ARPE News

Ángel Gonzalez, a doctoral candidate in San Diego State University’s Ed.D. in Community College Leadership program, has been named recipient of the Graduate Rising Star Award by NASPA Region VI.

Seven members of the San Diego State University College of Education faculty, staff and student communities have been named to the newly-formed Black Advisory Council to the Dean. 

Jermaine Rocacorba remembers a San Diego State University Leadership Minor project called “Create a Future Adventure.” The assignment was to create something that doesn’t already exist — something that would make the world a better place. Rocacorba, who graduated from SDSU in December of 2018 with a degree in communication, has been seemingly living that project ever since. 

Meet Angel Gonzalez, a doctoral student in the Ed.D. in Community College Leadership program. Learn about his passion for advancing equity and his dreams of a life in higher education in the first installment of the COE Stories video series.

Ghana seemed to offer everything Chasejamison Akilah Manar-Spears needed to clear her mind and break away from the San Diego State University campus for a while. And it did. As she connected with her roots, she developed a commitment to environmental and social justice that helped lead to her selection as SDSU’s Zahn Spirit of Innovation award recipient for 2020. Its effect on her life, however, is just beginning.

For Dr. Sylvia Garcia-Navarrete (’91, ’12), awards season is apparently in full swing. The lecturer in San Diego State University’s Department of Administration, Rehabilitation and Postsecondary Education (ARPE) received two major honors recognizing her achievements and dedication to her home community in San Diego’s South Bay area.

Tears were flowing as Dr. Marissa Vasquez read the acceptance letter. The assistant professor in the Department of Administration, Rehabilitation and Postsecondary Education (ARPE) learned last month that she was named to the Faculty Fellows of the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE). It’s a great honor and opportunity bestowed by an organization that once helped instill Vasquez’s belief that she could become a professor. But that wasn’t the reason for her tears.

Faculty in the Department of Administration, Rehabilitation and Postsecondary Education received two U.S. Department of Education Rehabilitation Services Administration grants to help SDSU address the need for qualified vocational rehabilitation counselors.

Dr. Melo-Jean Yap acutely remembers the feelings of isolation she felt as young a woman of color studying biology — a discipline that is often very white and very male. The presumptions of incompetence she faced from faculty and peers, and the imposter syndrome that fed, still feel fresh.

Emelyn dela Peña ’98, ’09 returned to the Golden State this summer to start her new position as Stanford University’s associate vice provost for inclusion, community and integrative learning. It is the next challenge in an impressive student affairs career that has included stops at Harvard University and Washington University in St. Louis. Emelyn was prepared for this journey at San Diego State University, where she earned a master’s degree in postsecondary educational leadership and instruction and a doctorate through its joint Ed.D. program. Recently, Emelyn chatted with us about her new position in Palo Alto, her passion for diversity and inclusion and her favorite SDSU mentors.