James M. Meznek, Ph.D., Chancellor
Ventura County Community College District
Chair of the OCC Accreditation Site Visit Team

Dr. Meznek has been Chancellor of the Ventura County Community College District since August 2004. A product of the Michigan community college system, James Meznek went on to receive his masters from Wayne State University in Detroit and a Ph.D. in higher education leadership from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. His higher education administrative career spans 25 years, with leadership positions in California, Wyoming, and at the State Community College’s Chancellor Office in Sacramento. He served as president/superintendent of Barstow College from 1998 to 2004 prior to his current position in Ventura.

Donald I. Brown is Professor—Music Librarian at El Camino College, Torrance.  Holding the M.A., M.Mus. (SMU, Dallas), and M.L.S. (UCLA) degrees, he has been quite active in state/local/national professional library, academic, and union organizations for many years.   He is currently serving as President of the El Camino College Federation of Teachers, AFT Local 1388, and he has been recognized in academic circles, as well, presenting a paper in August, 2005, on academic intellectual property and privacy rights at the Oxford Round Table for International Trade and Labor.

Falk Cammin teaches ESL and German at Foothill College.  She has been a full-time faculty member since 1989 and has served as the German Department Head, the Faculty Co-Chair of the Curriculum Committee, the Writing Across the Curriculum Coordinator and as her division representative to the Foothill Academic Senate.  She is currently on the Negotiations Team of the Foothill/De Anza Faculty Association.

Clare Geisen is Director of Administrative Relations for Ventura County Community College District. She has a B.A. from the University of California, Irvine, an MBA from Pepperdine University, and is currently working on her doctorate in organizational leadership in higher education. Clare has worked in a variety of environments, including city government, administration, operations, marketing, and law.

Carolyn Inouye is the Director of Institutional Research for the Ventura County Community College District. She has been at the district office for the last 13 years in both management and faculty research positions after first serving as the researcher at Ventura College. She has over 20 years of experience in research and evaluation. Prior to joining the community college system, she held various positions in student services and in research in the University of California system and has experience as a program evaluation consultant. Dr. Inouye received her B.A. in Psychology, M.A. in Education, and Ph.D. in Education from UCLA.

A native of San Francisco, Gaither Loewenstein earned his B.A. degree in Public Administration from the University of the Pacific; an MBA in Urban Affairs from Wichita State University; and, a Ph.D. in Urban Affairs from the University of Delaware. For the seven years prior to joining RCC Norco, he served as an instructional and student services administrator in the California community college system at Mendocino and Barstow Colleges, as well as College of the Desert. Dr. Loewenstein’s professional background also includes seven years as an urban and regional planning consultant to various northern California municipalities, in addition to human services management experience for several non-profit organizations.

Rachel Rosenthal has been Dean of Planning, Research and Development at American River College since 2004. In this capacity, she oversees institutional research, strategic planning, information technology, instructional technology training, grant coordination, professional development, and media services. Prior to this position, she served as Dean of Mathematics (2001-2004) and mathematics faculty member (1994-2001) at American River College. In addition, she worked as a registered engineer in the chemical and civil engineering fields in Oklahoma and California for over twelve years. Rachel holds a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering, M.S. in applied mathematics, M.A. in curriculum and instruction, and is currently enrolled in the new U.C. Davis/Sonoma State Ed.D. program in educational leadership.

Deanna Walston has served as Vice President of Administration and Technology for the Ohlone Community College District since July 1, 1996.  Previously she served as Vice Chancellor of Administration at West Valley-Mission Community College District for four years.  Prior to her community college service,  she spent 14 years in K-12 holding increasingly responsible positions up to the level of Assistant Superintendent of Business Services at Oakland Unified School District, the last K-12 District she served at before taking the position at West Valley- Mission Community College District.  She has a Bachelors Degree in Education from Northwestern University and an MBA from San Jose State University.

Don Warkentin is the President of West Hills College Lemoore located in Lemoore, California near Fresno. West Hills College Lemoore is the state’s newest community college having received their initial accreditation in June 2006. Don has been with the West Hills Community College District since 1986 and assumed the presidency of the new Lemoore campus in 2004. Previously Don was the Dean of Student Services for the Lemoore campus. This is Don’s second time serving as a visiting accreditation team member.

Peter White is Vice President of Student Services at San Diego Miramar College. He has previously served as EOPS program specialist and Matriculation Coordinator in the state Chancellor’s Office (1985-1995) and Vice President of Student Services at Grossmont College (1995-2006).