Staff Bios

Susan Andrzejewski

Dr. Susan Andrzejewski was appointed Interim Dean of the Martin V. Smith School of Business & Economics in July 2018. Previously, she served as the Chair of the Business Program and Executive Director of the Entrepreneurship & Small Business Institute (ESBI) at CSU Channel Islands. As Executive Director of the ESBI, Dr. Andrzejewski expanded the Institute to support cross-disciplinary entrepreneurial initiatives across campus. Additionally, Dr. Andrzejewski has served on numerous university committees including the University Strategic Planning Committee, Associated Students, Inc. (ASI), and the CSU Channel Islands Foundation Board.

Prior to joining CSU Channel Islands, Dr. Andrzejewski was an Associate Professor and Associate Chair of the Business, Organizations, and Society Department at Franklin & Marshall College. Dr. Andrzejewski received her doctorate in Social Psychology from Northeastern University in 2009 and completed pre-doctoral training in the Marketing Departments at Babson College and Northeastern University. Dr. Andrzejewski also holds a M.S. in Psychology from Northeastern University and a B.S. in Psychology from Bethany College.

Veronica Guerrero

Dr. Guerrero has over 20 years of experience in higher education program management and was most recently the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies within the School of Management (SoM), and a full-time, tenured Professor of Management and Marketing at California Lutheran University. As Associate Dean (AD), she has coordinated SoM undergraduate student participation in the Festival of Scholars (a week-long, campus-wide series of events to highlight the academic achievements and research endeavors of students across all programs at the University) and was responsible for the academic scheduling of all undergraduate team taught, fully online, hybrid, and/or face-to-face classes in the school, including faculty participation in the first-year seminar courses. Dr. Guerrero taught in CLU’s Executive MBA in Austria and was elected by the full faculty to serve a term as Faculty Executive Committee Chair for two years. In 2017, she was awarded the California Lutheran University School of Management Advisory Council Award for Outstanding Achievement in the area of Service. Dr. Guerrero chaired the Task Force that recently change university policies for the RTP process at the request of the Faculty Senate leadership. She was asked to serve on the HSI task force and played an active role in university-wide initiatives to recruit, hire and retain students, faculty and staff that mirror the demographics of the state of California. She was subsequently invited by the University President to serve on the Inclusion implementation committee for the University’s Strategic Plan as well as a past member of the Strategic Plan Leadership Team.

Dr. Guerrero served at Cal Lutheran for over 15 years and has held in a variety of roles on various faculty and university committees. Her research interests include women and leadership, digital storytelling and entrepreneurial education. Dr. Guerrero has over 20 years of Marketing Communications experience in the technology, non-profit and education industries. She has developed and implemented marketing programs and campaigns in support of strategic partnerships between both small and large organizations.

Dr. Guerrero attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo where she studied Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing. She earned her MBA from San Jose State University while working in the Silicon Valley. She went on to attend Pepperdine University where she earned her doctorate in Organizational Leadership. Veronica was born in Oxnard, and raised in Ventura County. She is married and has two sons. Veronica enjoys spending her free time with friends and family and being outdoors exploring in the Eastern Sierras.

Phil Hampton

Dr. Hampton has served as the Associate Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences since 2022 and previously held the position of Interim Associate Dean (2020 – 2022). He joined CSU Channel Islands (CI) as Associate Professor of Chemistry in 2001 and was promoted to Professor of Chemistry in 2002. He started his academic career as a faculty member at the University of New Mexico after securing his Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1989 and completing postdoctoral work at Caltech (1989 – 1991). During AY 19 – 20, Dr. Hampton served as the Safety Compliance Liaison for the School of Arts and Sciences. He has held additional administrative roles including the Director of Educational Partnerships, Chair of Chemistry, Interim Director of Faculty Development, and Program Coordinator of Liberal Studies. He was co-Principal Investigator and Project Director (2011 – 2016) on Project ACCESO, a nearly $6M U.S. Department of Education Hispanic-Serving Institution STEM grant. He founded and directed the annual CSU Channel Islands Science Carnival, a major STEM community outreach event, which is now the School of Arts and Sciences STEAM Carnival. He also founded and served as the Director of the Ventura County STEM Network. Dr. Hampton has been recognized with the El Concilio Distinguished Community Leader Award, the President’s Teaching and Innovation Award, the Maximus Award, and the Business and Technology Partnership Faculty Leader of the Year Award.

Michelle Hasendonckx

An education equity professional with 12 years of federal grant administration experience, Michelle has most recently served as the Director of Student Academic Success and Equity Initiatives (SASEI) in the Division of Academic Affairs. Within SASEI, she has held roles ranging from Activity Manager to Project Director on various Title V Hispanic-Serving Institution grant projects and has managed various CI peer mentor and faculty-led initiatives. Michelle’s career has been centered on working to better serve underrepresented, minoritized student populations. A first-generation college student herself, Michelle is committed to advancing the education and personal success of all students and recognizes the wealth of social and cultural capital they bring to the campus community. During her tenure at CSUCI, Michelle has also taught in Chicana/o Studies and University Experience programs, sat on the executive board of the Chicana/o Latina/o Faculty & Staff Association, and served on many institutional committees advancing CSUCI’s equity agenda. Michelle holds an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from CSU Channel Islands and Fresno State University, an M.A. in Education from Loyola Marymount University, and a B.A. from The Evergreen State College.

Jessica Lavariega Monforti

Dr. Lavariega Monforti holds a PhD and MA in Political Science from The Ohio State University and a BA in Political Science and Women’s Studies from Florida State University. With more than two decades of experience in higher education, Dr. Lavariega Monforti is an award-winning teacher, leader, and scholar, having received the Midwest Political Science Association Latino Caucus Distinguished Career Award, UT Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award, Adaljiza Sosa-Riddell Award for Exemplary Mentoring of Latino/a Undergraduate Students in Political Science, various best research paper awards from major political science associations, as well as institutional leadership awards. She is the founder and co-organizer of the biennial, national Women of Color in Political Science Workshop and Past-President of the Western Political Science Association. She was previously Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at California Lutheran University and served as Chair of the Department of Political Science at Pace University NYC, and Associate and Assistant Dean in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, as well as Director for the Center for Survey Research, at the University of Texas - Pan American (now called UTRGV). Her accomplishments include nearly $9M in grant and award funding, 4 books and over 50 articles and book chapters, and contributions to several news articles and broadcasts including the New York Times, La Opinión, and NPR’s All Things Considered. She currently serves as the Vice President of kidSTREAM Children’s Museum in Camarillo, CA. She is a proud member of Alpha Psi Lambda Fraternity, Inc., the first co-ed Hispanic fraternity in the US and was a first-generation, pell-eligible undergraduate student. She is motivated by the belief that education can empower students and help them and our communities achieve their potential.

Francelina "Lina" Neto

Dr. Neto has a Ph.D. from the University of London and started her academic career in Europe, where she taught a wide range of areas bridging STEM subjects, including applied mathematics, computer science and engineering. She started her career in 3D modeling, animation and visualization with applications to engineering and sciences in European universities and industry. In the US, she worked briefly at JPL, and joined Cal Poly Pomona as an Associate Professor in 1998 where she obtained early promotion to Full Professor and tenure in 2002. She started her administrative career as Associate Chair, then Department Chair, and Director of Semester Conversion in 2014. As Director of Semester Conversion and Director of Undergraduate Studies, Dr. Neto was responsible for ensuring that all curriculum developed for the semester calendar followed all approval processes, policies, executive orders, memorandums and accreditation requirements, keeping the campus work (faculty and staff) on schedule for the 2018 transition. She served as a link between the different campus units, as well as the Senate and to the Chancellor’s Office, as needed. In 2018, she became the Founding Dean of the School of Engineering at Cal Maritime. She has over 30 years of faculty and progressive administrative experience, 20 years at Cal Poly Pomona and 4 years as Dean.

Dr. Neto started her academic career in European research institutions, in automation, and visualization from airborne and space born sensors. She worked in NASA’s MISR and AirMISR projects, and while at Pomona, she researched the impact of virtual spatial analysis in student learning of engineering and STEM curricula. Dr. Neto was the recipient of the Bentley “Be Inspired” Educator of the Year award, in London, in 2013. Dr. Neto served in CPP’s Academic Senate for many years in several capacities and was also a CSU Faculty Senator. She was involved in several CSU wide endeavors, including IT and Engineering Curriculum Transfer task forces. As Founding Dean of Engineering at Cal Maritime, she developed policies and procedures to ensure the organization effectiveness and academic entity of the new School, and strengthen the connections to the community, industry, alumni and sponsors. Dr. Neto co-lead Cal Maritime’s plans for curriculum delivery during COVID. She is an advocate for California engineering and STEAM education and policy in annual visits to Congress.

Dr. Neto has extensive training and experience in strategic planning, ABET accreditation and DEI matters regarding faculty, students and staff. She holds three Higher-Ed Leadership Program certificates, one being Harvard’s Management Development Program. Dr. Neto’s experience extends from Cal Poly Pomona as well as a Dean at Cal Maritime and as a consultant for other campus, in the CSU and other universities.

Jill Leafstedt

Dr. Jill Leafstedt is the Dean of Extended University and Digital Learning and Senior International Officer at CSUCI. Dr. Leafstedt received a bachelor’s degree from UC Santa Barbara in 1992 followed by a doctorate in Disability and Risk studies with an emphasis in Cognitive Science in 2002. Jill was a bilingual fellow for the Linguistic Minority Research Institute throughout her graduate studies. Her research and publications focused on reading development for bilingual learners and the intersection of learning and technology. As faculty member in the early days of CSUCI Jill was instrumental in developing credential and masters programs in Education. In 2011 Dr. Leafstedt moved her focus to how technology can be used to increase student engagement and increase access to higher education. This work helped transform CSUCI’s academic technology infrastructure and develop a robust system for supporting faculty in teaching and learning. The development of the Teaching & Learning Innovations unit and the Faculty Innovations in Teaching studio is a result of this work. This team has been awarded a Center of Excellence award from the New Media Consortium and a prestigious NASPA Virtual Innovations Award. Jill’s current work as Dean is focused on developing high quality online learning experiences, increasing access to higher education for adult learners, and innovative approaches to workforce development.

Spencer Clark

Dr. J. Spencer Clark comes to CI from Kansas State University (K-State) where he was Professor, Director of the Rural Education Center (REC), and Coordinator for three programs (EDD, MAT, Online BA) in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction. Prior to K-State, he was an Assistant Professor of Social Studies Education at Utah State University. Spencer has worked with teacher education programs and field experiences for 17 years in 4 states. In his role as faculty, he taught undergraduate courses in social studies methods, social foundations, and inquiry-based learning, as well as graduate courses in curriculum theory and development, research methods, historical and social foundations, and doctoral support courses. In his role as Director of the REC, he developed a network of research-practice partnerships, advocated for equity-based school funding, and oversaw $13 million in grant funding that was pushed out to rural schools in the form of resources and professional learning experiences for teachers. His work with rural schools brought together his teaching, research, and service to address equitable funding issues and teacher shortages in rural communities. Lastly, he coordinated three online programs that he either founded or co-founded with his colleagues to help increase enrollment in their department. He also enjoys engaging in collaborative research projects and has over 40 publications, including three books and most recently a biography for upper-elementary and middle grades students. His research has involved a range of topics, but is centered on the concept of agency in teacher professional learning, student learning, and history of education. He serves on the editorial board for two impact factored journals and is a regular reviewer for NSF grant programs.

He has a bachelor’s degree in Linguistics from the University of Kansas and a Master of Arts in Teaching from Rockhurst University in Literacy and Social Studies education. His doctoral degree is from Indiana University in Curriculum Studies and a Minor in History of Education. He taught elementary, middle, and secondary students in mostly suburban and urban contexts for over seven years. During his time in higher education, he has worked with mostly rural and urban schools and teachers in Indiana, Utah, and Kansas.He  has also worked with teachers and faculty internationally from Afghanistan, Armenia, Colombia, Ecuador, India, Kazakhstan, Malawi, North Macedonia, South Korea, and Turkey.

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