Carl Schottmiller
Department: Center for Effective Teaching and Learning (CETL)
Statement: I am running for an open Staff Senator position to advocate for our staff’s integral role at Cal State LA and to student success through collaboration and collegiality. Shared governance through the Academic Senate is crucial to building an effective university ecosystem rooted in partnerships that support all community members, and I hope to bring my experience in collaboration at Cal State LA to further this mission.
I started at Cal State LA in 2018 as a Lecturer teaching Disability Studies, and I had the privilege to teach our students and, through my teaching, help them advocate for accessibility initiatives on campus. These brilliant students organized for disability rights and awareness and made an indelible impact on our campus.
As a staff member with the incredible team in our Center for Effective Teaching and Learning (CETL), I had the privilege to partner with faculty, staff, administrators, and community members to build initiatives that support student success. During the 2020 shift to online teaching, I supported faculty through online Canvas support, advocated for students by building a new work on supporting student mental health in the classroom, and helped faculty develop their online courses for our students. I currently support faculty as one of our campus Quality Matters Coordinators, helping faculty who go through the university’s online course development program. As the Chair of our campus Accessible Instructional Materials Subcommittee, I collaborate with partners across campus to support initiatives to enhance accessibility for student success and equity.
Cal State LA staff are a fundamental backbone at this University, and our voices need to be heard. In conversations with fellow staff, we frequently talk about our desire to have more professional development and networking opportunities, to continue university advances in pay equity and staffing, and to advocate for recognition of our service to Cal State LA. If I have the privilege to work with Senate colleagues as a Staff Senator, I will bring these positions of our staff and a commitment to collaboration and equity for both staff and student success. Thank you for your consideration.
Kenneth Castillo
Department: Information Technology Support
Statement: Dear Cal State L.A. community, As the CSUEU Chapter 311 LA President (Staff Union) I am eager to bring my passion for advocating for our campus staff and my dedication to the campus community to the academic senate. I started at Cal State LA in 1995 as a student, and by 1996, I was a student worker for I.TS. and became a staff member for I.T.S. in 2001. With close to 30 years of working at Cal State LA, I see this campus as more than just a job location, it is my community and my home. In my journey at Cal State LA, I have had the privilege of working closely with students, faculty, staff, administration, and the President's office. With these experiences including being active in the staff union for 20 years, I have a deep understanding of the challenges that staff faces at this institution. With a seat in the Academic Senate, I believe that I can bring a different staff perspective that hasn't been visible in the Academic Senate. I am excited to serve, represent, and collaborate with our campus staff on the Academic Senate to shape the future of our community. I know that we can create a campus community that not only empowers students and supports faculty but a community that engages and informs its hard-working staff to create true solidarity in our campus community. If elected I believe I can open the opportunities for staff to be better informed and involved in the vision that the Academic Senate has for our campus community. Together we are stronger and we are only stronger if we are truly represented and heard.
Thank you for considering my candidacy and I look forward to working with the Academic Senate as the voice of Cal State L.A. staff.
Sonia Cruz Magaña
Department: Honors College
Statement: I am interested in the formal process for policymaking at Cal State Los Angeles. I like that staff senators are able to devote exclusive time to participate in the meetings. My plan is to continue in higher education, and I consider this an excellent learning opportunity.
Andrew Blanco
Department: New Student and Family Engagement
Statement: I am interested in becoming a Staff Senator because I believe that it will offer me a unique perspective on the workings within the University. A perspective and opportunity that I can utilize to improve the experience of our students at Cal State LA. I would love to represent the Staff side of the university because we carry a great adoration for the university and I would use my service to make sure our voices are heard when it comes to matters pertaining to administration, academics, and student life. As a two time alumnus at this university, I believe that my experience lends itself well to understanding what the students at this university would want to see from the Academic Senate.
Jose Amenero
Department: Office for Students with Disabilities
Statement: If elected to the Academic Senate, I pledge to bring focus around issues that impact staff and student assistants, to listen with the intent to understand all the issues at hand, and to act with the interests of all in mind. As a proud graduate of Cal State LA’s Computer Science Master’s program and current employee, I have had the pleasure of experiencing both sides of the aisle. I have been a part of the Office for Students with Disabilities team for 8 years as the Assistive Technology and Alternative Media Coordinator and prior to that I was a student assistant for 10 years in the Educational Opportunity Program as a supplemental instruction leader. The campus and the people here have been my home and family for a better part of my adult life. I am committed to serving and it would be an honor to be a part of the Academic Senate as a Staff Senator.
Veronica Lee
Department: Political Science
Statement: I am interested in this position because I believe our voices deserve to be heard and seen. I would like to learn more about how university policies are made and how different parties can have opposing views but come together to make a cohesive decision.
Andrew Chavez
Department: Office of Graduate Studies
Statement: Cal State LA has been my academic and professional home for nearly ten years. In that time, I have served as an administrative assistant for our last accreditation review, as an undergraduate instructor of psychology, and as a student service professional for graduate students. Across these contexts, I’ve come to learn that student success is the responsibility of each member of the campus community and I hope to join the Academic Senate to represent the voice of staff who play an integral role in the success of our students.
Currently, I oversee the Graduate Resource Center. I lead and coordinate workshops and events for campus stakeholders and I recruit, onboard, and mentor the student staff who work in our unit. I represent the AVP and Dean of Graduate Studies on committees, task forces, and special projects on our campus and across the CSU and UC systems. I also develop strategic communications, evaluation measures, and summary reports for the initiatives and programs we enact. Through this role, I serve as the Campus Coordinator for the California Pre-Doctoral Program and the Chancellor’s Doctoral Incentive Program. Last award year, under my leadership, thirteen of the seventy-five students chosen for the California Pre-Doctoral Program were from Cal State LA. This is the highest number of awards Cal State LA has ever received and we are the campus with the highest number of awardees. My leadership for these programs introduced an information session for faculty mentors, a newly-designed website and mailing list, and institutional infrastructure for student support on admissions-related statements and essays.
I share this highlight to demonstrate that I am an engaged member of the campus community, and that I frequently look for opportunities to collaborate and innovate with faculty and staff in support of student success. I hope to offer my enthusiasm, engagement, and equity-mindedness to the Staff Senator role at Cal State LA, and I thank you for your consideration.