Kate Murphy — Interim Dean Email Kate.

Academics

Josh Machamer — Associate Dean of Operations
Josh provides leadership for the support, development and advancement of internationalization efforts in the college, currently including: coordination of current and new international initiatives; building capacity in emerging areas of direct and virtual exchange; communication of internationalization opportunities/development for students, faculty and staff. Email Josh.
Lauren Kolodziejski – Interim Associate Dean for Student Success
Lauren is responsible for student-related issues such as academic advising, academic probation/disqualification, change of major, graduation initiatives, new admissions/re-admissions or any other issues related to academic success. This can include updates and clarification of policies and procedures as well as coordination and processing of a variety of forms that include substitution forms, grade change forms and many more. Email Lauren.
Julie Bettergarcia— Associate Dean for Diversity and Curriculum
Julie’s job is focused on all initiatives related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts in the college. In addition, she is responsible for all curriculum issues in the college, including development of new courses, programs or minors, course and program edits, and the curriculum process at large. She also supervises and runs the Intergroup Dialogues program and course. Email Julie.
Jane Lehr— CLA Director of Research Engagement
As the Director of Research Engagement, Jane will provide information, guidance, and support to faculty and students across areas of scholarship and creative activities within the CLA. Her main goals for the upcoming year include expanding awareness of opportunities, enhancing a culture of scholarship, promoting diversity, equity and inclusion, and broadening access to resources to support scholarly engagement. Email Jane.

Administrative Support

Heidi Velasco — Receptionist
Heidi oversees the daily operations of the Dean's Office and is the primary contact for phone calls and office visitors which include students, staff, faculty, parents, and community members. Heidi also coordinates several College of Liberal Arts and student events throughout the year.
Lynne Ricard — Executive Assistant to the Dean
Lynne provides administrative support for the dean, which includes all scheduling. She assists the three associate deans with calendaring appointments, committee meeting preparation, scheduling, agendas, minutes, communications from the dean and more. She also provides planning coordination for several college-wide events including faculty and staff events.
Ashley Davis — Faculty Recruitment and Contract Analyst
Ashley processes all Tenure Track hire letters and documents; monitors contracts and offers for part-time lecturers and works closely with the budget analyst and associate dean to review workload and assigned time for faculty in the college. She also works closely with the CLA Tech team as their administrative support.
Melissa Bodin — Evaluations Process Analyst
Melissa manages/coordinates all retention, tenure, promotion, post-tenure and lecturer evaluations. She helps faculty with development of their Interfolio Working Personnel Action File (eWPAF), answers all evaluation related questions during the review process, and processes all dean’s funded travel.
Joy Sisler — Finance and Budget Analyst
Joy provides strategic direction and oversight of the state budget, expendable foundation funds, endowment funds and fee-based corporation funds. She serves as a primary resource in the college for budgeting, accounting, payroll, procurement, auditing and financial support.

CLA Development

Moon-ja Yunouye-Petz — Senior Director of Development
Moon-ja is responsible for creating and maintaining external relationships and partnerships with alumni, donors, parents, friends and other supporters of CLA. As the college’s fundraiser, she is the primary point of contact for all philanthropic activity.
Chrissy Ybarra — Administrative Coordinator
Chrissy processes all incoming gifts received through department offices, sends weekly donor acknowledgement reports to chairs, works with department ASCs to obtain donor information, processes department advisory board member nominee submissions, and is the contact for any donor/alumni record (information) updates.

CLA Communications

Cara King — Communications Specialist
Cara oversees production of the college magazine titled “Impact,” and works with University Marketing and Communications to promote CLA-related awards and events to the campus community and the media. Contact her to share stories of faculty, alumni or student success.
Nicole Troy — Communications Specialist
Nicole assists with day-to-day communications needs, including running the CLA's social media accounts, writing feature stories and updating the CLA's websites. Contact her for help with website updates.

CLA Advising

Our service model has changed! Visit the CLA Advising webpage for current virtual and face-to-face meeting opportunities.

The CLA Advising Center is available to help undergraduate students with a wide range of topics, including academic advising/planning, registration, understanding academic polices and procedures, change of major and general student success. We encourage students to meet with an advisor at least once a year to ensure good progress towards graduation.

Sabrina Canady — Lead Academic Advisor
Alejandra Cebreros — Multicultural Academic Advisor
In addition to academic advising, Alejandra supports the Underrepresented Students Network (USN) and coordinates the Multicultural Scholars Program (MSP) with the purpose of creating a diverse and inclusive educational community. As part of the MSP, students from historically underserved populations can find a sense of belonging and support and be connected with resources designed for personal, academic and professional success.
Katie Harris — Academic Advisor
Eric Cuvelier — Academic Advisor

CLA Campus Connections

Brett Bodemer — CLA Librarian
You can basically ask Brett anything library-related, and he will direct you to the right place. He provides course-related library instruction, and supports students and faculty alike through individual consultations. Email Brett.
Taylor Law — CLA Employer Developer
Taylor spends her time researching potential employers, doing outreach, and meeting with employers looking to hire College of Liberal Arts students. She helps facilitate communication between departments and employers, as well as collaborates employer events. Email Taylor.
Molly Clark — Cal Poly Arts Director
Cal Poly Arts provides most of the professional touring performances at the Performing Arts Center and in Spanos Theatre, including national tours of Broadway shows, renowned music artists, dance companies, comedy, family programs, speakers’ series, and Met Live in HD simulcasts from the Metropolitan Opera. With our full-time staff of five, we typically present 40-50 live events each year. The California Department of Public Health has mandated that proof of full COVID-19 vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of the event is required for indoor events with capacities of 1,000 or more. The Performing Arts Center (both Harold Miossi Hall and Spanos Theatre) and Cal Poly Arts will comply with these new guidelines for all Cal Poly Arts events. The Cal Poly Arts team is working to develop verification procedures to ensure that this process is as smooth as possible for our audience members. Please check our website for the latest updates and a schedule of coming events in the Cal Poly Arts 2021-2022 Season. Email Molly.
Academic Senate
Academic senators are the elected CLA faculty voice in the Academic Senate body. The senators and caucus chairs are a great resource for faculty to interface with the administration and bring college- and department-level issues forward.

Faculty and Staff Awards

Congratulations to the 2024 faculty and staff award winners!

Health and Wellbeing Resources

FAQ: COVID-19 Safety Guidelines and Classroom Procedures

Please visit Cal Poly Academic Affairs' Frequently Asked Questions page for updates and information about on-campus instruction. Additional resources will be added on an ongoing basis.

Public Health Resources

Mental Health Resources

Faculty and staff can contact the Employee Assistance Program for confidential counseling services (available to employees and their families) at 800-367-7474, or visit https://afd.calpoly.edu/hr/employee-resources/work-life.

Cal Poly students can contact Cal Poly’s Counseling Services and 24/7 hotline at 805-756-2511.

Basic Needs for Students

Visit Cal Poly's Basic Needs website for food and housing resources. It includes information on the Cal Poly Food Pantry, Cal Poly Cares Grant, CalFresh Outreach, and more.

College of Liberal Arts

Arts, humanities, communications and social sciences at the heart of Cal Poly

CLA Faculty & Staff Resources

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