One of our own landed the Chancellor position! Doctorate in Educational
Leadership Affiliated Faculty member, Dr. Francisco Rodriguez, was
appointed Chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College District in
April. He previously served as superintendent/president of Mira Costa
Community College in North San Diego County.
Dr. Rodriguez is a first generation college graduate. He attained his Ph.D.
in education from Oregon State University, Master’s degree in community
development from UC Davis, and Bachelor’s degree in Chicano Studies
from UC Davis. For six years he was president of Consumnes River
College, and also served at UC Davis and Woodlake Community College
in Yolo County.
In his new position, Dr. Rodriguez will act as a system-wide chief for the colleges. LACCD educates
almost three times as many Latino students and nearly four times as many African-American students as
all of the University of California campuses combined. Eighty percent of LACCD students are from un-
derserved populations.
Due to the recession, the LAACD lost close to 500,000 students after a budgetary disaster. Therefore, the
district's finances will be Dr. Rodriguez's number one priority. He is replacing Dr. Adriana Barrera, the
interim chancellor, after Chancellor Daniel LaVista resigned.
Chancellor Rodriguez has been instrumental in advancing the transformational skills of our graduates in
his capacity as Faculty and Dissertation Advisor. On behalf of the Doctorate in Educational Leadership
program at Sacramento State, we would like to wish Dr. Rodriguez warm congratulations and all the best
in his future endeavors.
Francisco Rodriguez becomes Chancellor of the Los Angeles
Community College District
Inside this issue:
Program Leadership 2
Faculty Scholarships 2
Student
Accomplishments
3
Recent Alumni
Accomplishments
3
Transcending into
Superintendence
3
Successful Events 4
California State University, Sacramento: College of Education
Doctorate in Educational Leadership
SPRING 2014 NEWSLETTER VOLUME 3 ISSUE 1
The Journal of Transformative Leadership
and Policy Study
The Journal of Transformative Leadership and Policy Studies (JTLPS) will issue its next volume in June 2014. In addition to our peer reviewed manuscripts, JTLPS is excited to announce two reflective essays from nationally recognized leaders in K-12 and higher edu-cation: Dr. Ramona Bishop, Superintendent of the Vallejo City Unified Schools District and Dr. Francisco Rodriguez, Chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College District. They will both share their respective educational visions.
Look for our up-coming June volume. View full volumes at: www.csus.edu/edd
Program Leadership
Page 2 DOCTORATE IN EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP
We thank
Dr. Nevarez
and Dr. Jez
for their
dedication to
the program.
Dr. Carlos
Nevarez
Program Director Dr. Carlos Nevarez recently
spoke at multiple conferences about educational
leadership and institutional change. He spoke at
the Broward College President’s Leadership Acad-
emy in Davie, Florida, and at the 56th Annual
Council for the Study of Community Colleges in
Washington, D.C. The presentation was titled
“Community College Leaders Capacity to Lead:
Realizing Institutional Change.” Dr. Nevarez is
working on future publications, including a third
book focused on ethical leadership in community
colleges. This book is scheduled to be published
this fall.
Through her research and service, Associate
Director Dr. Su Jin Jez has been busy influencing
education policy and practice. She continues her
active scholarship agenda, including publishing a
peer-reviewed article in Research in Higher Education
entitled "The Differential Impact of Wealth vs.
Income in the College-Going Process," and a
commissioned paper on for-profit colleges for the
University of Southern California’s Pullias Center
for Higher Education. Dr. Jez continues to give
numerous media interviews on topics ranging
from changes in teacher tenure policy to the im-
pact of Teach For America.
Faculty Scholarship
Dr. Su Jin Jez
a leadership development work-
shop.
Dr. Rose Borunda’s
second edition of her
second publication Speak-
ing from the Heart: Histories
of Chicana, Latina and
Amerindian Women, will
be available this summer. Dr.
Borunda was invited to speak at
the Sacramento State President’s
Convocation . The theme of the
event was “Challenging Op-
portunities and Courageous
Conversation.”
Dr. Andrea Venezia has
had a very busy semester. In
January, she spoke at the
College Board's 2014 Collo-
quium in San Diego.
She also co-authored a
chapter in New Direc-
tions for Community
Colleges (with Kathy
Hughes) in February.
Andrea Venezia was a
discussant at AERA in
April on an invited panel about
postsecondary access and suc-
cess. Dr. Venezia launched a
new project on the implementa-
tion of the Common Core State
Standards and Deeper Learning in
CA (funded by the Hewlett
Foundation).
Dr. Rob Wassmer has
conduced a study focused
on early childhood educa-
tion patterns in California.
His will be presenting his
report, “The Relative Importance
of Supply and Demand Factors in
Determining Preschool Attend-
ance and Hours Attended,” at the
Western Economic As-
sociation Meeting in
Denver on June 29.
Dr. Caroline Turner
has had a busy semester.
She currently has her
book Modeling mentoring
across race/ethnicity and gender:
Practices to cultivate the next
generation of diverse faculty in
press. She also presented at
both the AERA and NACCS
conferences.
Dr. Lisa William-White
was recently
recognized for her
scholarship. She re-
ceived the Sacramento
State Outstanding
Scholarly and Crea-
tive Activity Award.
This spring Dr. Porfirio Loe-
za began the implementation of
the National Bilingual Education
Plan for Language and Literacy
Development for the
Guatemalan Ministry
of Education and the
U.S. Agency for Inter-
national Develop-
ment. The plan is
based on his book
from 2013 on a na-
tional policy for bilin-
gualism. He initiated in
January 2014 a pilot
program in the Guate-
malan state of Toton-
icapán up in the
Quiche highlands of
Guatemala.
Dr. Lisa Romero received a
Center of Teaching and Learning
Pedagogical Enhancement
Award for improving learning
outcomes in quantitative meth-
ods. Her article, “Trust, Behav-
ior, and High School Achieve-
ment” will be published
in The Journal of Edu-
cational Administration
(JEA) this year. She
will also be traveling to
Guatemala to facilitate Dr. Lisa
Romero
Dr. Porfirio
Loeza
Dr. rose
borunda
Dr. Andrea
Venezia
Dr. Rob
Wassmer
Dr. Caroline
turner
Dr. Lisa
William-White
Congratulations to Cohort 5!
All 14 members have successful-
ly defended their dissertations
and graduated. We would also
like to acknowledge Dr. Diane
Carlson and Dr. Sarah Gra-
ham, who received the Out-
standing Dissertation Award.
Dr. Diane Carlson along with
Dr. Erik Cooper received the
Graduating with Distinction
Award for their academic
achievement.
Cohort 6 has finished the quali-
fying exams and looks forward to
summer and beginning their
dissertation research.
Cohort 7 has successfully finished
their first year in the Doctorate
Program (Cohort 7 photo on page
4).
Fall 2014 will mark the entrance
of our 8th cohort into the Sac
State Ed.D. program. We are
excited to welcome this new
diverse and dynamic cohort.
Media,” that was recently pub-
lished in Cutting-Edge Technologies
and Social Media Use in Higher Edu-
cation.
In February, Dr. Shelly
Hoover was awarded the Marcus
Foster Memorial Award from the
Placer County Association of
California School Administrators.
This award recognizes outstand-
ing leadership and significant
contributions to education by a
K-12 school administrator. She
Dr. Jenny
Murphy was
appointed the
Interim Associate
Dean for the
College of Con-
tinuing Educa-
tion at Sac State
in December of 2013. She co-
wrote a chapter called
“Overcoming Organizational
Obstacles and Driving Change:
The Implementation of Social
retired from her principalship in
August 2013, and started a new
position as an adjunct research
professor at William Jessup
University in Rocklin, CA.
On February 24, Dr. Daryl
Camp, Superintendent of
Riverbank Unified School Dis-
trict, along with six other
superintendents in Stanislaus
County, met with Governor
Brown for an information
discussion on educational issues.
Student Accomplishments
Transcending into Superintendence
Page 3 VOLUME 3 ISSUE 1
Congratulations
Cohort 5! All 14
members have
successfully
defended their
Dissertations.
Dr. Gabe
Simon
Recent Alumni Accomplishments
The following Doctorate in Educational Leadership Alumni have ascended to Superintendents of their
respective school districts.
Dr. Baljinder
Dhillon
Dr. Gloria
Hernadez
Dr. Daryl
Camp
Dr. Clark
Burke
Superintendent of
Ravenwood Unified
School District
Superintendent of
Manteca Unified
School District
Superintendent of
Cascade Union
Elementary School
District Superintendent of
Riverbank Unified
School District
Superintendent of
Colfax Elementary
School District
Dr. Sarah
Graham
Dr. Diane
Carlson
Dr. Erik
Cooper
Dr. Jenny
Murphy
If you would like to be added to our prospective student list, in order to receive important
information and e-mails about upcoming information sessions, please either e-mail or
call our office. If you are interested in applying, please visit our website for admission
information and procedures.
The Superintendent Panel Discussion on March 7th was a great
success. The Dean and the Provost were both in attendance. The panel
included Dr. Sarah Noguchi, Chris Evans, and our alumni, Dr. Baljinder
Dhillon. The panelists offered thoughtful insight into the position of
Superintendent in the Sacramento region. Future panel discussions, such
as this one, are being scheduled for future semesters.
There was not an empty seat in the house on April 18th for the
Outstanding Dissertation Showcase Panel. The panel was lively and rich
with information. All panelists had the opportunity to provide a synop-
sis of their research and how their work has been implemented in their
school work. Panelists included Dr. Kadhir V. Rajagopal from Cohort 1,
Dr. Mallory Angeli Newell from Cohort 2, Dr. Rebecca Jane Berner
from Cohort 3, and Dr. Viridiana Diaz from Cohort 3. All panelists
were awarded a plaque in honor of their achievements. If you were una-
ble to make the panel event or wish to review the information provided
during the event, the EDD office videotaped the event. Please visit the
office if you wish to view the video.
Coming soon to our website, the full list of 2014-2015 events.
Please visit www.csus.edu/coe/for upcoming events.
Doctorate in Educational Leadership
Spring 2014
California State University, Sacramento Eureka Hall 318
6000 J Street Sacramento, CA 95819-6079 www.csus.edu/edd
Contact Ed.D. Office : Phone: (916) 278-2282 Fax: (916) 278-2281 Email: [email protected]
Page 4 VOLUME 3 ISSUE 1
Successful Events Cohort 7
Drs. Carlos Nevarez, Vanessa
Sheared, Viridiana Diaz, and
Caroline Turner