Writing Support Team
For general questions, call us at (909) 274-5325 or email us at: writingcenter@mtsac.edu
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Trista Payte
Director
Phone: (909) 274-4559
Email: tpayte@mtsac.edu
Building: 26B-1563BDr. Trista Payte (she/her/hers) holds an Ed.D. in Educational Policy and Leadership and an M.A. in English, both from California State University Northridge. Before coming to Mt. SAC, Trista served as the Writing Programs Coordinator at California State University, Northridge where she also taught in the English and Humanities departments for over a decade. Her areas of specialization, passion, and interest include writing center theory and praxis, rhetoric and composition, writing across the curriculum, and anti-racist pedagogy. When she isn’t wearing her academic hat, Trista enjoys spending time with her two children, reading contemporary fiction and graphic novels, and hiking with her partner and her two rescue dogs.
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Nicole Blean
Assistant Director
Phone: (909) 274-5616
Email: nblean@mtsac.edu
Building: 26B-1563EComing on board as an adjunct faculty in English, Nicole Blean joined the Mt. SAC team in 2006, thus ending a “freeway flyer” situation where she taught up to six classes per semester all over the SoCal map. In 2007, she joined the Writing Center full time and assisted in building the new Center in 2008. Driven by a passion for instruction, she continued teaching at least one class on the side (usually on Saturdays) in addition to her commitment to the Center. Since 2016, Nicole began serving in her current role as Writing Center Assistant Director. She has been an active member of the SoCal Writing Center Association for the past fifteen years and is also involved in the IWCA Mentorship Program. In her free time, she enjoys writing, art journaling, and “pigging out” on books.
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Mauricio Goncalves
Tutorial Services Specialist
Phone: (909) 274-5274
Email: mgoncalves@mtsac.edu
Building: 26B-1563DMauricio has been teaching ESL and English since 2003. He holds a B.A. in Comparative Literature and an M.S. in TESOL from CSUF. He has taught reading and writing at different colleges and universities including UCI, CSUF, and Cal Poly Pomona. Mauricio has a special interest in Second Language Acquisition and Linguistics. He grew up in Brazil and speaks three languages. He joined Mt. SAC in 2016 as an AMLA instructor, and he is happy to assist students, faculty, and staff at the Mt. SAC Writing Center! In his free time, Mauricio is always searching for a good cup of coffee and a scenic road for a long morning drive.
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Joyce Dillon
Writing Center Instructor
Phone: (909) 274-5929
Email: jdillon@mtsac.edu
Building: 26B-1563AJoyce studied English at CSUF where she earned a bachelor’s degree and a teaching credential. She taught British and American literature in high school for nine years. Later she earned her master’s in English with an emphasis in teaching. After taking some time off to start raising her family, Joyce returned to CSUF and spent a year focusing on writing center pedagogy and practice. She started teaching English at Mt. SAC in 2007. Joyce joined the Mt. SAC Writing Center team in 2015 where she focuses on tutor training. She is happy in her work as an adjunct instructor working with colleagues and tutors as they provide support to Mt. SAC students and faculty. When she is not at work, Joyce enjoys reading and discussing novels, working out, and spending time with her husband, young adult sons and their cat, Abby.
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Chase Jones
Writing Center Instructor
Phone: (909) 274-4447
Email: cjones156@mtsac.edu
Building: 26B-1563AChase holds a MA in English from Cal Poly, Pomona. He has been with the writing center as a tutor since 2022 and has worked closely with ACCESS students and the VRC. In the fall of 2023, he became an adjunct professor here at Mt. SAC and a member of the writing center’s support team staff. Chase is interested in creating accessible learning environments for students and educators alike by leveraging principles of universal design for learning and critical pedagogy. When he is not on campus, he spends his free time enjoying TTRPGS, anime, and playing with his dog Iggy.
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Jackie Duran
Writing Center Instructor
Phone: (909) 274-4438
Email: jduran47@mtsac.edu
Building: 26B-1563AJackie is a Mt.SAC and CSUF alum who is now an adjunct English professor. She’s been helping Mt. SAC students in many capacities for almost 8 years now as she herself was a tutor, TC, and now a supervisor in the Writing Center where she enjoys creating and hosting workshops for fellow students. Even though she is an English major, she hopes to continue learning Spanish, French, and ASL. During her free time, she loves spending time with her dogs, Frida Kahlo, and Toni Morrison and taking Pilates. Like most English professors and majors, during her downtime, she enjoys reading, and some of her favorite genres include fiction, horror, and memoirs. She enjoys binge watching shows and watching films—horror films especially. Jackie hopes to travel to different countries, particularly to Mexico and France.
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Elona Dahi
Writing Center Instructor
Phone: (909) 274-4438
Email: edahi@mtsac.edu
Building: 26B-1563AElona started at Mt. SAC as a student in 2015 and has been at the Writing Center since 2018 in various roles, which is where her passion for education began. Elona holds a B.A. and M.A. in English from Cal State Fullerton, where she focused on Latin American lit, feminist theory, and postmodern studies. She currently teaches English at the college level and hopes to continue doing so while also serving our students at the writing center. Aside from reading (obviously), Elona enjoys going on walks with friends, visiting art museums, exploring thrift and vintage stores, as well as finding new coffee shops.
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Soomin Yang
Project Expert
Phone: (909) 274-4447
Email: syang75@mtsac.edu
Building: 26B-1563ASoomin is a Mt. SAC and UCLA alum. She is a returning part-time Project Expert/Data Analyst at the Writing Center. She specializes in project management and data analysis and is responsible for collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data to identify patterns, trends, insights, and solutions. One of her favorite responsibilities as a part-time Data Analyst is to develop databases and reorganize data in a readable format. She is a coffee & tea lover and enjoys trying new cafés in LA, OC, and/or SF area. Also, she loves hanging out with her dog and cat.”
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Sophia O'Brien
Project Expert
Phone: (909) 274-4420
Email: sobrien3@mtsac.edu
Building: 26B-1563ASophia is a Mt. SAC, UC Berkeley, and CSUF alum who is currently an adjunct English instructor at Mt. SAC and CSUF. Sophia has been with the Writing Center since 2014 in various roles (from tutor to TC to social media & DLA specialist), and her career path into teaching has been shaped by the wonderful students, staff, and faculty she has worked with over the years. In her free time, she enjoys going on walks and hikes with her dog, Luna, and staying active at the gym and taking Pilates classes. She hopes to continue traveling to new places and work on completing her "National Park bucket list".
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Usha Bera
Project Expert
Phone: (909) 274-4447
Email: ubera@mtsac.edu
Building: 26B-1563AUsha has been a Computer Lab Assistant at Mt. SAC since 2003. In 2005, she earned her A.S. in Desktop Publishing and awarded “Phi Theta Kappa” International Honor Society certificate in the same writing center building she is now working in. Soon, computer classes became more interesting to her, and she realized that if she met the degree requirements, she could earn her A.S. degree. From 2003 to 2011, she took on many roles in the Business Division Computer Lab such as a Lab assistant, a teacher assistant in classrooms, and in the summer, she assisted young students to create “multimedia” projects in compute for the “College for Kids” program. In 2011, she moved into the Writing Center as a Front Desk/Lab Assistant. She loves her job and the people there. Usha is a proud mom of two UCLA graduates and eagle scout sons. She enjoys spending time with her family, and her favorite time is to play with her two granddaughters.
