The Whittier Scholars Program is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr. Kay Sanders as Associate Director. Dr. Sanders will join the Whittier Scholars leadership team in Fall 2019, working closely with Director Dr. Andrea Rehn and Administrative Coordinator Joanna Diaz, as well as members of the Whittier Scholars Council. Dr. Sanders has been a member of Whittier’s faculty since 2004, Professor of Child Development since 2016, and has provided campus leadership in many arenas, including serving on the 2018 Presidential Search Committee, the 2015 Vice President of Academic Affairs/Dean of Faculty Search Committee, completing two multi-year terms chairing the Human Subjects/Institutional Review Board, and participating in the Gardner Institute Student Retention & Satisfaction task force.
Dr. Sanders has been an active member of the Whittier Scholars Council since 2017, has taught courses in the program, and has sponsored and advised Whittier Scholars students since her first years at the college. Dr. Sanders’s research investigates how racial ethnic socialization practices in child care programs contribute to child care quality, relationships, and children’s social and emotional school readiness skills. Dr. Sanders’s priorities during her service in the Whittier Scholars Program include student success, intentional diversity, and supporting advising.
I want to work toward making diversity intentional [in the Whittier Scholars Program] so that we ensure that we have an equitable space not only in feel but also in our policies of admittance because, if we do not, our continued growth could weaken the strength we all obtain through our diversity.
Dr. Kay Sanders
Dr. Sanders will also seek to “develop a sponsor and advisor model that allows any new faculty member to jump into either of these roles and feel competent and included in the program” as well as to implement tools to measure student success in the new curriculum.
Dr. Sanders’ appointment replaces Dr. Ken Berthel, who will be on sabbatical in Fall 2019 and then return to the Department of Modern Languages as Associate Professor. Continuing members of the Whittier Scholars Council include Dr. Cinzia Fissore, Dr. Bill Kronholm, Dr. Susana Santos, Dr. Kristen Smirnov, Dr. Deborah Norden, Librarian Joe Dmohowski, and student members Noah Wilson and Olivia Brown, as well as soon-to-be-announced additional members for Fall 2019.
