2019 Faculty Grants

The proceeds of charitable events such as the annual Hats and High Tea and Golf Tournament are sponsored by the Community Leaders Association to support the Cal Lutheran's academic progams and its students.

Over the years, the support of the Community Leaders Association has resulted in the donation of nearly $2 million toward enhancements in equipment and technology. In addition to providing funding for the academic departments at Cal Lutheran, the Association also awards faculty grants each year to faculty who are involved with and are committed to the community.

2019 Faculty Grant Recipients

Gerhard Apfelthaler, Ph.D.

• Title: Dean, School of Management
• Project Description: The funds will be used to continue and expand "Start-Up-Kids" program. With funding by the Community Leaders Association in 2016 and 2017, they were able to start delivering entrepreneurship education programs to a total of approximately 70 children in grades 3, 4 and 5 at Westlake Elementary School in Westlake Village. Read more about the story.

Scott Chien-Hsiung Chiu, Ph.D. 

• Title: Assistant Professor, English and Writing Center Director
• Project Description: The funds will enhance the Writing Center's continued outreach efforts to promote the meaning of writing and the power of literacy in the community. Through a series of creative literacy activities, we are able to build a writing culture on campus and represent CLU's commitment to sharing academic knowledge via community activities.

Heidi Coronado, Ph.D.

• Title: Assistant Professor of Counselor Education
• Project Description: The funds will be used to train 25 students in the succesful RSEED program and to continue it on a larger scale with new cohorts of students in the LAUSD, Oxnard and Ventura school districts. 

Jodie Kocur, Ph.D.

• Title: Associate Professor of Psychology
• Project Description: The funds will be used to run a summer college skills program for local adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A one-week program called Exploring Your Options helps students consider which types of post-secondary options interest them, and a two-week program called Intro to College Life focuses on skills that increase success in college. CLU students help run this program as an experiential learning opportunity. 

Michael McCambridge, Ed.D.

• Title: Professor of Education and Director of Interdisciplinary Educational Studies
• Project Description:  The funds would be used for the successful California Reading and Literature Project (CRLP) which has been held within the Graduate School of Education for the past 17 years. The Department of Learning and Teaching has offered professional development to CLU teacher candidates and over 600 local TK-12 teachers and administrators from all school districts in Ventura County.

Angela Rowley, M.S.

• Title: Lecturer of Counselor Education
• Project Description: The funds will be used to train 25 students in the succesful RSEED program and to continue it on a larger scale with new cohorts of students in the LAUSD, Oxnard and Ventura school districts. 

Nancy Myers, M.A.

• Title: Senior Lecturer of Education and Director of California Reading and Literature Project 
• Project Description:The funds would be used for the successful California Reading and Literature Project (CRLP) which has been held within the Graduate School of Education for the past 17 years. The Department of Learning and Teaching has offered professional development to CLU teacher candidates and over 600 local TK-12 teachers and administrators from all school districts in Ventura County.

Vlad Vaiman, Ph.D.

• Title: Associate Dean, MBA Program Director, Professor
• Project Description: The funds will be used to continue and expand the "Start-Up-Kids" program. With funding by the Community Leaders Association in 2016, they were able to start delivering  entrepreneurship education  program to a total of approximately 70 children in grades 3, 4 and 5 at Westlake Elementary School in Westlake Village.

Brian Collins, Ph.D.

• Title: Assistant Professor
• Project Description: The funds will be used to help support the second annual SoCal Philosophy Academy  for local high school students. The goal of the academy is to expose students to the study of philosophy, give them additional exposure to CLU, and help them continue to develop the conununication and critical thinking skills necessary for post-secondary education and/or their vocation and career.

Nathan Carlson, Ph.D.

• Title:  Associate Professor of Mathematics
• Project Description: The Thousand Oaks Math Teachers' Circle is a monthly forum and professional development program for local middle and high school teachers. The Circle has grown in the past few years and achieved a core group of regular attendees. 

Lisa Buono, Ed.D.

• Title: Director, Bachelor's Degree for Professionals
• Project Description: Funds will help introduce Cal Lutheran's Bachelor's Degree for Professionals Program via student representatives to 80-120 community college students and will target students from underrepresented populations

Chris Njunge, Ph.D

• Title: Assistant Professor, Organizational behavior and Leadership, Bachelor's Degree for Professionals
• Project Description: The funding will be used to plan and host a day-long conference/festival to discuss and celebrate the link between diversity and innovation. The event will bring a keynote speaker as well as presenters from the community and local high schools to share research and insights into  the relationship between innovation and diversity.

Alan Knox

• Title: Assistant Professor, Exercise Science Department
• Project Description: The Exercise Science department would like to share with the campus and greater  community the benefits of a healthy lifestyle through participation in rugby. The funding would be used for coaches who will share their expertise of the game with local community teams. Local teams include Orea Rugby which consists of several youth  teams ages 8-18 and the Ventura Outlaws which consists of  senior male and female players.

Kirstie Hettinga, Ph.D

• Title: Assistant Professor, Communication
• Project Description: The funds will be used to coordinate journalism training for college students in Southern California which will include subsidized travel and meals for CLU and other students to Pepperdine University in Malibu.

Sabithulla Khan, Ph.D.

• Title: Assistant Professor, School of Management
• Project Description: The funds will be used to host a policy making workshop for undergraduate and graduate students. The focus of the workshop will be to inspire and train Latino, African-American and other underrepresented groups in policy making. Guest speakers will be invited from RAND, local government and other scholars in the local community.

Rahuldeep Gill, Ph.D

• Title: Professor of Religion and Campus Interfaith Strategist
• Project Description: The funds will be used to underwrite a television show that will explore ways believers learn to share their faith as well as their space in the 21st century.

Julia Lambert Fogg, Ph.D

• Title: Professor of Religion
• Project Description: The funds will support our third annual “Homelessness and the Housing Crisis in Hollywood” experiential learning program for 80-100 CLU students. This curricular event involves 5 professors and their 5-6 classes in partnership with Hope Lutheran Church in Hollywood. 

Rafaela Fiore Urizar, Ph.D

• Title: Associate Professor of Spanish/Chair/Department of Languages and Cultures
• Project Description: The Languages and Cultures Department will plan and host a Languages Conference at CLU for K-20 teachers of all foreign languages. The event will bring 150-200 teachers  from elementary, middle, high school and college from the Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.

Kristin Ritzau, Ph.D

• Title: Director SEEd Project/Garden
• Project Description: These funds will be used to purchase bikes and trailers for the SEEd garden to move compost and food scraps more easily around campus. We hope to better educate students, staff, faculty and the community on food waste and how to redirect this waste to the SEEd garden and worm bin. The bikes and trailers will serve as a way to transport educational materials for workshops and lectures about the SEEd program to other parts of campus and the community.

Michaela Reaves, Ph.D

• Title: Professor/Chair of History Department
• Project Description: The funds are used to involve CLU students as researchers and recorders of Cold War artifacts. Students will record fall-out shelter sites in Thousand Oaks and Los Angeles. In February, the History Department will host a “Welcome Day” to collect addresses, permissions, and stories from homeowners of bomb shelters. The data will be collated by organizing photographs and mapping the areas of shelter clusters. When the primary research and data collection are complete, multimedia students will produce an online exhibit. We will host a “show and tell” event for the public and the shelter owners to see how shelters fit into the Cold War. Participants will complete evaluations at the end of the event.