Robert L. Palmer
Vice President for Student Affairs

Bob Palmer joined the Cal State Fullerton family in August of 1997. He has over 20 years experience as a senior university Administrator and has served as an Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, Associate Provost, and Vice Provost. Prior to coming to southern California, he was the Vice President for Student Affairs at State University of New York at Buffalo. Bob holds a Master's degree in College Student Personnel from Indiana University, Bloomington, and a Ph.D. in Higher Education from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Since he joined the staff at Cal State Fullerton, Bob has worked to bring together a variety of student services under the Student Affairs umbrella and has achieved a reorganization of student affairs services and programs which provides optimum services to students.

Silas H. Abrego
Associate Vice President for Student Affairs

Silas Abrego joined the campus in August of 1985 overseeing student retention programs and outreach strategies. He has a Master's degree and doctorate in Higher Education, Governance and Management from the University of Southern California. Silas now oversees several Student Affairs units including Student Academic Services, International Education and Exchange, the Women's Center/Adult Re-entry, the University Learning Center and the Career Center. He also oversees several Educational Enhancement Programs including GEAR UP Anaheim, the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program, Upward Bound-Norwalk/Whittier, Upward Bound-Santa Ana and Upward Bound-Math/Science.

Howard Wang
Associate Vice President for Student Affairs

Associate Vice President for Student Affairs Howard Wang joined the campus in January, 2003. He has over 20 years experience in Student Affairs work. Before coming to Cal State Fullerton, he served as an Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs at CSU San Bernardino, overseeing the Career Center, Services for Students with Disabilities, ASI, Student Union, Student Leadership & Development, Housing and Residential Life, Events Management, and Recreational Sports. Howard holds a Master's degree in Clinical Microbiology (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and Education, and a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from UCLA. He currently works with Financial Aid, Housing and Residence Life, Disabled Student Services, Student Health and Counseling Center, Counseling and Psychological Services, Guardian Scholars and the Student Affairs Research Center. Howard enjoys reading, skiing, and especially travel. He recently traveled to Beijing, China to consult and provide training to university Student Affairs workers there.

Ryan Alcantara
Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs

Ryan Alcantara joined the campus in August of 1997 as the Coordinator for Greek Life and Student Development, where he advised several student programs out of the then Office of Student Life. Since then, he has held several other positions on campus including Coordinator of the Volunteer and Service Center, Director of Honors & Scholars Support Services, and Associate Dean of Students for New Student Programs. In January 2008, Ryan joined the Vice President’s Office, where he oversees budget, human resources, and technology functions within the Division of Student Affairs. He earned a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership from the University of Connecticut, where he worked in the Department of Student Activities and Union Programs, and a Ph.D. in Public Administration from the University of Southern California.

Lea M. Jarnagin
Assistant to the Vice President for Student Affairs

Lea Jarnagin joined the campus in April of 1998 as the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs in the College of the Arts, assuming responsibility for enrollment management and student leadership programs within the college. Since then she has served as the Associate Dean for New Student Programs where she was responsible for overseeing student transition programs for first-time freshmen, their family members and incoming transfer students. In March of 2005, Lea joined the Vice President's Office and assumed oversight for budget, human resources and technology functions for the Division of Student Affairs. In her current role, she provides leadership in the areas of student learning outcomes, divisional communications, policy review, space allocation and staff development programs. Lea earned her Master's degree in Counseling with an emphasis in Student Development in Higher Education from CSU Long Beach and is currently working on her Doctorate in Education at UCLA.

Elahe Amani
Director, Technology Services for Student Affairs

Elahe Amani joined the campus in August of 1999 as Associate Director of Student Financial Services after working at CSULB for 11 years supervising the Financial Aid Disbursement Office. She became director in 2001, where she worked on many technology related projects such as on-line payment, on-line billing, direct deposit of financial aid, on-line Deferred Payment Plan, as well as the Financial Literacy website. Elahe joined Student Affairs in January 2006, where she oversees technology related projects within the Division, including the design and implementation of on-line applications, and the promotion of new and emerging technologies. She also serves as the liaison between Student Affairs and other entities on campus on technology related issues. Elahe has taught in the Women Studies program at both CSU Fullerton and CSU Long Beach, and is active on campus and beyond on gender related issues.

Ellen Shaw
Administrative Assistant to the Vice President for Student Affairs

Ellen joined Cal State University, Fullerton in January 1995. Before coming to Cal State Fullerton, she served as Administrative Assistant at CKE Enterprises in Design and Construction. She also enjoyed serving as President of the Black Chamber of Commerce of Orange County. In her spare time she enjoys parasailing, reading, traveling, and listening to music, especially jazz. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Liberal Studies from Cal State Fullerton. She provides executive support to the Vice President for Student Affairs and Notary Public service to the campus community.

Rachel Lynch
Budget Analyst

Rachel Lynch came to CSUF in February of 2002 as a Budget Analyst in the Business and Financial Affairs Budget Office, after spending 3 years at the Chancellor’s Office as the Budget Operations Assistant. In November of 2003 Rachel moved to the Vice President for Student Affairs Office to serve in the role of divisional Budget Analyst. In her role Rachel works closely with the Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs, Budget and Human Resources as well as the managers and departmental budget coordinators within the division.

Kappy Ruzzi
Administrative Support Coordinator

Kappy has been an administrative assistant in the Office of the Vice President for 9 years. While raising her family she worked part time in various customer service positions before coming to CSUF in 1996. Her most important duty is serving the students here on campus. In addition to assisting students, Kappy supports Associate Vice President for Student Affairs, Dr. Howard Wang, the Alcohol and Other Drugs Advisory Committee and the Academic Appeals Board.

Diana L. Avendaño
Administrative Support Coordinator

Diana assists in a variety of administrative and technical duties in support of the day-to-day operations of the Office of the Associate Vice President for Student Affairs. She also provides coordination and direct clerical support for the administrative units reporting to the AVP. Additionally, Diana coordinates a number of special projects working independently and in close collaboration with community agencies and with individuals at all levels across the campus.

Jaime E. Hamilton
Receptionist & Publications Assistant

Jaime has been working in the Office of the Vice President for over 2 years. While completing her education, she worked in several student support service positions before coming to CSUF in 2006. She also serves on the Student Affairs Staff Development Committee.

Quynh Nguyen
Administrative Support Coordinator

Quynh Nguyen joined the Vice President’s Office staff team in December 2006. She provides coordination and direct clerical support for the day-to-day functions of the Office of the Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs. She assists the AVP with the coordination of HR processes and division-wide with Human Resources inquiries. Quynh also provides a full range of administrative support to the Director of Technology Services for Student Affairs. An alumnus of Cal State Fullerton, she has a degree in Business Administration in Marketing and a Certification of Human Resources Management.