Cal-PASS Staff
Brad Phillips, Ph.D., Executive Director
Phone: (619) 252-8503
Email:
bphillips@calpass.org
Dr. Phillips is the founder and Executive Director of Cal-PASS. Before directing
the work of Cal-PASS, Dr. Phillips served as the Senior Director of Institutional
Research, Planning, and Academic Services at the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College
District in El Cajon, California.
He has co-authored articles on data sharing that have been published in Community
College Journal, Journal of Applied Research in the Community Colleges and the RP
Group eJournal. He is also the 2006 recipient of the Mertes Award for Excellence
in Community College Research and serves as a Data Facilitator for the Lumina funded
Achieving the Dream Initiative.
Brad was originally trained as a psychotherapist and later entered the field of
social psychology with emphasis on program evaluation. He earned a Ph.D. in social
psychology from Claremont Graduate University and has taught college level courses
in general psychology, statistics, and counseling.
Michelle Kalina, Ed.D., Senior Director for Operations
Phone: (916) 759-2486
Email:
mkalina@calpass.org
Dr. Kalina serves as the Senior Director for Operations of Cal-PASS. She joins this
project after a long and varied career within the California Community Colleges.
Prior to this position, she was the coordinator of Research and Resource Development
for Sierra College. During her 25 year tenure at Sierra, she held both faculty and
management positions.
Dr. Kalina has served as a consultant to other colleges relative to developing student
learning outcomes and developing strategies to use in the classroom which are aligned
with the outcomes. She also serves as an external evaluator on a number of federal
grants to community colleges.
Her doctorate is in curriculum, instruction and assessment and she holds a Masters
in Education with a specialization in the diagnosis and remediation of reading issues.
Jordan Horowitz, Senior Director for Special Projects
Phone: (562) 743-7920
Email:
jhorowitz@calpass.org
As the Senior Director for Special Projects, Horowitz is responsible for Cal-PASS
projects funded by foundations and other entities. He oversees the development of
Cal-PASS regional consortia and associated professional learning councils in the
California Central Valley and Los Angeles. He also directs the template project,
funded by the Hewlett Foundation, for which Cal-PASS is developing web-based templates
that allow faculty and researchers involved in student support efforts to draw down
student data related to their evaluation and reporting needs. Prior to joining Cal-PASS,
Horowitz was a senior project director in evaluation research at WestEd.
He holds an MA in counseling psychology and a BS in human development and public
policy from Northwestern University, and an MA in applied social psychology from
Claremont Graduate School.
Mary Kay Patton, Senior Director, Technology and
Research
Phone: (916) 995-3183
Email:
mkpatton@calpass.org
Mary Kay serves as the Senior Director, Technology and Research for Cal-PASS. Prior
to this position, Mary Kay served as the statewide coordinator for the Integrated
Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) for the California Community Colleges
System Office and as an Information Systems Specialist with Vocation Education.
She also spent 9 years at the California Department of Health Services developing
statewide public health programs with a focus on integration of data.
Mary Kay holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy and Administration.
Shelly Valdez, Ed.D., Director of Regional Collaboration
Phone: (619) 219-9855
Email:
svaldez@calpass.org
Dr. Valdez serves as the Director of Regional Collaboration, working statewide with
Regional Coordinators and Professional Learning Councils to align curriculums and
develop cooperative approaches to improving instruction.
Shelly began teaching at the post-secondary level in 1975, teaching both communication
and leadership studies and has served as an education consultant working with high
schools and colleges on student success and student learning outcomes. Prior to
joining Cal-PASS, she was the Communication Skills Consultant Project Manager with
Freibergs.com Consulting and for the past several years has been an adjunct faculty
member in the School of Business at the University of San Diego.
Dr. Valdez holds an Ed.D. in Leadership from the University of San Diego.
Terrence Willett, Director of Research
Phone: (831) 277-2690
Email:
twillett@calpass.org
Terrence serves as the Director of Research for Cal-PASS. Prior to joining Cal-PASS,
Terrence was the Director of Research for Gavilan Community College. Before working
at Gavilan he was the Research Technician for Cabrillo Community College where he
also worked as a math and science tutor. He currently is an ex-officio member of
the Research and Planning Group of California.
Terrence holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of California at Santa Cruz
and an M.S. in Environmental Studies from San Jose State University.
Eden Dahlstrom, Ed.D., Project Director, ACCESS
Phone: (530) 204-7129
Email:
edahlstrom@calpass.org
Dr. Dahlstrom serves as Cal-PASS’ Project Director of the Aligning Curricula and
Career Education for Student Success (ACCESS) initiative. She has been involved
with public education agencies in California since 1998. Prior to joining Cal-PASS,
Dr. Dahlstrom served in a variety of roles in the California community college system,
including: Research Coordinator, Sociology Instructor, Director of Instructional
Services, Director of Community Education and Consultant.
Dr. Dahlstrom holds a doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of
Southern California.
Lauren Davis Sosenko , Associate Director, Special
Projects
Phone: (562) 743-9304
Email:
lsosenko@calpass.org
Lauren Davis Sosenko joined Cal-PASS in March 2008 as the Associate Director for
Special Projects. She works on Cal-PASS projects funded by foundations and other
entities. She directs the Dual Enrollment project funded by the Irvine Foundation
and assists on a number of other projects. Prior to joining Cal-PASS, Sosenko was
a Research Associate in evaluation research at WestEd. In this position, she directed
evaluations of dropout prevention and college preparation materials.
Sosenko holds a M.S. in Justice, Law, and Society from American University and a
B.A. in Social Anthropology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Brian Stern, M.S.W., Research Analyst
Phone: (619) 495-8608
Email:
bstern@calpass.org
Brian is a Research Analyst for the Cal-PASS program. Prior to joining Cal-PASS,
Brian was the Program Advisor for Enrollment Services and Research for Neighborhood
House Association, the largest Head Start provider in the United States.
Brian holds a Master's in Social Welfare from University of California, Los Angeles.
Nathan Pellegrin, M.S., Research Analyst
Phone: (619) 933-3973
Email:
npellegrin@calpass.org
Nathan serves as a Research Analyst for Cal-PASS. He has been providing data management
and data analysis services to education institutions and research organizations
for over ten years. Prior to joining Cal-PASS Nathan served the Oakland Unified
School District as a Database Administrator in the Department of Technology Services,
and as a Data Analyst in Research, Assessment and Accountability.
Nathan holds a B.A. in Philosophy from the University of California at Berkeley
and an M.S. in Statistics from the California State University, East Bay.
Alex Zakharenkov, Information Systems Specialist
Phone: (530) 205-3529
Email:
azakharenkov@calpass.org
Alex Zakharenkov is an Information Systems Specialist with Cal-PASS. His responsibilities
include maintenance of all Cal-PASS network operations as well as participation
in the application development team. Alex has over 17 years of experience in systems
and application development. Most recently, he was the Director of Advanced Technologies
and Applications with a government solutions consulting firm in Sacramento.
Alex has a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Mathematics and Cybernetics from
Moscow State University (Moscow, Russia) and completed several Microsoft and other
leaders of industry specialty courses.
Nick Wade, Programmer Analyst
Phone: (916) 708-8394
Email:
nwade@calpass.org
Nick Wade is a Programmer Analyst for Cal-PASS. Working closely with the rest of
the Cal-PASS team, his duties include maintenance of existing applications and websites
as well as developing new technology solutions that will promote collaboration,
facilitate knowledge sharing, and increase productivity.
Nick joins Cal-PASS from College of the Siskiyous, where he gained more than 10
years of experience working with student databases and reporting as a systems analyst/programmer
as well as interim director of research. During his tenure, Wade developed a web-based
reporting system which allowed administrators, faculty and staff the ability to
have immediate access to data to assist with program review, course planning and
other critical functions. Nick holds a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science.
Bill Duvic, Data Analyst
Phone: (619) 933-0381
Email:
bduvic@calpass.org
Bill Duvic is the Data Technician and Help Desk Analyst. He is responsible for assisting
end users with uploading data submissions, interfacing with our websites, and general
technical issues. Bill brings to Cal-PASS a decade of experience in process management
and technical support. He began his career as an upper-tier Help Desk Technician
at Accor North America, providing technical support to the front desks of three
different hotel chains. Bill also served as the Records Manager for a national title
company responsible for over 100,000 mortgage transaction files. Before coming to
Cal-PASS, he was an Operational Clerk with Pacific Gas & Electric.
Bill has a BA in History from The University of Texas at Austin.
Janet Nowell, Executive Assistant
Phone: (619) 933-7489
Email:
jnowell@calpass.org
Janet serves as the Cal-Pass travel coordinator and office assistant. Prior to joining
Cal-Pass, Janet worked for many years in the international travel industry. Janet
lived and worked in Europe and North Africa before moving to San Diego and opening
a tour company.
Warren Williams, K-12 Coordinator
Phone: (619) 590-3971
Email:
wwwilliams@etc.net
Warren serves as the K-12 Statewide Coordinator for Cal-PASS and brings his experience
as Assistant Superintendent of Information and Technology Services to assist K-12
districts with Cal-PASS membership. Warren is currently a Director, Special Projects
for the Grossmont Union High School District and has served as IT Director, Educational
Technology Coordinator, Adult School Principal, ROP Director, Dean of Students and
teacher. Warren is President of the California Educational Technology Professionals
Association, and serves on Applications Coordination for the California K-12 High
Speed Network.