The Gavilan College Board of trustees approved tenure for seven
faculty members at their February meeting.
The Gavilan College Board of trustees approved tenure for seven faculty members at their February meeting.
The newly tenured faculty members are piano instructor Maria Amirkhanian, physical education instructor and baseball coach Neal Andrade, English instructor Jessica Hooper, theater department director John Lawton-Haehl, biology instructor Rey Morales, psychology instructor Carlton Oler, and librarian Dana Young.
“This spirit of academic freedom within Gavilan College has a value which goes beyond protecting the individual’s broad scope of thought and inquiry,” said Kathleen Rose, vice president of instruction. “If our college is alive and productive, it is a place where colleagues are in constant dialogue, where faculty can defend their latest intellectual enthusiasm and hold one another accountable.”
Tenure is a condition of continuing employment that is given to a faculty member by the district following a four-year probationary period, on the basis of evaluation and recommendation by a faculty committee with concurrence by the faculty member’s departmental dean, vice president of instruction and the college president. It is granted only when there is a reasonable assurance, based on performance, that the faculty member will continue to meet the standards for tenure at the college.
About the instructors
Amirkhanian, a concert pianist, teaches in the music department at Gavilan College. She recently traveled to her homeland in Armenia to participate in a concert honoring her father, a well-known musician there. The mother of twins is married to Albert Marques, an instructor in both Spanish and music at Gavilan College. Amirkhanian holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Piano Performance from the Tschaikovsky State Conservatory of Music in Moscow, Russia, and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance from Komitas State Conservatory of Music in Yerevan, Armenia. She earned her Master of Arts in Piano Performance from California State University, Fresno, and her Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance/Accompaniment/Pedagogy at Komitas State Conservatory of Music in Yerevan, Armenia.
Andrade teaches in the physical education department and serves as Head Baseball Coach for the Gavilan College Rams. He holds a Master of Arts in Sports Management from Nova Southeastern University and a Bachelor of Arts in History from Portland State University. He is the father of two and enjoys fishing, hunting, and family time.
Jessica Hooper teaches in the English department at Gavilan College. She holds a Master of Arts in English Literature with a Concentration in Creative Writing from San Jose State University, and a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature with a Concentration in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. She is a winner of the Anne Lillis Award for Creative Writing: Phelan Awards for Essay and Poetry.
Lawton-Haehl teaches and directs in the Theatre Department at Gavilan College. He has a Doctorate degree in Theater History, Designated Emphasis in Feminist Theory and Research from University of California at Davis, an Master of Arts in Dramatic Arts and a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of California at Berkeley. Lawton-Haehl studied at the American Conservatory Theater and the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Oxford University.
Morales teaches biology and has led biotechnology curriculum development and the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) internship program. He holds a Master of Science degree in biology from California State University, Hayward, and a Bachelor of Science in Physiology from the University of California at Davis.
Oler Is a health crusader as well as a psychology instructor. He has a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of Cincinnati, a Master of Science in Counseling and Mental Health from California State University, Hayward, and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from San Francisco State University.
Dana Young is a librarian at Gavilan College. Young has a Masters in Library Science from Texas Woman’s University, a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Minnesota, and a Legal Assistant Certification from the Philadelphia Institute for Paralegal Training. In her spare time, Young volunteers for the Big Sur Marathon.
