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Our Team

Meet the staff of the CSU’s systemwide Department of Educator and Leadership Programs​.

Dr. Shireen Pavri Dr. Shireen Pavri​
​Assistant Vice Chancellor, Educator and Leadership Programs​

​Dr. Pavri advocates for teacher education at the state and national levels and supports campuses in achieving equity and excellence in educator preparation. Along with her team, she coordinates the CSU’s contributions to PK-12 reform and support the academic preparation of PK-12 students to ensure they are prepared for college success. Achieving more than 32 years of experience in teaching, school psychology, research and leadership, including 13 years as associate dean and dean at Cal State Long Beach. She holds a Ph.D. in Special Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, master’s and education specialist degrees in School Psychology from Miami University in Ohio, bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Special Education from SNDT Women’s University in Mumbai, and a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from St. Xavier’s College in Mumbai.


Ernest Black, Ph.D. Ernest Black, Ph.D.
Systemwide Director, CalStateTEACH
Phone: 562-951-4703

Dr. Ernest Black is the Statewide Director of the CalStateTEACH Program. Dr. Black has an outstanding teacher preparation background, having received his Master’s Degree in Education from National University and his Doctorate Degree in Education with an emphasis in Urban Education from the University of Southern California. Prior to his appointment as Systemwide Director, Dr. Black served as the Regional Director for the Southern Region of CalStateTEACH for the past six years. There, he provided leadership to the full range of online teacher preparation programs that CalStateTEACH has to offer. He has played a key role in liaising between CalStateTEACH and CSU Los Angeles & CSU Fullerton. He has worked with the Colleges of Education at both sites and developed partnership opportunities with them in the areas of PK-12 reforms, alternative certification pathways, induction programs, professional development, technology, and recruitment strategies.


Cindy Rodela Cindy Rodela
Program Analyst, CalStateTEACH
Phone: 562-951-4118

Cindy Rodela is system-wide program analyst for CalStateTEACH. Cindy assists in the development of the CalstateTEACH program and providing support to the Systemwide Director and the staff at the regional centers.


Dejon Brown Dejon Brown
Technology Support Specialist, CalStateTEACH
Phone: 562-951-4518

Dejon is technology support specialist for Cal State Teach, a program that prepares students to become successful teachers in California. He supports the team and works to develop a more seamless, reliable application for students.


Julio Esparza Julio Esparza
Curriculum Specialist, CalStateTEACH
Phone: 562-951-4775

Julio Esparza is the curriculum specialist for the CalStateTEACH program, where he analyzes and reviews the curriculum of the fully online teacher credentialing program. He also works with CalStateTEACH’s directors, finance, tech, curriculum and administrative teams to keep the program running smoothly.


Zulmara Cline, Ph.D. Zulmara Cline, Ph.D.​

​Systemwide Director, California Academic Partnership Program, CAPP​
Co-Director, Center for the Advancement of Instruction in Quantitative Reasoning (CAIQR)
Phone: 562-951-4780

Dr. Zulmara Cline is the Statewide Director of the California Academic Partnership Program (CAPP). CAPP is an intersegmental program working with the three segments of higher education and the K-12 system. Under Dr. Cline’s leadership, CAPP has launched two grants: the CAPP Demonstration Project, which helps schools build post-secondary partnerships, and College Going Culture Grant, which helps schools develop a college-going culture. CAPP is also responsible for the Math Diagnostic Testing Project, an intersegmental collaborative effort that has been developing diagnostic tests for more than 30 years. Prior to joining the Chancellor’s Office, Dr. Cline was a professor at CSU San Marcos.


Daba Asemebo Daba Asemebo, MHA
Senior Manager, CAPP​
Phone: 562-951-4777

Daba Asemebo is the Senior Manager of the California Academic Partnership Program (CAPP). CAPP is an intersegmental program working with the three segments of higher education and the K-12 system in California. She works closely with the CAPP Statewide Director to coordinate functions of the department. Prior to joining CAPP in 2014, Daba served in various positions within the Educator Preparation and Public School Programs (EPPSP) such as the Administrative Support Coordinator to the Assistant Vice Chancellor; the Program Coordinator for Governor's Teaching Fellowship Program; the System-wide Coordinator/Program Analyst for CalstateTEACH Program. In 2002, Daba was awarded the Chancellor’s Office Service Teamwork Achievement Recognition, “COSTAR” award.


Emil BautistaEmil Bautista
Fiscal and Grants Manager, CAPP​
Phone: 562-951-4472

Emil Bautista is the Fiscal and Grants Manager for California Academic Partnership Program. Emil supports the administrative and fiscal management of all CAPP programs and grant projects. She acts as CAPP’s primary contact person for all inquiries. Before joining CAPP, Emil worked as Accounts Payable Technician, processing payments for the Office of the Chancellor, Foundation and Institute accounts as well as monitoring daily ACH/EFT reconciliations and monthly Airfare/Car rental reconciliations.


Dr. Jyothi Bathina, Ph.D.Dr. Jyothi Bathina, Ph.D.
Co-Director, CSU Center for the Advancement of Reading and Writing ​(CAR/W)
Phone: (562) 951-4693

Dr. Jyothi Bathina serves as the Co-Director of the Center for the Advancement of Reading and Writing and oversees the Expository Reading and Writing Curriculum that is currently being implemented in thousands of schools across California, preparing students for success in college writing courses. Her expertise is in adolescent literacy, teacher preparation and content specific literacy practices. Dr. Bathina taught high school English in the South Bronx, as well as in East and South San Jose before entering higher education. She remains passionate about empowering all students by helping teachers increase academic, functional, and critical literacy in the classroom. Prior to joining the Chancellor’s Office, Dr. Bathina was an Associate Professor of Literacy at CSU Fresno and a Professor and Academic Program Director for National University’s Teacher Preparation Program. She also founded the non-profit Literate Voices, working with school districts across California to publish powerful student narratives.​


Dr. Tanya Flushman, Ph.D. ​Dr. Tanya Flushman, Ph.D.
Co-Director, CSU Center for the Advancement of Reading and Writing
Phone: 805-756-5537

Dr. Tanya Flushman, Associate Professor in the School of Education at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, co-directs the CSU Center for the Advancement of Reading and Writing. Her areas of expertise are early literacy development, clinical teacher preparation and disciplinary literacy teaching and learning. Her recent grants emphasize partnering with school districts to transform teacher preparation and teaching disciplinary literacy in science in elementary schools. Tanya taught elementary school in the California Bay Area and in Monterrey, Mexico. Dr. Flushman coordinates and teaches in the MA Curriculum and Instruction program at Cal Poly, SLO.


Christina Moreno-Donato Christina Moreno-Donato
Administrative Analyst, CAR/W
Phone: 562-951-4811

Christina Moreno-Donato serves as the Administrative Analyst for the CSU Center for the Advancement of Reading and Writing (CAR/W). She is responsible for monitoring grant and operating budget, event coordination, data management and general office support for CAR/W and the Expository Reading and Writing Course Program (ERWC). Prior to joining the Chancellor’s Office, Christina spent over thirty years working in higher education. She is a proud graduate of the University of Southern California (USC).


Lynda Dubon-Chavez Lynda Dubon-Chavez
Administrative Analyst, CAR/W​
Phone: 562-951-4926

Lynda Dubon-Chavez is an Administrative Analyst for the CSU Center for the Advancement of Reading and Writing (CAR/W). She provides support for the development of CAR/W programs, data management, event and website coordination.


Paul Tuss Paul Tuss, Ph.D.
Director, Educator Quality Center
Phone: 916-278-4582

Dr. Paul Tuss is director of the CSU Educator Quality Center. The center develops and manages EdQ DataView, a data warehouse and dashboard reporting system designed to support a culture of data sharing and continuous improvement for CSU educator preparation. Dr. Tuss also coordinates the center’s statewide surveys of first-year CSU teaching graduates and their employment supervisors. He has held positions with the Sacramento County Office of Education, San Juan Unified School District, Westat, Inc. and the U.S. Department of Energy. He is a past president of the California Educational Research Association and an alumnus of the Strategic Data Project at Harvard University’s Center for Education Policy Research.


Educator Preparation Data Coach
(916) 278-4190

Dr. Ginger Simon is Educator Preparation Data Coach for EdQ. Ginger has extensive experience in K-12 school reform, specializing in educator quality and continuous improvement. In her recent experience as Director of Professional Capital for CORE Districts and Senior Associate for FourPoint Education Partners, she facilitated networks of educators in building consensus and creating systems for continuous improvement. As EdQ Data Coach, she works to help both individual CSU educator preparation programs as well as networks of CSU campus leaders to use data available through the EdQ DataView Dashboard and other sources, helping them to reach their program improvement goals. Ginger holds both master's and doctoral degrees in Educational Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania.


Educator Preparation Data Scientist
(916) 278-2283

Jimmy Luong is a Data Scientist for EdQ who was recruited through Harvard's Strategic Data Project fellowship. At EdQ, Jimmy leads the team's Teacher Prep Data Model implementation project.​ Prior to the fellowship, Jimmy was an Action Works Data Analyst at Patagonia. His work consisted of supporting grant-making efforts, improving the Action Works data infrastructure, and representing the Action Works team in a new customer relationship management system overhaul. At the Scottish Funding Council Jimmy worked as a Policy and Data Analyst where he analyzed higher education data. His interest in education stems from a desire to improve our education systems so that next generations can thrive. Jimmy earned a master's of science in Civil Engineering from UCLA and a bachelor's of science in Environmental Engineering from UC San Diego.​


Kemi Suleiman​ Kemi Suleiman​
Educator Preparation Support Analyst
(916) 278-4329​​

Kemi Suleiman is the Educator Preparation Analyst for EdQ. She assists the department with survey coordination and administration; data management, analysis, and reporting; and administrative support. Kemi has a great passion for education with experience in PK-12 and higher education. At CSU, Dominguez Hills, Kemi coordinated the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA) that sets national standards for interstate offering of postsecondary distance education courses and programs. In her previous role as Management Information & School Data Manager at GEMS Education, Dubai, she led the planning, development, design, organization, and monitoring of the Management Information System (MIS). Kemi holds M.Ed from CSU, Dominguez Hills and an MBA from University of Wolverhampton, UK.


Dr. Fred Uy Fred Uy
Director, Educator Preparation and Public School Programs
​Co-Director, Center for the Advancement of Instruction in Quantitative Reasoning​
Phone: 562-951-4713

Dr. Fred Uy serves both as a Director in the Department of Educator Preparation and Public School Programs and Co-Director for the Center for the Advancement of Instruction in Quantitative Reasoning. Before joining the Office of the Chancellor, Dr. Uy was a Professor of Mathematics Education at Cal State LA and a K-12 mathematics teacher. In this position, he will be responsible in overseeing and increasing the capacity of the department to provide leadership and support to the educator preparation programs on campuses across the CSU. He has contributed to CSU initiatives in secondary school teacher mathematics preparation as a trainer for the EAP in Mathematics and as a leader in the CSU M-TEP. Dr. Uy also has served as a mathematics consultant for school districts and publishers and has conducted numerous professional development trainings in topics like mathematics pedagogy, teaching mathematics to ELs, assessments, Linked Learning, arts integration, and bilingual education.



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