November 2008
Student Responses Needed
During the 2008 Summer Term, students in the MPPA, MBA, MSCS, and ADEP Summer Term courses (11-Week Programs) received an email invitation to complete an online Course Evaluation form. The purpose of the pilot was to address problems that occurred using the “paper and pencil” forms, for example, faculty did not receive results in a timely fashion. Faculty received feedback two weeks after courses ended.
Students shared opinions about the process: “This on-line survey is much better than the in class hardcopies. With the on-line version, one can take the time to think and express their opinions.” and “I like the online format, I felt pressured in the classroom to come up with thoughtful answers.”
Following the summer pilot, faculty were asked how student feedback was used to improve. The following were typical responses: “I carefully consider the students' reactions to the course, consider their perspectives (and motivation).”
The Online Course Evaluation system is continuing during the 2008 Fall Term.
Students will be invited to provide confidential responses. Again, faculty will receive feedback only after grades are posted.
One concern we have is that the response rate ranged, by program, from 43.8% to 77.5%. As a faculty member wrote, “I care about the process and its reliability and quality. The rate of response was low and this is a serious shortcoming in the new system.” In the spirit of continuous improvement, we need student feedback and look forward to a higher response rate. Be sure to log-in to your CLU email!
CLU Celebrates New Oxnard Center
You are invited!
All graduate and ADEP students, faculty and public are invited to celebrate the opening of California Lutheran University's new Oxnard Center.
Reception: 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.
Friday, November 14
The Palms, 2201 Outlet Center Dr., Suite 600.
The center features 4,700 square feet of space with four classrooms and a bigger conference room with full media and information technology services.
The expansion allowed CLU to add new areas of study to its adult degree evening program this fall. Students can now earn an accelerated bachelor's degree in psychology and a minor in psychology at the Oxnard Center. The western Ventura County center also provides an organizational leadership program.
The expansion also allowed CLU to begin offering a master's degree in counseling psychology with a marital and family therapy emphasis in Oxnard. The satellite also offers master's degrees in public policy and administration, counseling psychology, business administration, education, curriculum and instruction and educational leadership. Students can also earn preliminary, single subject, multiple subject and special education credentials through the center.
For reservations, contact Karissa Faulconer at by Nov. 12.
John Noll
New MSCS Assistant Professor
Dr. John Noll joins CLU to teach computer science, software engineering and information systems. Dr. Noll has taught in the computer engineering department at Santa Clara University. Dr. Noll has also taught courses in Computer Science, Software Engineering, and Information Systems at the University of Colorado at Denver, University of California, Los Angeles, and the Marshall School of Business at University of Southern California. Dr. Noll has research and industrial experience at USC’s ATRIUM Laboratory, at Perceptronics, Inc., and Hewlett-Packard Laboratories. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Colorado College, and a master’s and doctorate from USC.
Johnny Johnson
New MPPA Adjunct Professor
This fall, the Master of Public Policy and Administration program has a new addition to its teaching staff. Johnny Johnson is the former CEO of Ventura County. Retiring earlier this Spring as county manager responsible for the $ 1.7 billion dollar budget and organization of 8,000 employees, he is offering students a rare look into the mind of a superb administrator in his class on Leadership at the new Oxnard Graduate and ADEP Center.
With a Master of Public Administration and extensive executive experience as a city manager and in a variety of city and county departments, he was hired to manage the County at a time when it was just recovering from a downward spiral of financial and managerial problems. He brought it to a position of strength in just five years. The Board of County Supervisors and other insiders have testified to his merits and acknowledge the fact that Ventura County is looked upon as a model of excellence owes much to his stewardship. Johnson is known for taking control of the budgeting process, helping settle a funding dispute with law enforcement agencies, winning the authority to hire and fire managers and making sure the staff presented a unified front to the Board of Supervisors.
“One of the things that motivated me was that I’ll have to face my neighbors in the community,” Johnston said. “I didn’t want to read about myself in the papers as the guy who got paid pretty well to give advice and left the county in bankruptcy.”
Michael Gerson
Graduate Psychology Presentation
Dr. Michael Gerson, Assistant Professor, Graduate Psychology, presented his paper, “Neuroscientific Implications for Self and Identity Issues During Adolescence” on July 28th, at the 2008 Annual Congress of the International Neuropsychoanalysis Society in Montreal, Canada. He was part of a prestigious assembly of scientists and clinicians from around the world who are studying the relationship between modern neuroscientific discoveries and their applications to psychoanalytic theory and treatment. The Congress was held at the Montreal Neuropsychiatric Institute of McGill University, famous for the pioneering brain research of Donald Hebb and Wilder Penfield. Dr. Gerson’s paper discussed the importance of differentiating self from identity, psychological processes that have special importance for adolescent development. He supported his proposals with recent brain research that has identified distinct regions of the brain that correspond to subjective and objective self awareness that change in their organization during adolescence.
CLU MPPA Student Wins Ventura County Star Contest
Francine Sprigel, won the Ventura County Star “Hardest Worker in Ventura County” Contest. Sprigel is a senior analyst with the City of Thousand Oaks Community and Cultural Services Department, where she manages and operates the Council on Aging and the Teen Commission. She also writes college recommendations for many of the teenagers.
Sprigel’s other tasks include being a regular volunteer at the Goebel Senior Center. She recently found time to climb Mount Whitney twice in one year! She was spending at least 60 hours a week at her job, while successfully pursuing her Master of Public Policy Administration at California Lutheran University.
On Campus Housing
for Graduate Students
Next fall when the new Residence Hall opens, there will be space available for graduate students to live on campus. Graduate student housing will feature single bedrooms with a shared living room, kitchen and bathroom. This is the first time in CLU’s history that housing has been made available for graduate students to live in residence halls. More information will follow.
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