Learn how to apply (first step: register with and upload your CV to the CCC Registry) and what it’s like to work for a California community college by talking to Beth Au, moderator, and a panel of UCSC graduate student alumni, all of whom currently work for or recently worked for a CCC.

This event scheduled for November 21 was canceled.

Moderator

Beth Au

Instructor of Ethnic Studies, Modesto Junior College

Beth Au has a master’s degree in Asian American Studies from UCLA. Prior to taking on the full-time position of instructor of ethnic studies at Modesto Junior College, she served as director of the California Community Colleges (CCC) Registry from 2002 to July 2024. As director, she oversaw and managed cccregistry.org, the state chancellor’s job board for faculty, management, and staff opportunities at all 73 districts and 116 colleges across California. The CCCs are the largest higher education employer in the world, with over 60,000 faculty, administrators, and staff across the state. In her role as a recruiter, she frequently worked with UC graduate students and postdocs through UC career centers and graduate divisions to host CCC interest panels, and during her tenure, she counseled over 400 job seekers in Zoom sessions. Several of the job seekers she coached were offered full-time, tenure-track positions at a CCC since 2022.

Beth welcomes questions from graduate students and postdoctoral scholars who are applying for a faculty position at any one of the 116 California community colleges. Reach out to her directly at aub@yosemite.edu. She is willing to schedule a one-on-one Zoom meeting for 20 minutes.

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Lisa Beebe, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Music
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater

As assistant professor of music at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Lisa Beebe teaches courses in music history and ethnomusicology. From 2019 to 2024, she was a professor of music at Cosumnes River College (CRC) in Sacramento. At CRC, she chaired the College Curriculum Committee, was a member of the Professional Standards Committee, and also served on several hiring committees. She completed a Ph.D. in cultural musicology at UC Santa Cruz in 2017 with a dissertation about the Vietnamese đàn bầu monochord and served as the UCSC Music Department’s graduate coordinator from 2017 to 2019.

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Francesca “Chesa” Caparas

Instructor, English, Women’s Studies, and Asian American Studies
De Anza College, Cupertino

Chesa Caparas (she/they) has a B.A. and M.A. in modern literature from UC Santa Cruz. She is a faculty member in English, Women’s Studies, and Asian American Studies at De Anza College. In her classes she explores literature and pop culture, the intersections of technology with race and gender, and the ethical applications of artificial intelligence. In 2022, she was a Fulbright Scholar in the Philippines, where she researched media and information literacy. She is currently pursuing a master’s in Information and Knowledge Strategy at Columbia University.

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Brian Malone, Ph.D.

Professor of English
De Anza, Cupertino

Brian Malone (he/him) is a tenured professor of English at De Anza College in Cupertino. He teaches classes in composition and English literature, in addition to serving on the leadership team for Guided Pathways and as project director for a Title III: Strengthening Institutions Program grant. He previously served as tenure review coordinator for the college. He holds an A.B. from Harvard University and an M.A. from the University of Virginia. He received a Ph.D. in literature from UC Santa Cruz in 2014, with a dissertation focusing on the nineteenth-century novel in England and France.

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Randy Villegas, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Political Science
College of the Sequoias, Visalia

A product of public education institutions, Randy Villegas is an associate professor of political science at the College of the Sequoias and a trustee for the Visalia Unified School District Board of Education. Before beginning graduate school, Villegas worked as a journalist and an organizer in Bakersfield, CA. He has been a recipient of numerous awards, including the 2020 CARE-UC Innovation Fellowship and the American Political Science Association (APSA) Fund for Latino Scholarship. He is currently featured in the Unity Exhibit of the California State Capitol Museum for his work around social justice issues in the Central Valley. After being appointed to the Visalia Board of Trustees in December 2021, he was elected by the voters of Area 6 to continue serving in November 2022. Randy is honored to serve our students, families, and community.

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Sarah Gerhardt, Ph.D.

Chemistry Department Chair and Instructor
Cabrillo College

Although unable to attend this year’s panel discussion, prior panelist Sarah Gerhardt provided this statement about her experience working for California community colleges:

I started teaching chemistry as an adjunct/lecturer at Santa Clara University in 2003, when I graduated from UCSC, and really enjoyed it. However, when we decided to start a family, I realized I wanted to be closer to home in Santa Cruz with kids, so I shifted to teaching nights at Cabrillo College when my firstborn was four months old in 2005. I really enjoyed the camaraderie at Cabrillo, and I applied for a full-time position but was not offered it. Without insurance for adjuncts,* I needed to work full time, so I did a stint in pharmaceuticals (not my happy place) and then a postdoc in molecular biology at UCSC to expand my opportunities (by then, I had two kiddos). I accepted a full-time tenure track chemistry position at Monterey Peninsula College and was tenured there after three years. I loved my colleagues and students at MPC but wanted to be closer to home, so after six years at MPC, I started over in a full-time tenure track position at Cabrillo. I earned tenure after four years at Cabrillo (each college has its own tenure track process with schedules that vary based on the college) and am now chair of the Chemistry Department. I am enjoying learning about the aspects of curriculum, hiring, budgeting, and shared governance, in addition to teaching. My firstborn is attending Cabrillo as a sophomore, and my secondborn is starting at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo for the 2024-2025 academic year, both choosing to attend a community college over a UC and a CSU. I think it’s a great choice!

*Cabrillo now has an insurance option for associate faculty (adjunct).

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