Matt Ashcraft has 14 years of experience in research, planning, assessment, effectiveness, and accreditation at the university and community college levels. He served as a Research Project Manager for the University of Phoenix, Coordinator of Institutional Effectiveness for Mesa Community College, and Director of Research and Planning for Glendale Community College. Matt is currently the Dean of Institutional Analysis and Planning for Mesa Community College, where he serves on the President’s Cabinet, working closely with faculty on learning outcomes assessment and leading college-wide research, planning, and implementation of strategic initiatives and coordination of effectiveness and accreditation activities.
Melissa Carpenter is the Director of MCC’s Learning Enhancement Center and serves as the head of the developmental pathways subcommittee. Previously, she served as the project director for the Foundations for Student Success, which aims to increase the success, retention, and persistence of students in developmental education.
Marcus Chinn is the Project Director and Instructional Design/Assessment Specialist for MCC’s Foundation for Student Success (Title III) Grant, which has focused on the professional development of faculty teaching developmental education courses over the last four years, and has led many student success initiatives over the course of his career.
Dr. Leanna Hall earned her doctorate in Rhetoric and Composition from Arizona State University, and has been teaching developmental writers for 20 years. She taught in the Stretch program at ASU, and has been teaching ALP courses at Mesa Community College for the past two years.
Megan Karns Garvy, M.Ed. is the Instructional Designer at Mesa Community College’s Center for Teaching and Learning. In this educational support role, she offers professional development and individual consultation to faculty, administration and employees advancing teaching and learning at the college.
Karla Gonzalez is the manager of Financial Aid Outreach at MCC and has served in numerous efforts to promote the success of under-resourced college students, including providing faculty training on trends in financial aid, how these trends influence students’ experiences, and strategies faculty can employ to help their students.
Lutfi Hussein, PhD, is a faculty member in the English Department at Mesa Community College. In addition to teaching English and English as a Second Language, Dr. Hussein serves as Coordinator of the ESL Program and advises ESL and international students. A native of Jordan, Dr. Hussein received his BA in English from Yarmouk University (1994), MA in Linguistics (2000) and PhD in Linguistics/Rhetoric (2006) from Arizona State University.
Dwayne Macintosh is a service faculty counselor at MCC. Mr. McIntosh has been with Maricopa for 20 years. He has an M. Ed in Counseling, M. Ed in Leadership, M. Ed. In Bilingual and Multicultural Education, and has completed his course work for an Ed. D. in Educational Leadership with a community college focus.
Christopher Mims is Communication Faculty at Gateway Community College. Mims brings over 10 years of experience in post-secondary education, specifically within the Maricopa Community College District, in student services, student success initiatives and student-center instruction. His work in programs such as Trio, LIFT for Success and as well as student services underscores his passion for diversity, inclusion and student success. He has an M.Ed from NAU in Educational Leadership and an MA in Communication from ASU.
Vivian Miranda, Ed.D. Dr. Miranda is a results-driven and forward-thinking Higher Education Professional with thirty-three years of broad-based program development experience in student enrollment, retention and success, curriculum, financial aid, counseling, instruction and employee training and development. She is particularly adept at establishing innovative student enrollment and retention strategies and successfully conveying and achieving campus wide support. Dr. Miranda is a highly innovative and communicable leader who motivates teams to optimize effectiveness in order to raise higher education retention programs to new levels of prominence and success. During her thirteen year tenure with Maricopa Community Colleges she has spear headed many campus-wide student success initiatives and programming. Dr. Miranda has had the privilege of working for three Maricopa colleges; each opportunity has allowed her to promote service excellence, student learning, and student success and retention.
Carmen Newland is the Dean of Enrollment Services at Mesa Community College. Carmen has almost 20 years of experience in student services working at a community college, a four-year liberal arts college and university. Carmen’s positions have also included Director of Academic Programming and Student Outreach at Arizona State University Fulton Teachers College. She has also taught College Success courses, as adjunct, at Phoenix College and Arizona State University. In addition, she brings a diverse background of experience in student services such as coordinating the opening of the new Veterans Student Center, re-designed the New Student Orientation programs, developed and implemented a cross-training and professional development program for Student Affairs staff and helped develop the first comprehensive student retention plan at PC which contributed to 2% increase in fall-to-fall retention of new, degree seeking students.
Paul Nunez is Math faculty at Mesa Community College. Over the course of his career, Paul has lead numerous efforts to increase the retention, success, and persistence of students in developmental mathematics across the college and the district.
Ashley Stich is a reading faculty member at MCC. She leads the developmental pathways subcommittee with Melissa Carpenter and is a member of the Guided Pathways to Student Success committee. She serves as the Reading Department’s faculty liaison to Foundations for Student Success, developing professional development opportunities that promote student success in developmental education for her department. She regularly uses innovative practices, such as small group instruction, in her classroom, and has presented at national conferences on their use.
Dr. Joseph Swaba is Communication Faculty at GateWay Community College. Previous roles have included Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, Director of GateWay's Title V Grant, and Associate Director of Grants Development and Management for the Maricopa Community Colleges.
Duane D. Oakes has served as the Faculty Director, for the Center for Community & Civic Engagement and Recreation Instructor at Mesa Community College since 2000. In 1985 Duane was inducted into the Omicron Beta Chapter at MCC and graduated from Mesa Community College in 1986. Duane received a Bachelor’s degree in 1989 and Master’s Degree in Recreation Management and Youth Leadership in 1990 from BYU. He has worked in the higher education arena since 1990 helping students becoming better citizens through service and leadership. In 1996 he was asked to serve as an advisor to Phi Theta Kappa the National Honor Society for Community Colleges and has been honored with the Paragon award, Giles Distinguished Advisor award and the Continued Excellence Award from Phi Theta Kappa. Duane has presented at local, national and international conferences on service-learning and civic engagement. He also served as a service-learning and civic responsibility trainer for the Community College National Center for Community Engagement and the American Association of Community Colleges for over 15 years. Duane volunteers with the Boy Scouts of America and his son’s high school supporting the Music Arts.
Diane Rogers is Reading Faculty at MCC and serves on the Curriculum Committee in support of literacy. In her six years of service, she has been a tireless advocate for the promotion of contextualized reading and other developmental education best practices. Diane has been an integral part of the recent development and revision of the Reading 100-series, which emphasizes the contextualization of reading with linked disciplinary classes.
Zhaowen Ruan has worked as a program advisor for six years at MCC. Four of those years were spent as a program advisor for the Multicultural & ESL programs. For the last two years, she has served as a program advisor for the Foundation for Student Success program, providing year-round holistic advising to students testing into two or more developmental education classes.
Julie Givans Voller has been part of Maricopa Community Colleges since 2013 when she came to Phoenix College as the Director of Academic Advising & Assessment. In that role, she initiated and implemented local and district-wide innovations to improve students’ experience and learning through academic advising and student affairs. Julie was the lead editor of Academic Advising Training and Professional Development: Practices that Deliver. She has authored articles on citizenship learning through academic advising, advisor professional development, and employee reward and recognition. Julie earned her Doctorate in Education in Educational Leadership and Innovation from Arizona State University. She also holds a Master of Education in Higher and Adult Education and a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology, both from ASU.
Marjorie Young is Reading faculty at Mesa Community College and has been an integral part of the recent development and revision of the Reading 100-series, which emphasizes the contextualization of reading with linked disciplinary classes.