General Sessions

2020 West Region Conference

October 12 | 12:00 PM PDT

Creating an Opening for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Higher Education

Disruption is an opportunity for reflection and change. This is especially true at this time with our country’s current climate. America is facing an array of crises including social injustice, racism, a pandemic, and a serious economic downturn. This disruption presents an opportunity for frank dialogue to increase awareness and empathy. Our university and college students are very diverse and unique, and this diversity breeds sensitivity to others’ plights. Dialogue is our business, as a community of educators, we like to challenge our students to question the status quo and encourage original thought towards creating solutions. Now it is time to challenge ourselves. Our conference theme, Vistas – Exploring Education from a New Perspective, is an ideal platform for just that… introspection, in-depth exploration, empathy, and collaboration that gives birth to new ideas and solutions to problems that have existed and been perpetuated since the birth of our nation. We are so pleased that our distinguished panel of experts will share their expertise and personal experiences in the areas of diversity, inclusion, and equity, during the UPCEA West Regional Conference’s first General Session, Creating an Opening for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Higher Education.

• Tamika L. Butler, Esq., Principal + Founder, Tamika L. Butler Consulting, former Director of Planning for California and Director of Equity and Inclusion, Toole Design

  Tamika L. Butler is a national expert and speaker on issues related to built environment, equity, anti-racism, diversity and inclusion, organizational behavior, and change management. From speaking, to writing, to training, Tamika has worked with a myriad of clients. As the Principal + Founder of Tamika L. Butler Consulting she focuses on shining a light on inequality, inequity, and social justice. She provides consulting, training, coaching, and public speaking for a wide range of organizations in the public and private sectors.

  Most recently, she was the Director of Planning, California and the Director of Equity and Inclusion at Toole Design. Previously, Tamika served as the Executive Director of the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust, a non-profit organization that addresses social and racial equity, and wellness, by building parks and gardens in park-poor communities across Greater Los Angeles. Tamika has a diverse background in law, community organizing and nonprofit leadership. Recently she was the Executive Director of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition (LACBC). Prior to leading LACBC, Tamika was the Director of Social Change Strategies at Liberty Hill Foundation, and she worked at Young Invincibles as the California Director.

  She transitioned to policy work after litigating for three years as an employment lawyer at Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center. Tamika previously served as the co-chair of the National Center for Lesbian Rights Board of Directors, serves as the Institute Co-Director of the New Leaders Council – Los Angeles, is a board member of both Lambda Literary Foundation and T.R.U.S.T. South LA, and is an advisory board member for the Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center’s Fair Play for Girls in Sports program. Tamika received her J.D. from Stanford Law School, and received her B.A. in Psychology and B.S. in Sociology in her hometown of Omaha, Nebraska.

• Adam Kasarda, Director, Student disAbility Resource Center, California State University Dominguez Hills

  Adam Kasarda holds an MS in Industrial and Organizational Psychology and a MS in Counseling Psychology. Kasarda’s career spans 20 years in several fields including Mental Health, Training and Development, Organizational Consulting, and Student Affairs. The catalyst for working with students with disabilities is having a parent with disabilities and an innate desire to help others. Since 2016 Kasarda has served as the President of the Board of Directors for Community Transition Academy (CTA) in San Diego. CTA is a nonpublic school that serves students (9th grade to 22) who have academic, language, social, and/or behavioral challenges most commonly associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

• Dr. Terrence Roberts, CEO, Terrence Roberts Consulting, former Co-chair, Master of Arts in Psychology, Antioch University, “Little Rock Nine” member

  Dr. Roberts is CEO of Terrence Roberts Consulting, a management consultant firm devoted to fair and equitable practices in business and industry. A graduate of California State University at Los Angeles (BA), and UCLA (MSW), Dr. Roberts obtained his Ph.D. in Psychology from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois.
  
  For thirty years Dr. Roberts was a practicing clinical psychologist first in Deer park, California and later in Pasadena, California.  During this same time period he was Director of Mental Health Services at St. Helena Hospital and Health Center (1977 – 1985); Assistant Dean of Student Services at UCLA’s School of Social Welfare (1985 – 1993); and Department Chair and faculty member in psychology at Antioch University, Los Angeles (1993 – 2008).
  
  Dr. Roberts has presented keynote talks and graduation speeches, conducted seminars on a variety of issues including racism, stress management, and dialogue among human groups, written essays for publication in newspapers and other forms of media, and has been interviewed on radio, television, and podcasts both nationally and internationally.
  
  As one of The Little Rock Nine, Dr. Roberts has been in demand by a number of groups who wish to learn about the impact of the chaos in Little Rock on the social, cultural, political, and economic life of citizens in contemporary America.  This especially true at the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles where Dr. Roberts is a member of the adjunct faculty.  He regularly spends time with groups of law enforcement officers including but not limited to the los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, The California highway Patrol, and the United States Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement Division. Our goal is to assist the officers develop more advanced understandings of the ways in which some of their attitudes about different others are established by their belief in systems founded upon mythological constructs and supported by pernicious ideologies promulgated by those who wish to preserve a static social hierarchy.
  
  LESSONS FROM LITTLE ROCK, a memoir by Dr. Roberts was published on October 1, 2009.  In this book he describes his experience at Central High School and talks about the salient lessons to be learned from that episode.  On February 1, 2010, his second book, SIMPLE, NOT EASY: Reflections on Community, Social Responsibility, and Tolerance was published.  The essays in this volume seek to guide the reader toward more socially responsible positions in life.

 

• Amir Whitaker, Policy Council, Southern California, American Civil Liberties Union Foundation

  Amir Whitaker is a staff attorney with the ACLU of Southern California. Prior to joining the ACLU, Amir represented students and incarcerated youth throughout Florida and Alabama for the Southern Poverty Law Center. Referred to as a “civil rights and education stalwart” by the Daytona Times, Amir has negotiated settlements and policy changes improving the lives of hundreds of thousands of children. He has worked as a researcher with the UCLA Civil Rights Project, and has written for TIME Magazine and other publications. At the ACLU, Amir is responsible for legislation focused on education equity and funding.
  
  Amir has taught across multiple educational settings for more than a decade, and has held teaching credentials in Florida, California, and New Jersey. He received his doctorate in Educational Psychology from the University of Southern California, juris doctorate from the University of Miami, and his bachelors from Rutgers University. Often referred to as “Dr. KnuckleHead,” Amir was arrested at age 15 and eventually expelled from school. In 2014, Amir started Project KnuckleHead to inspire vulnerable youth and help them reach their potential through education, music, and art programs. Amir is also the board chair of the Arts for Incarcerated Youth Network, a collaborative of a dozen organizations providing art programming to youth throughout LA county. He has been a card-carrying member of the ACLU since 2012.

Moderator

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  Menelik Tafari, Educator, Organizer, Consultant

  Menelik Tafari is an educator, researcher, and consultant based out of Los Angeles, California. He recently stepped down as the Middle School Diversity Coordinator and Life Skills instructor at Crossroads School for the Arts & Sciences to delve deeper into Anti-Bias / Anti-Racism (ABAR) education and dedicate more time to his pursuit of his doctoral studies. His doctoral research at UCLA includes the use of games to dissolve hierarchies; designing and expanding student-generated political participation; and school design and iteration. In the classroom, Menelik has taught every subject (grades 6-12) using game-based and design-based instruction. He participates in and supports multiple research projects investigating critical and relational pedagogies in democratic and progressive schools, including the assessment of culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogy in LAUSD; a play-based after-school program for the UCLA Community School; and serves as an undergraduate research advisor on Soka Education for student groups at Soka University of America.

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October 12 | 2:00 PM PDT

Continuing Conversations with Keynote Panelists on DEI in Higher Education

Join us for a chance to dive deeply into follow up conversations with the opening general session presenters!

• Adam Kasarda, Director, Student disAbility Resource Center, California State University Dominguez Hills

• Dr. Terrence Roberts, CEO, Terrence Roberts Consulting, former Co-chair, Master of Arts in Psychology, Antioch University, “Little Rock Nine” member
  
  
  

 

• Amir Whitaker, Policy Council, Southern California, American Civil Liberties Union Foundation
  
  
  
  

  
  

Moderator

• Menelik Tafari, Educator, Organizer, Consultant

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October 13 | 12:00 PM PDT

The Emergence of a 60-Year Curriculum: Equitable Lifelong Learning in Times of Crisis 

The 60-year curriculum is the modern approach to a lifetime of learning. Getting a degree, getting a job and never setting foot in a classroom again are not today’s reality, as many people alive now will live to be 100 years old. That means people will have five to seven stages in their lives, not just the three traditional stages of school, work and retirement, and learning must be constant throughout our careers. Automation and changes in the workplace mean professionals must continually retool to stay relevant and competitive. Employers in every industry and profession are looking for higher education to help their workers upskill. Through dynamic conversation and audience engagement, this session will first focus on an overview of this movement and then dive deeply into what a 60-year curriculum means for UPCEA member institutions.

• Rovy Branon, University of Washington 
  
  
  
  
  

• Kim McNutt, California State University, Dominguez Hills
  
  
  
  

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  Jon Matsuda, University of Hawaii

 

 

 

Moderator: Nancy Coleman, Harvard University 

 

 

 

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October 13 | 2:00 PM PDT

Pathways From Non-Credit to Credit-A Deeper Dive

Business & Operations
Pathways from Non-Credit to Credit---A Deeper Dive examines results from a recent survey to UPCEA members. Data collected in August 2020 will be compared to an earlier study which was deemed a good first step into studying pathways from non-credit to credit. Facilitators will highlight the survey's results regarding trends in non-credit education and will lead a robust a discussion of the challenges and opportunities of non-credit to credit pathways.

• Sandra von Doetinchem, University of Hawaii at Manoa
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Gail Ruhland, St. Cloud State University
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

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  Lynda Wilson, California State University, Dominguez Hills
  
  
  
  

 

• Jim Fong, UPCEA

  

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October 14 | 12:00 PM PDT

The Rise of Alternative Credentials

As the marketplace continues to shift, and the demand for alternative credentials (micro-, nano-, stackable) rises, this session will cover the recently released Hallmarks of Excellence in Credential Innovation, along with the results of a recent UPCEA survey of 176 institutions on the role that alternative credentials plays in their portfolio of programs. The survey, sponsored by Mindedge, will share actionable data of those members involved in alternative credentialing efforts, in what areas, and with what results. This lively session will examine the emergent phenomenon of credential innovation as well as showcase data that undergird credential evolutions and how UPCEA member institutions are leading this charge.

• Jay Halfond, Boston University 
  
  
  
  
  

• Jim Fong, UPCEA 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Pamela Wimbush, California State University, Sacramento

 

 

 

 

 

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October 14 | 2:00 PM PDT

Vistas: Views from the Top — Senior Leaders across the region share insights and lessons learned

The professional and continuing education profession is the entrepreneur in a highly traditional education sphere. We balance the consideration for excellent educational experiences with financial viability. How do these seemingly contradictory concepts form the decision-making bases for leaders in the field? What unique challenges do leaders face when navigating within the respective institutions? In this highly acclaimed session, participants will rotate through three groups as senior leaders in the field speak on a number of key issues. It will be an opportunity to learn about the factors driving decision in the current environment. It will also be an opportunity to meet senior leaders from institutions around the west region. Topics of conversation will include the impact of COVID-19 and business continuity for the PCO education departments; influencing decision-making to highlight PCO education for the campus; what does innovation look like in the current environment?; what do you do to keep up with professional development? 

The group of senior leaders are from the following institutions:

Name	Institution	Title
Dr. Rovy Branon	University of Washington	Vice Provost for Continuum College
Dr. Eric Bullard	University of California, Los Angeles	Dean of Continuing Education and UCLA Extension
Brian Cook	California State University, East Bay	Associate Vice President, University Extension
Dr. Jeet Joshi	California State University, Long Beach	Associate Vice President and Dean
Joe Miera	University of Nevada, Las Vegas	Vice Provost for Educational Outreach
Pamela Wimbush	California State University, Sacramento	Associate Dean, Program Operations & Support (CCE)
Ricardo Lorenzana	Brandman University	Dean, School of Extended Education
Dr. Reed Scull	University of Wyoming	Associate Dean, Outreach School
Lisa Templeton	Oregon State University	Associate Provost for Extended Campus
Dr. Sheila Thomas	California State University Chancellor’s Office	Assistant Vice Chancellor and Dean
Dr. Kevin Vaughn	University of California Riverside	Dean,  Extension
Mark Wheeler	Boise State University	Dean, Division of Extended Studies
Dr. Chris Swarat	California State University, Fullerton	Associate Vice President,   Extension and International Programs
Dr. Michael Spagna	California State University, Dominguez Hills	Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

Potential Topics:

• The impact of COVID-19 and business continuity for the Professional and Continuing Education departments.   
• Influencing decision-making to highlight Professional and Continuing Education for the campus 
• What does innovation look like in the current environment? 
• What do you do to keep up with professional development? 

 

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