In addition to teaching, I engage in college service, which gives me the chance to make a difference in the lives of my students beyond the classroom and meaningfully contribute to campus life and college programs. My service has included committee work, professional learning communities, assessment, faculty observations, curriculum development, advising student clubs, and serving as a course lead. I enjoy sharing with colleagues by offering professional development opportunities and learning from my colleagues in turn. Through service, I deepen my knowledge of the campus and community and continue to grow as a teacher, mentor, and advocate for my students.

Student Support

I have long enjoyed supporting students through advising, mentoring, and serving as a reference for academic and professional pursuits. I value chances to get to know my students better, and it’s an honor to be part of their journey beyond the classroom.

Student Writing, Publishing, and Leadership

Faculty co-advisor, Voices of the Valley. I am proud to be an advisor for Voices of the Valley, Clark State’s student literary journal. I guide our student editorial team through the process of producing a perfect-bound print journal for publication. It’s a wonderful way to showcase student voices, provide recognition, and celebrate writing!

Faculty co-advisor, Creative Writers’ Club. In this role, I support meetings where students write, share, and discuss each other’s work. I also mentor students and provide opportunities for leadership development. It has been a true pleasure getting to know student writers and helping them build community around creative writing.

Recommendations, Recognition, and Next Steps

I write letters of recommendation for students each semester, usually for scholarships or for transfer to four-year universities. When students have excelled in my classes, I happily describe their achievements and other qualities exhibited in class, such as work ethic, collaboration, leadership, or care for others. It is such a pleasure to sing their praises and support them in their next steps. I have played a similar role for students who need professional references for job applications. I also nominate students for leadership awards, academic recognition, and writing contests, and many have earned much-deserved recognition over the years.

Academic Coaching and Online Student Success

While teaching at the Academy of Art University, I served as an academic coach for a student success initiative for first-year online students. In this role, I reached out to new online students, helped them navigate the learning management system, discussed strategies for academic success, such as time management, communication with instructors, and study skills, and connected them with campus resources. It was a meaningful experience through which I helped students succeed in our online programs, and the skills I sharpened in this role continue to make me a more effective teacher, especially when working with first-year students in co-requisite writing support courses.

Additional Advising and Support

• Advising Associate of Arts transfer students
• Coordinating student writing contests and readings
• Former co-advisor to WAGE at Ohlone Community College

Curriculum Development

I appreciate opportunities to contribute to curriculum development, whether through developing a new course, building an online course, or revising an existing course. Projects like these allow me to step back and think in broader terms about student learning. They involve extensive research and creative thinking, and I learn so much through the process. This work also involves collaboration with colleagues, which I find invigorating, and attention to faculty support, something I deeply value.

Composition Curriculum and Faculty Support

As full-time English faculty at the Academy of Art University, I served as course lead for the university’s second-level composition course. I managed curricular revisions, served as the point of contact for instructors teaching the course, and mentored approximately 10 part-time faculty members. I made a number of contributions to the course and to faculty support. For example, I initiated a collaborative project with the library director to develop information literacy curriculum for the course, and these materials, including video tutorials and activities, were also made available to students across the university. To support faculty teaching the course, I created and annually updated an Instructor’s Guide, which included scaffolded assignments, writing projects, in-class activities, and sample student essays with instructor feedback. This meaningful role gave me the chance to think beyond my own classroom and help create resources that supported instructors and students across sections of the course.

• ENG 2260: Introduction to Creative Writing: Co-developed the course proposal and now serve as course lead.
• Curriculum Leadership Team, Academy of Art University: Contributed to the development of a first-year academic-success course through readings, assignments, and rubric design.
• Introduction to Gender and Women’s Studies, Ohlone College: Developed an online version of the course.

Assessment Experience

In my role as English faculty at the Academy of Art University, I participated in annual student learning outcome assessments for composition and creative writing courses, which included grade norming, scoring, and discussion of data gathered to make curricular decisions. At San Francisco State University, I served as a reader and scorer for a university-wide essay test of students with junior standing to assess demonstration of English proficiency.

Faculty Development and Collegial Support

Professional Development for Colleagues

It has been my pleasure to create and lead professional development workshops for colleagues on topics I’m passionate about. Here are a couple of examples of my contributions to faculty development.

“Insights from Writing Transfer Scholarship and Strategies for Classroom Application” — Columbus State Community College, 2024. Several colleagues had expressed interest in learning more about writing transfer pedagogy, so I developed a workshop on the topic as part of the English department’s Professional Development Series. I shared classroom practices I have used to support transfer, including metacognitive reflection and activities that teach rhetorical thinking and genre awareness. I also facilitated a lively discussion among attendees about how writing transfer already fits into their teaching and ways they’d like to incorporate it in the future.

“Building Relationships in Virtual Classrooms: Strategies for Engaging and Motivating Students” — Columbus State Community College, 2021. During the pandemic, my colleagues and I were trying to figure out how best to support students in virtual classes. I had developed a number of strategies that I saw making a difference, most of them based on establishing connection and community. In 2021, I shared these strategies in a professional development workshop for Columbus State Community College’s Accelerated English Program. I discussed strategies such as regular Zoom conferences and study sessions, active outreach, and reader responses to student writing.

Faculty Observation and Support

I contribute to faculty development and retention through observations of College Credit Plus (CCP) instructors teaching composition and creative writing courses at local high schools. This process involves evaluation, but at heart, it’s about relationship building and support. I also conducted classroom observations of part-time faculty members at the Academy of Art University and completed both descriptive and evaluative documentation for each observation, noting strengths and areas for improvement. I enjoy this process not only because it’s meaningful to support fellow faculty, which also benefits our students, but also because I get to learn from my colleagues. I observe exciting classes that inspire me and give me ideas for improving my own teaching!

Additional College Service

• Student Development Committee
• Accelerated Learning Program professional learning community
• Course-lead responsibilities