New Faces on Campus

Each new school year brings a myriad of new students, but also some new professional faces. This year, several new people have joined the faculty and the enrollment team at PUC.

Ismail Akman, M.S.W., and Sylvana George, M.S.W., L.C.S.W., have both joined the social work program as assistant professors. Akman teaches part-time and works as a medical social worker at Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa. George also teaches part-time and works for two parole units with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, providing individual and group therapy to parolees.

Clay Burnett, B.S., is a new enrollment counselor. He comes to PUC from Arkansas, where he worked at Ozark Adventist Academy. Cambria Wheeler, B.A., who was a drama program intern for PUC’s English department last year, is also a new enrollment counselor.

Visual arts welcomes Alexander Carpenter, M.A., Melissa Pratt, M.F.A., and Rodney Vance, M.F.A. Carpenter, an instructor, will teach art history. He is also a new media consultant and the editor of the Spectrum magazine online blog. Pratt is an assistant professor with filmmaking experience and teaches in the film and television program.
Vance, associate professor, heads up the film and television program. He has been working full-time as a writer for film and television.

Sara Kakazu, M.A., assistant professor, and Heather Reid, M.A., assistant professor, are both new to the English department. Kakazu has been pursuing graduate studies in New York, and is a Ph.D. candidate at the University at Buffalo. Reid is working on her dissertation for a Ph.D. from the University of Victoria, British Columbia.
 
Helene Linzau, B.S.N., instructor; Tamara Tirado, M.S.N., F.N.P., assistant professor; and Bonnie Ramos, M.S.N., F.N.P., assistant professor, now teach in the nursing department. Linzau teaches fundamentals of nursing and does some work for St. Helena Hospital. Tirado has been working as a family nurse practitioner. Ramos teaches mental-health nursing.