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.
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.
Mary Kay Patton, Director of Information Technology
Phone: (916) 995-3183
Email: mkpatton@calpass.org
Mary Kay is the Database Administrator for Cal-PASS and is responsible for all IT related activities in the project. 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.
Eden Dahlstrom, Ed.D., Associate Director, Regional Collaboration
Phone: (530) 204-7129
Email: edahlstrom@calpass.org
Dr. Dahlstrom serves as the Associate Director of Regional Collaboration for Cal-PASS, where she assists the Director of Regional Collaboration in working with Regional Coordinators and Professional Learning Councils in the north portion of the state. 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, and Director of Community Education. She has been active in the Research and Planning Group for California Community Colleges, and has done independent research and consulting on basic skills success, instructional program reviews, and curriculum development. Dr. Dahlstrom was formerly a Research Analyst with Cal-PASS and continues to do occasional research projects.
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) 852-7277
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.
Judy Alexander, Special Assistant to the Director
Phone: (619) 933-7162
Email: judy.alexander@gcccd.edu
Alexander has been Phillips’ administrative assistant for the past 12 years. She is responsible for monitoring the budgets of the various grants that support Cal-PASS, as well as coordinating the daily activities of Cal-PASS. Judy has a master’s degree in counseling psychology.
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: wwilliam@guhsd.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.
Bill Piland, Ed.D., Higher Education Coordinator
Phone: (619) 300-9157
Email: piland1@mail.sdsu.edu
Dr. Piland serves as the Cal-PASS Higher Education Coordinator. Bill is Professor Emeritus, San Diego State University and has also been a community college faculty member and administrator during his 38 year career in higher education. Bill currently teaches part-time at San Diego State University. He has been associated with Cal-PASS since its beginnings in San Diego County and helped to establish the first Cal-PASS agreement between San Diego State University and the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District.