Greetings,
When last I reached out, we had only been back on campus for a short while. Since then, slowly, things at Pacific began to return to some normalcy as we taught our courses in person and started holding events again. Being able to be together has been amazing. It has been a fantastic year, and I wanted to share some highlights. As always, I welcome your communication with the team and myself!
We launched several new programs this past year.
We have been busy enhancing existing programs and creating new programs to meet market demand.
In conjunction with the Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry, we launched a Master in Innovative Education in Health Professions. This fully online degree helps medical professionals hone their teaching skills so they can help educate the next generation of health care professionals.
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We launched a new degree completion program in Health Administration Leadership.
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We launched Pacific’s first-ever stackable certificates.
- This fall we will launch a master’s in leadership with a focus on social impact.
We also launched two new certificates in Diabetes Education and Management, one for non-clinicians and one for clinicians. For the latter, we are partnering with UC San Francisco to offer the most comprehensive diabetes education program in the country.
We have established partnerships with local county offices of education for them to send cohorts of candidates to our yearlong MA+ credential program. To date, we are partnering with Elk Grove, Manteca, Amador, Ripon, Stockton Unified, and California Association of Private Special Education Schools (CAPSES) with more partnerships in the works.
We had a wildly successful Homecoming and Commencement weekend in October ‘21 when more than one thousand alums, their families, and current students came to campus.
We had an all-school retreat in October ‘21 focused on revising our vision and mission.
In October ‘21, we celebrated our new President’s, Christopher Callahan’s, investiture.
We completed renovations of turning the Gladys L Benerd building into the new Benerd College building.
We held our annual “District Spotlight” where representatives from county offices of Education, districts, and private high schools met our teacher candidates and shared information about their schools —districts from as far as LA were represented. They also taught our candidates how best to present themselves during the hiring process.
Our student undergraduate Senator, Sara Lopez, collaborated with my office to host a “Meet and Greet” for current and admitted students to meet with each other, with Benerd faculty, and with staff. We had more than 50 attendees.
Benerd College supported our student-athletes by sponsoring women’s volleyball and basketball teams with a Benerd night.
Benerd College hosted the Lodi Chamber of Commerce Leadership group, which came to Pacific to learn more about our programs.
Benerd is committed to ensuring we are a place where everyone feels welcome and that they belong. Toward that critical goal, we:
- Hired a dedicated DEI advocate—Sunshine Faiad was hired as our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Support Specialist; she leads Benerd’s DEI working group and supports all of Benerd’s DEI efforts. She liaises with other DEI leads across campus and with our VP of DEI to further Pacific’s DEI initiatives.
- Held an inclusive culture retreat for all Benerd College staff and faculty. Several current students from various Benerd programs were also invited to the retreat and provided insight into the Benerd student experience. Benerd continues to utilize the insights from this meeting to inform our culture and led to the invitation of students to our book club meetings. We continue to use the findings from this meeting to direct our DEI-related goals and offerings for all students, faculty, and staff.
- Have an ongoing book club for faculty, staff, and students focused on DEI topics.
- Worked to create more parity between full-time faculty by creating opportunities for non-tenure-track faculty to apply for professional development leave to continually improve their practice and bring their learned skills/knowledge back to Benerd.
Transitions
- In June, Dr. Linda Webster, who has been with Benerd for 26 years, will be retiring. In addition to being a faculty member, she served twice as Interim Dean of Benerd, department chair, and a host of other roles in service to Pacific. In May, she will receive the Order of the Pacific, Pacific’s highest honor.
- In December 2021, Dr. Farley Staniec stepped down as Associate Dean, who oversaw, among other things, our degree completion programs. Dr. Staniec is replaced by Dr. Jennifer Medel, who joined Pacific in January 2021.
- Dr. Delores McNair retired in the Summer of 2021. She served at Pacific for more than 10 years.
- This Spring, Debbie Bell retired. Debbie worked at Pacific in 2003 with a small break. Lisa Matuska replaces her.
- Dr. Nancy Huante-Tzintzun joined our TAE program.
- Dr. Allison Rowland became the Program Lead for our doctoral program in Sacramento.
- Dr. Lynn Lysko joined us full-time as a full-time supervisor in our Tiger Teach program.
- Dr. Jonathan Toccoli transitioned from staff to faculty and now serves as our Director of Assessment, Accreditation, and Faculty Development.
- Dr. Char Starks added the Director of Tiger Teach to her role as a faculty member.
New Hires
- Patrick Wolak returned to Pacific after a brief absence to become our new Director of International Programs and Services (IPS)
- Janet Willis was hired to serve as our Credential Analyst for teacher preparation.
- Angelica Montes De Oca joined us to support continuing education and professional development.
- Malcolm Gingras supports several of our graduate programs in Stockton, including TAE and the MA in Leadership programs.
- Ofelia Hernandez joined us as our Education Aboard Advisor in IPS.
- Ashwina Khapre joins the IPS team to support our international students.
I realize that rising prices have impacted our budgets and that supporting Benerd may be a challenge this year; however, our students' need remains great. Any amount you can give makes a difference for them.
During this year's "Pacific Gives" fundraising campaign, we hope to outpace last year. Last year Benerd College exceeded its goal by 77 percent by receiving 177 gifts and raising nearly $70,000 toward our signature fundraising initiatives. This year we hope to exceed this number of gifts and are focused on the following initiatives:
Benerd Promise — Student Emergency Funds. These funds will help students deal with minor financial issues that disrupt their educational progress. Even one relatively small, unexpected bill can send a student's educational dreams spiraling. Our goal is to assist a bridge so that students can continue to achieve their educational dreams with us.
Benjamin and Janie Reddish Endowed Scholarship — In memory of the late Benjamin Reddish, this scholarship benefits first-generation college students in the Community Involvement Program pursuing a career in education. These are two critical needs for our community—a chance for first-generation students to go to college and the graduation of more educators, who are in short supply in our community.
Marilyn Draheim Scholarship for Re-entry Students—Retired Professor Draheim has generously established a scholarship for re-entry students. Many students take some college courses but never finish. Our goal is to bring these learners back so we can help them achieve their dream. At Pacific, we want all people to know that Pacific can help them achieve their educational goals.
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) Gift Fund—OLLI has proven to be one of Pacific's best community outreach activities. We engage community members from Lodi to Manteca and everywhere in between. During the pandemic, we kept a vulnerable and potentially isolated community actively involved in learning, informed about all things COVID, and interacting with one another.
Last year, we had a record number of existing faculty and staff who contributed to our students' opportunities. This indicates the level of commitment we have to our students. If you'd like to contribute to these impactful scholarships or programs: Give the gift of education contact: Georgette Hunefeld, ghunefeld@pacific.edu or 209.603.3509.
As proud Benerd College alumni, we would love to interact with you on social media. Participation is easy, just follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn @benerdcollege
Want to share your Benerd College story with us? Send an email to our Marketing & Recruitment Coordinator, Alaya Hubbard, ahubbard@pacific.edu
As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We love to hear from you!
