Meet the Team

Aviana Cerezo, B.A., serves as Coyote Careers Graduate Assistant. Aviana is a graduate of the University of California, Riverside, receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. She is currently interning with Riverside County Board of Supervisors under the direction of Supervisor Bob Buster of First District. She coordinates a Youth Council and oversees a Youth Commission where she encourages community service and addresses youth issues. She is also a CSUSB Public Administration student, projected to graduate in June, 2011. As Coyote Careers Graduate Assistant, Aviana is responsible for coordinating workshops, providing student support and assisting in the pairing process of students with internships.

Carol Dixon, M.B.A., serves on the Executive Board, as the Activity Director for Career Services and CoyoteCareers Project Co-Director. Carol serves as the Interim Director of the Career Development Center, which has the smallest student-to-staff ratio in the entire CSU. Ms. Dixon also serves as the Director of the Coussoulis Arena, a 5,000-seat facility that holds approximately 30 events per year for local and national organizations. She has developed and implemented career workshops and developed a Career Success Summit event. She was recognized as the Outstanding Adjunct Faculty of the Year (2002) and most recently named “A Citizen of Achievement” award recipient for 2007 League of Women Voters. She received an M.B.A. from Cal Poly Pomona.

Rebecca M. Eddy, Ph.D., serves as the evaluator for CoyoteCareers. Rebecca currently a Research Assistant Professor and Co-Director of the Master of Arts Psychology program at Claremont Graduate University. She received her doctorate in Applied Cognitive Psychology and has focused much of her work on applying principles of learning and cognition to educational evaluation in programs and schools. As both principal investigator and co-principal investigator of numerous grants and contracts, she has secured more than $1.1million for research and evaluation projects in the past three years through the Institute of Organizational and Program Evaluation Research.

Bryant Fairley, B.A., serves as CoyoteCareers Service Learning Coordinator. Bryant graduated from Cal State Fullerton, receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Administration. He brings with him over ten years of experience working in the non-profit community, most recently as Community Resource Manager with Inland Empire United Way’s Hands On Inland Empire Initiative. As CoyoteCareers Service Learning Coordinator, he is responsible for building community-university partnerships and connecting students to service learning internship opportunities in order to develop work related experience that is relevant and addresses unmet community needs.

Pamela Langford, ’85, M.B.A., Director Alumni Affairs, serves on the Executive Board, as the Activity Director for Alumni Affairs and CoyoteCareers Project Co-Director. Pam has 25 years of experience in higher education, 17 of those in Advancement where she has had direct responsibility for building programs in community relations, annual giving, advancement services, the athletics association, and alumni relations. Since her appointment as Director of Alumni Affairs, Pam has tripled membership in CSUSB’s Alumni Association; launched and successfully completed the Association’s first scholarship endowment fundraising campaign; established an Alumni Scholars scholarship program; initiated a monthly online newsletter that reaches over 30,000 alumni, students and friends; developed a comprehensive online alumni community that draws more than 2 million hits annually; and attracted nearly $1 million in affinity partnership revenues. Pam also coordinated a successful Alumni Professor for a Day program, which brought accomplished alumni back to CSUSB to share their career road-to-success stories with students. In 2002, the CSUSB Alumni Association earned two Council for the Advancement and Support of Education Awards of Excellence for best practices in alumni relations.

Joanna Oxendine, M.Ed., serves as CoyoteCareers Alumni Partnership Coordinator. Joanna is a North Carolina native and two-time graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She brings with her seven years of teaching experience. Prior to moving to Southern California in 2007, Joanna worked to develop a high school writing curriculum and district-wide policy for Gates County Schools in Gatesville, North Carolina. As the CoyoteCareers Alumni Partnership Coordinator, she facilitates alumni participation in Academic Career Education (ACE) workshops as well as the Hispanic Alumni Chapter. In addition to connecting students to successful CSUSB alumni, she provides logistical support in maintaining accurate alumni records.

Diane Podolske, Ph.D., Director of Community-University Partnerships, serves as Chair of the Executive Board, CoyoteCareers Project Director, and the Activity Director for Service Learning. Diane has 18 years of experience from two very different kinds of higher education institutions. At the University of Nebraska, she developed a comprehensive service learning program that included a web-based registry of volunteer needs at regional CBOs, faculty training seminars, and a community networking program. She now leads a two-campus initiative that includes academic service learning, a service learning scholarship program, and community-based research. Under her leadership, CSUSB has received national recognition on the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll and the Carnegie Classification for Community Engagement. Her experience in project and budget management, including federal and state grant administration, contributes to the grant’s success. She received her doctorate in Educational Psychology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Arly Porras, B.A., serves as a Coyote Careers Graduate Assistant. Arly is a graduate of the University of Utah, receiving a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science. She is a Honduras native who recently moved to California. Prior to her move to California, Arly served as legislative intern in Utah’s Governor’s Office and also served as a White House Intern. During her White House internship, Arly assisted in researching, screening and recommending candidates to serve in the President’s Administration. She also prepared briefing materials for the President and various Cabinet Members. Arly is pursuing a Master’s degree in Public Administration at CSUSB and is expected to graduate in June 2010. As the Coyote Careers Graduate Assistant, Arly is responsible for coordinating workshops, providing student support and assisting in the pairing process of students with internships.

Valentina Watson, B.A., serves as CoyoteCareers Career Information Coordinator. Valentina is a graduate of University of California, Riverside, receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in Art History. Native to the Inland Empire, she has six years experience working as a Contracts Manager and Instructor for a primary art education institution, primarily at public elementary schools in Fontana, Rialto, Corona, and Temecula. As CoyoteCareers Career Information Coordinator, Valentina is responsible for the Academic Career Education (ACE) workshops in order to prepare students graduating from CSUSB for their chosen professions.

CoyoteCareers 2009-2010 Advisory Board