Accreditation Team Bios

Dr. Whitney Yamamura
College President, Folsom Lake College

Dr. Whitney Yamamura became the third president of Folsom Lake College (FLC) in July 2017. Whitney has worked for the Los Rios Community College District since 1989. In that time, he has served at nearly every level within a college including: teaching intern, part-time faculty, full-time tenured faculty, dean, vice president and interim president. Whitney served as interim president at two colleges in the district, Sacramento City College in the spring of 2017 and Cosumnes River College in spring of 2015. He served as Vice President of Instruction and Student Learning, as well as Accreditation Liaison Officer at Cosumnes River College from June 2008 to July 2017 (with the exception of his service as interim president). Preceding that, Whitney was the founding Dean of the Natomas Center, an educational outreach center of American River College (ARC), and the Dean of Behavioral and Social Sciences for six years. He served as a tenured Professor of Economics at ARC for eight years. Whitney has served on four past accreditation teams, as well as chaired a previous ACCJC follow-up visit.

Sonia Ortiz-Mercado
Vice President of Student Services, Folsom Lake College

Sonia has been serving as the Vice President of Student Services for Folsom Lake College (FLC) since August 2019. Prior to joining FLC, Sonia served as American River College’s Dean of Student Services, Counseling and Transfer where she was responsible for overseeing general counseling, as well as transfer and assessment services. Sonia was also previously the Dean of Student Services at Woodland Community College where she had primary responsibility over the entire student services division as the sole student services dean. Sonia started her career in higher education working for the State Chancellor’s Office for twelve years where she worked in various roles, including Dean of Student Services overseeing matriculation services and Statewide CalWORKs Coordinator. Sonia also spent two years at CSU Sacramento as the Director of State and Federal Relations.

 

Junie Hayashi
Public Services Librarian, Leeward Community College

Junie Hayashi has been an academic librarian since 2006 and is the Public Services Librarian at Leeward Community College in Honolulu, Hawaii. In this role, Junie provides student and faculty focused services, including reference services, instruction, collection development, and library outreach. Before working in higher education, Junie practiced law for over 16 years primarily as a state deputy attorney general representing executive agencies. Junie was involved in Leeward Community College’s own self-evaluation process in 2012 and 2018, having served as a sub-committee co-chair, as well as a member of the Self-Evaluation Core Team and the Summer Self-Evaluation Team.

 

Dr. Derek Lerch
Chief Instructional Officer, Feather River College

Dr. Derek Lerch has been the Chief Instructional Officer and Accreditation Liaison Officer at Feather River College for nine years supervising and coordinating all aspects of instruction as the only instructional administrator at the college. Derek’s duties also include oversight of the college’s Career Technical Education programs and grants, as well as the Distance Education and Correspondence programs. Prior to becoming an administrator, Derek was a tenured faculty member in the natural resources and earth sciences disciplines for five years. Derek is experienced in serving on accreditation visiting teams, having served on four previous site visits. 

 

Robert Lee
Instructor of English, Pasadena City College

Robert Lee is an Instructor of English and the Writing Support Center Coordinator at Pasadena City College (PCC). Robert has served as the Writing Center Coordinator at PCC for the past 14 years. Robert also has 14 years of experience as an English as a Second Language (ESL) instructor at PCC, and 6 years of experience as an ESL teacher at South Pasadena High School. Robert is also the past president, vice-president and two year board member of the Southern California Writing Centers Association. Robert has served on three past peer review teams for accreditation. 

 

Sarah Shepard
Instructional Faculty - Business & Curriculum Chair, West Hills College Coalinga

Sarah Shepard is a business faculty member and has been with West Hills College Coalinga since 2001.  She has held a variety of accreditation-related roles in her tenure, including co-chairing the self-study, Standard Two, and Mid-Term Reports. This will be Sarah’s fourth time serving on an accreditation visiting team. She has been the Curriculum Chair at her college since 2007; a role she truly enjoys! She also is the college’s Inmate Education Faculty Coordinator. Sarah serves West Hills College Coalinga in numerous ways with a focus on college governance and faculty leadership.

 

Jeramy Wallace
Associate Professor of English, College of San Mateo

Jeramy Wallace is an Associate Professor of English at the College of San Mateo, as well the SMCCCD District Academic Senate President for the past year. Jeramy also served for two years as the College of San Mateo Academic Senate President, and was previously the Professional Development Coordinator and the Umoja Community Coordinator. As CSM Academic Senate President, Jeramy served as a co-chair for the Institutional Planning Committee and currently serves as the co-chair for the District Participatory Governance Committee. Jeramy was involved in his own college’s accreditation visit having served on the Accreditation Oversight Committee. 

Jenni Abbott
Dean, Institutional Effectiveness, Modesto Junior College

Jenni Abbot currently serves as the Dean of Institutional Effectiveness at Modesto Junior College overseeing research, planning, and effectiveness, as well as Strong Workforce programs and institutional grant development. Jenni also serves as the college’s Accreditation Liaison Officer. Jenni has worked at Modesto Junior College for 13 years, having previously served as the Director of Grants & Resource Development for nine years working across disciplines to develop new programs and services. This will be Jenni’s second time serving on an accreditation team. 

 

Dr. Alketa Wojcik
Vice President, Student Services, MiraCosta College

Dr. Alketa Wojcik is the Vice President of Student Services at MiraCosta College overseeing student support for the college in credit and noncredit programs, and the principle investigator for the GEAR UP grant. She has 17 years of experience in student services, holding past roles as a coordinator, Associate Dean of Student Life and Leadership, and Dean of Student Support. Alketa also has five years of experience as an instructional dean and is a board member of the RP Group. Alketa is experienced in accreditation having served as accreditation co-chair for her institution twice as well as serving on a past accreditation peer review team. 

 

Davit Khachatryan
Vice President for College Administrative Services, Irvine Valley College 

Davit Khachatryan has been serving in his current role at Irvine Valley College since 2014, overseeing fiscal, police, facilities maintenance, grants and technology services. Prior to that role, he served as the Director of Fiscal Services at Irvine Valley since 2006 after spending two years as a Fiscal Analyst within the South Orange County Community College District (SOCCCD). From 2001 to 2004, Davit worked at the California Department of Finance as a Finance Budget Analyst covering a number of human services programs. This will be Davit’s second time serving on an accreditation visiting team.