Title V Grant Team
Lisa Rodriguez - Director, Title V Grant
Lisa Rodriguez earned both her M.A. and her Ph.D. in Higher Education from the Claremont
Graduate University in Claremont, California, and her Bachelor’s of Arts in English
and World Literature from California Polytechnic University, Pomona, California. With
25 years of experience in higher education as a multimedia production coordinator, and
as a "super" adjunct professor of English and Educational Technology between 2001
and 2009, she made a gradual shift to program administration in the arenas of faculty
development for teaching, campus technology initiatives, and Title V management as
the Director for the Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of La Verne.
Her former role, prior to her post as Director of Title V at Mt. San Antonio College,
entailed oversight of two University Title V funded initiatives: a Graduate Student
Success Center which provided academic coaching, personal mentoring, professional
development for career success, and annual orientation for new students to campus
life and a Technology for Business Students. Lisa is the proud mother of one son,
Eric, who graduated from Mt. SAC in 2018 and transferred to Pitzer College. Dr. Rodriguez' hobbies
are public speaking on self and community empowerment, Toastmasters Club 7213 (Claremont),
photography, and live music.
Full bio at: www.linkedin.com/in/drrod
Matt Bidart, Web Designer, Title V
Prior to coming to Mt. SAC, Matt worked for the Department of Transportation (Caltrans)
in Irvine, CA, where he served as both Graphic Designer II and Graphic Designer III.
Matt began his extensive web/graphic design career in the surf and skateboard industry
back in 2003, working with companies such as Body Glove, Toes On The Nose, Kryptonics,
Media Skateboards, Young Guns Skateboards, Doyle, Voit, and Ion Bodyboards. Matt has
experience in ad creation, trade show artwork, photography, catalogs, video editing,
image manipulation and website design/ development. Among many projects for Mt. SAC’s
Title V, Matt will work on making student success prominent on our new website as
well as implementing a mobile-friendly career brochure for CTE programs. In his spare
time, Matt enjoys traveling to Europe, cycling, hiking, skateboarding, snowboarding,
playing guitar, studio recording and attending live music events.
Lisa DiDonato - Educational Research Assessment Analyst, Title V & Title III
Lisa earned her BA in Sociology at California State University, San Bernardino. It
was there that her interest and experiences in research began; heading up door to
door community survey for a neighboring city was one of her earliest adventures in
research. This was followed by a paid position with the National Forest Service, collecting
surveys from those enjoying our natural resources throughout Southern California.
While earning her Master’s in Sociology at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, she
worked as a research assistant on several projects, including interviewing men convicted
of domestic violence about their experiences and rehabilitation. At the University
of North Texas where she was working on a PhD, she taught undergraduate Sociology
courses as well as assisted in more research projects. It was during this time that
she landed her first position as an institutional researcher, with Richland College
in Dallas, Texas. Since that time she has been both researcher and educator of children
and adults. As the first in her family to earn a college degree, Lisa knows the value
of education and appreciates the opportunity to help others achieve their academic
goals through her work. Throughout her 20+ years in education the most rewarding experiences
have been those that helped others be successful.
Susie Haynes, Administrative Specialist
Susie came to work part-time in the Title V office in Spring of 2014 having come from
University of La Verne where she earned a Bachelor's in Business Administration. While
at La Verne, Susie was the Administrative Assistant for Career Services, Coordinator
for La Verne's PPOHA Title V grant, and finally, advancing to the position of Associate
Director of Housing. Susie brings with her a wealth of knowledge in Title V procedures
and managing program budgets. In her spare time, Susie loves spending time with her
family; husband Bryan of 20 years and two sons Trevor and Andrew (currently enrolled
in the EMS program at Mt. SAC). She also serves as a youth leader and has recently
become involved in a mentoring program at a local girls home.
Emily Versace, Counselor & Title V Coordinator
Emily Versace earned her MS in Counseling and Guidance at CSU San Bernardino, her
BA in History from UC Irvine and her AA in Liberal Arts from Citrus College. She is
a National Career Development Association Career Counselor, a Strong Interest Inventory
Certified Practitioner and a MBTI Master Practitioner. Emily has been a counselor
for over eight years with experience at three other community colleges before coming
to Mt. SAC. In the past she has had specialized assignments working with specific
student populations. She has worked in the areas of: Health Science, Career Education,
Career and Transfer, General Counseling, Honors, High School Outreach, Learning Communities
and Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM). She also has taught a number of
counseling classes. Her coordinating experience includes coordinating projects for
two STEM grants. She recently coordinated a drop-in advising center staffed with counseling
interns that she trained and supervised. Emily loves to collaborate and is eager to
work with her colleagues to accomplish the goals of the Title Building Pathways to
Persistence and Completion grant here at Mt. SAC. Her projects include designing and
teaching a student success seminar in Counseling, designing "just-in-time toolkits"
for faculty, proactively supporting learning cohorts in the CTE and General Education
Pathways, among other grant-driven initiatives.
As a community college alumna, she understands firsthand what it means to transfer and the challenges that exist for students as they navigate all the wonderful things higher education has to offer. Her experiences studying abroad in Mexico and Spain contributed to her ability to speak Spanish and her love of culture, language and travel. In her spare time she enjoys raising her children bilingual with her husband.
Title V is located in Building 20, Room 3. For more information, contact Lisa Rodriguez at ext. 4177 or our office staff listed below.
Susie Haynes, Administrative Assistant IV, ext. 5411
updated 10/16/18
