Introduction
I have been teaching at CSULA since 1995 and became a full-time faculty member in 1999. Prior to that, I worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for 16 years as a writer and facilitator and have spent the last 5 years consulting to high-tech companies who do business via the Internet. My expertise is in strategic planning, proposal writing, online documentation, and graphic user interface design. I also facilitate organizational change initiatives, including re-engineering of business processes with a focus on ecommerce and Web-based database design. I am also studying to become a Licensed Land Surveyor and recently attained my Licensed Surveyor In Training (L.S.I.T.) certificate.
Teaching Interests
I have taught a number of writing courses ranging from Beginning and Advanced Composition to Expository Writing to Technical Writing. I have taught a graduate seminar in Organizational Communication. I also teach Introduction to Higher Education and have written a textbook for that course. Additionally, I teach a general education course called Impact of Technology on Individuals and Society, which is a life-long learning and critical-thinking class. I have taught Cisco computer networking and plan to teach the Beginning Land Surveying class for the Civil Engineering department. My teaching interests cover the full range of professional and personal development activities, including training, life-long learning, and personal well-being. I am a strong believer in team-based, active learning, and I run my classes in groups. I use a "case study" approach to learning, with much of my material gleaned from my own professional practice.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
My research interests are eclectic: I am interested in how people communicate in organizations, in the nuances of discourse itself (how things are said), in the rhetoric of technical communication, and in how people use music to communicate. I am also interested in innovation in teaching and learning. I have authored a number of papers relating to music as communication, including a study of the music put aboard the Voyager spacecraft for communication with extraterrestrials. I am an expert on world music and have been to West Africa and have written about women's musical groups there.
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
Ph.D. Communication 1994
University of Southern California
M.A. Professional Writing 1988
University of Southern California
B.F.A. World Music 1976
California Institute of the Arts