Visiting ACCJC Site Team

Dr. Kim Hoffmans 

Dr. Hoffmans has over 28 years of experience in the community college system and is currently the president of Ventura College.  Previously, she held academic roles as a chief instructional officer, a dean, and nursing faculty.  Her background includes leadership of academic programs, student services areas, career technical educational, accreditation, curriculum, Guided Pathways, and enrollment management. Dr. Hoffmans has served on statewide boards for the California Community College (CCC) Chief Instructional Officers, CCC Athletics Association, CCC Workforce & Economic Development Performance Advisory Board, and others. Locally, she has served as a member of the Ventura College Foundation Board of Directors, a member of California Lutheran University advisory committee for the Graduate School of Education Doctorate Program, and a member of South Central Coast Regional Consortium of community colleges. 

Dr. Brenda Thames 

Brenda Thames has over 25 of experience in instruction, student services, and administration in California Community Colleges. She has served in a broad spectrum of positions including adjunct faculty, tenured faculty, faculty coordinator, department chair, program director, dean, Vice president of Student Services, and Vice President of Instruction. Brenda presently serves as the Superintendent/President of El Camino College. As an experienced administrator and champion for student success she has a passion for developing the capacities of individuals, institutions, and communities. Brenda has demonstrated experience working collaboratively across all levels of the organization to engage the active participation of stakeholders. She has served as an Accreditation Liaison Officer and participated on three site visits.  

Dr. Marina Aminy 

Dr. Marina Aminy is the Dean of Online Education and Learning Resources at Saddleback College, where she oversees online education, library services, tutoring, honors, professional development, Zero Textbook Initiative, Student Technical Support and other programs. She has more than 15 years of experience as a faculty member in both traditional and online college classrooms at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. She holds a Ph.D. in Education from UC Berkeley with an emphasis in language development, literacy, and sociocultural studies.   

 

Ms. Monica Chahal 

Monica Chahal serves a Vice President of Instruction and Accreditation Liaison Officer at Clovis Community College. She has previously served as a strategy lead on the statewide CIO DEI Committee in support of equity efforts, a cause to which she has committed her career. She has served over twenty-two years in the California Community College system as a classified professional, adjunct and full-time faculty, and as an administrator. Monica earned her M.A. in English from California State University, Sacramento and a B.A. in English from University of California, Davis.

 

Mr. Howard Eskew, Jr. 

Howard Eskew is currently an Associate Professor of Business and Accounting in the School of Business and Technology at San Diego Mesa College. He has served in this capacity since 2013. Howard also serves as Co-Coordinator for Mesa’s Guided Pathways initiative. He is Past President of the Academic Senate, he chairs and / or serves on numerous governance and operational committees. Most recently, Howard served on the Mesa 2030 Task Force which created the College’s Strategic Master Plan. Howard developed and directs the College’s Retail Management Certificate program. 

 

 

Dr. Kathryn Nette 

Dr. Kathryn Nette is Professor of Biological Sciences at Cuyamaca College where she has worked for the past 24 years. She holds a Ph.D. in Microbiology and BA in Biological Sciences from Rutgers University, and was a post-doctoral fellow in Immunology at UCSD medical school. Prior to coming to Cuyamaca, Kathryn worked for over 15 years in the biotechnology industry where she directed the research, development and manufacturing for multiple unique biological products.   

At Cuyamaca, she has been department chair of Science & Engineering for 18 years, and has served on most of the college’s councils and committees. She has lead the department and college’s transition to Guided Pathways, and the conversion of STEM courses from traditional lectures to active learning mode. She currently teaches courses in Cell & Molecular Biology, Microbiology and General Biology and is responsible for curriculum development and analysis of department and course level SLO’s for biology. 

Ms. Sarah Shepard 

Sarah Shepard is a business faculty member and has been with West Hills College Coalinga since 2001.  She currently serves as the college’s Curriculum Chair, a role she’s enjoyed since 2007.  More recently, she has taken on the role of Faculty Coordinator for the college’s Rising Scholars Program.  Throughout her tenure, Sarah has enjoyed the opportunity to serve on a variety of governance committees, providing leadership and valuable contributions to the campus.  She has also been actively involved in the college’s accreditation, including co-chairing the ISER process, Standard Two, and Mid-Term Reports. 

 

Ms. Primavera Arvizu 

Primavera Arvizu currently serves as Vice President of Student Services at Porterville College.  She has over 20 years of higher education experience including roles such as the Dean of Student Success at Taft College, where she brought student success to the forefront by enhancing systems, removing barriers, and providing learning opportunities.  She has worked at other institutions including Bakersfield College and California State University, Bakersfield in categorical programs, financial aid, Admissions and Records, Ronald E. McNair Program, Title V, EOP, Outreach, and other programs.  She has led the college’s implementation of Guided Pathways, has served and the Accreditation Officer, has participated on IEPI PRT Teams, has served as a mentor for the ACCCA Mentor Program, has co-chaired strategic planning efforts, is the co-chair for the District EEO Advisory, serves on the State Chancellor’s Office EEO Diversity and Advisory Committee, and continues to focus on students first. 

Ms. Claudette Dain 

Claudette Dain is a Certified Public Accountant with over twenty-four years of experience in community college finance. Claudette earned an M.B.A. from California State University, Dominguez Hills and a B.S. from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. She is also active in a number of professional organizations and serves on various Boards and Committees for numerous organizations. Claudette is currently the Vice President of Finance and Administrative Services for Citrus College where she oversees all fiscal and facilities matters, including budget development, construction planning, Fiscal Services, Maintenance and Operations, Purchasing and Warehouse, Risk Management and all enterprise activities of the college. Prior to joining Citrus College in 2014, Claudette was the Vice President of Administrative Services for Fullerton College. Claudette’s previous employment experience included working as the District Director of Fiscal Affairs for the North Orange County Community College District and as a Senior Manager for Vicenti, Lloyd & Stutzman, LLP, where she specialized in community college financial and compliance audits and Proposition 39 bond audits. 

Mr. Leighton Vila 

Leighton Vila is the Title III (Native Hawaiian Programs and Services) evaluator at Windward Community College in Oahu, Hawaii.  He is responsible for evaluating four Title III Grants, and conducts formative, summative, and culturally relative evaluations that improves the institutional capacity to serve underrepresented students across the campus.  He has experience with institutional research, assessment, program evaluation, and strategic planning.

 

 

 

 

Dr. Kevin Bontenbal, Vice President, ACCJC
ACCJC Liaison