Academic Centers, Institutes, and Projects

Anthropological Studies Center

ASC Building 29
(707) 664-2381
Fax: (707) 664-4155

www.sonoma.edu/asc
Email: thomas.whitley@sonoma.edu

Director
Thomas Whitley

The Anthropological Studies Center undertakes activities that benefit the students of Sonoma State University, scholarship in the field of Cultural Resources Management, and the community at large.

The Center fulfills its mission in education, research, and public service by creating the opportunity for SSU students to learn real-world skills in Cultural Resources Management through internships and the Center’s professional apprenticeship program; by maintaining an Archaeological Collections Facility in which many artifact collections are available for students and scholars to study; and by operating an Office of Interpretive and Outreach Services that provides the public with information about archeology, anthropology, and historic preservation.

Since 1974, nongovernmental organizations and state and federal agencies have awarded ASC more than $60 million in grants and contracts. The Center, which maintains more than 10,000 square feet of laboratory and administrative office space, has a staff of 15 salaried professionals and 25 part-time student employees. Former CSU Chancellor Charles Reed described the Center as “one of the finest examples in the CSU system of… active learning and student involvement in faculty-directed research.”

Center for Community Engagement

1053 Salazar Hall
(707) 664-2665

cce.sonoma.edu 
Email: cce@sonoma.edu

Director
Merith Weisman

The Center for Community Engagement (CCE) advances community-based programs on the Sonoma State University campus. CCE supports faculty in developing community-based teaching that integrates academic theory with community service and research that is inclusive of community partners and students to address local problems. By incorporating these projects into the curriculum, we teach students to be active citizens and that the theories taught in the classroom do apply to real-world issues.

Central to the mission of the CCE are several goals:

• To integrate service-learning and community based research into the curriculum
• To support and promote SSU-community collaborative research including community-based participatory research, action research, and research for the common good
• To support and promote faculty community service and advocacy for community interests
• To support and promote high quality, reciprocal community university partnerships that are firmly rooted in the curriculum
• To assist community partners in connecting to opportunities to collaborate with and access the resources of the University
• To foster the development of a civic perspective in education

Center for Ethics, Law, and Society

Rachel Carson Hall 56
(707) 664-2841

www.sonoma.edu/philosophy/cels
Email: cels@sonoma.edu

Director
Gillian Parker

Programming Director
Megan Burke

Our world increasingly demands attention to pressing matters of moral, legal, and social concern. We continue to struggle with long-standing problems like discrimination and income inequality, and we now face urgent moral and legal challenges involving such crucial areas of life as sustainable resources, revolutionary technology, and heretofore unimaginable biological capabilities. The Center for Ethics, Law, and Society is SSU’s established hub for confronting such difficult questions. To this end, the Center has three objectives:

1. Foster student learning: Directly linked with the Pre-Law/Applied Ethics Concentration in the Philosophy Program, the Center addresses, develops, and promotes student learning and interest in the law and applied ethics. The Center also seeks to make connections to appropriate or overlapping curricula in other programs on campus, extending this role to students beyond the Philosophy program.
2. Engage with community: The Center strives to address, in a visible manner, questions of ethical and legal concern for the local community.
3. Promote scholarly development: The Center encourages scholarship concerned with issues related to law and ethics.

Study Away/Abroad Programs

Sonoma State University offers many different opportunities for students to study away as a part of their academic experience! All SSU students can study away, and should consider making it a part of their college experience! The Global Engagement Office (GEO) helps students from advising on program and location options to starting their application and then preparing students for their study away experience! GEO also assists students while they’re studying away and when they return to ensure they have a successful and beneficial experience! 

Study away enhances your education.
Study abroad adds a new perspective to your studies. You will see things from another point of view, which will help you to develop your analytical and critical thinking skills.

Study away builds your résumé.
In an age of global economies and information super-highways, the unique, international experience acquired while living abroad provides students with a competitive edge that sets them apart in the job market.

Study away leads to developing your self-awareness.
We sometimes impose limitations on ourselves, curbing our progress toward our goals. By leaving the familiar behind to encounter different people and places we gain a better understanding of ourselves and the world around us.

Study away teaches an understanding of another culture.
Living and learning in another culture in the midst of the unfamiliar adds to our understanding of the variety of cultures in our world and gives us maturity and perspective that can be gained in no other way.

Graduating soon? There are lots of opportunities for students to get abroad after graduating too!

National Student Exchange (NSE)

NSE is an agreement between almost 200 colleges and universities in the U.S., Canada, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, which allows students an opportunity to study at another campus while maintaining their enrollment status at their home campus. They avoid out-of-state tuition and can apply financial aid toward their exchange. Students cite academic diversification, the chance to travel, experiencing different geographic and cultural settings, personal growth and becoming more independent as reasons for participating in NSE. International Programs and NSE are valuable ways to travel and study while working toward a degree.

Center for Regional Economic Analysis

Stevenson Hall 1015B
(707) 664-4256

sbe.sonoma.edu/research/center-regional-economic-analysis

Director
Robert Eyler
Email: eyler@sonoma.edu

The Center for Regional Economic Analysis (CREA) at SSU provides research, data, and analysis for local industry and governments. Its mission is to produce and disseminate new information in the general area of economic research, and in the specific areas of business economics, economic development, regional economics, and policy. CREA serves the business community; federal, state, and local governments; individuals; and SSU. A special emphasis is placed on businesses and governments in the SSU service area.

Center for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide

Stevenson Hall 2078
(707) 664-4296
www.sonoma.edu/holocaust/
Email: centerh@sonoma.edu

Executive Director
Myrna Goodman, PhD

Academic Director
Professor Diane Parness

The Center for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide is an academic institute constituted in February 1987 to provide education on the origins, nature, and consequences of the Holocaust. Since its founding, the Center has broadened and expanded its focus to include the study of other historical and modern genocides. The primary activities of the Center include assisting in the organization and coordination of the annual, nationally recognized Holocaust and Genocide Lecture Series, which is offered as an upper division GE course, Political Science 307: Perspectives on the Holocaust and Genocide. The Center also develops and distributes resource materials (publications, electronic media, etc.) for campus, school, and public use, and cooperative efforts with a community-based group, the Alliance for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide, to provide Holocaust education in the SSU service area schools. The Center played an integral part in the establishment of the Holocaust and Genocide Memorial Grove on campus as well as the installation of a heritage sapling from the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam.

The Center promotes research on Holocaust themes and has sponsored conferences, film series, author presentations, and teacher training seminars. In collaboration with the Schulz Information Center and other regional libraries, the Center enhances the collection of books, videos, and other descriptive materials. The Center also supports commemorative events and the presentation of artistic and historical exhibits and offers access to information on the Holocaust and genocide across a broad range of thematic and disciplinary approaches.

Center for Teaching and Educational Technology (CTET)

1060 Salazar Hall
(707) 664-2659
email: ctet@sonoma.edu
https://ctet.sonoma.edu

CTET Director
Justin Lipp, Ph.D.

The Center for Teaching & Educational Technology (CTET) is located on the first floor of Salazar Hall. The Center supports SSU faculty development in teaching pedagogy, academic technology, online course design, universal design, and equity and inclusion in learning through multi-week professional development programs, individual workshops, one-on-one advising, and technical support. At the Center, faculty have the opportunity to meet individually with Instructional Technologists and Pedagogical Consultants to develop effective tools and strategies for the enhancement of teaching, both with and without technology. Faculty can also get hands-on support with instructional technologies including Canvas (and integrated tools like Ally and TurnItIn), YuJa Lecture Capture, Zoom for online class meetings, and Qualtrics for survey development

The Center additionally provides meeting spaces for faculty to collaborate with colleagues on instruction-related activities including instructional materials design, classroom technology, and accessibility remediation; and sponsors awards and grants for faculty development. Finally, the Center collaborates not only with individual faculty, but also with departments and schools, to pilot innovative instructional methods, develop initiatives in support of faculty professional development around teaching, and promote the accessibility of instructional materials across SSU.

Center for Environmental Inquiry

Schulz Library 3048
(707) 664-3416
cei.sonoma.edu
Email: ssupreserves@sonoma.edu

Director
Claudia Luke
Email: lukec@sonoma.edu

SSU’s Center for Environmental Inquiry mobilizes faculty, students and community to solve environmental challenges of the North Bay. Our staff create connections between academia and community that teach students critical skills and spark new ideas. We bring together: 

• Students and faculty from all disciplines to work on high priority projects as they build skills valuable to employers.
• Businesses and agencies to partner on solving pressing environmental issues.
• Community to learn and work together to make meaningful contributions towards a thriving future 

Programs: Center staff works with students, faculty and community to develop projects ranging from class assignments to multi-year studies. Staff helps faculty and students identify priority sustainability issues of the North Bay and develop meaningful projects as part of course-work, internships, student employment and independent research. An annual grant program provides funding to work on issues surrounding water, fire and technology. “Dig into Nature,” an active public workshop series introduces faculty and students to local environments and challenges.  

Preserves: The Center manages and promotes education and research activities at three SSU preserves totaling over 4,200 acres.  The SSU preserves are open to all persons engaging in education or research. On-site trainings, tours and workshops are available year-round. The 450-acre Fairfield Osborn Preserve lies 7 miles east of campus at the top of Sonoma Mountain. Preserve facilities include on-site offices, meeting rooms, a staff residence, and a sensor network. The 40-acre Los Guilicos Preserve which burned during the 2020 Glass Fire is 16 miles north of campus at the foot of Hood Mountain. The 3,670-acre Galbreath Wildlands Preserve is 60 miles north of campus in southern Mendocino County. Onsite facilities include a large camping area with water, food storage and a restroom.

Center for Interdisciplinary Geospatial Analysis

Darwin 14
(707) 664-2558
http://gep.sonoma.edu/research-activity-centers/ciga

Director
Dr. Matthew Clark
(707) 664-2558
Email: matthew.clark@sonoma.edu

The mission of the Center for Interdisciplinary Geospatial Analysis (CIGA) is to enable and promote the application of geospatial technology to social and environmental problems through research, education, and community service. The Center seeks interdisciplinary collaboration among campus and external researchers, students, and other organizations in projects that involve geographic information and spatial analysis at local to global scales. To accomplish these goals, the Center provides computer software and data resources; Geographic Information System (GIS) and remote sensing expertise and consulting services; educational courses; and community outreach. Courses in the Department of Geography, Environment and Planning provide a solid foundation in geospatial science and technology. Students are given a unique opportunity to broaden and refine their education by working on real-world problems in geospatial research projects and service contracts.

The Center has a well-equipped research computer lab for GIS analysis, image processing, and web-based map applications. Example projects conducted by CIGA include: modeling bird species diversity with soundscape analysis and satellite data; mapping California natural vegetation and land use with airborne hyperspectral images; forest biomass and fire fuels estimation with lidar sensors and unmanned aerial systems (drones); and, analyzing the impact of the global economy on natural and human systems at multiple spatial scales in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Hutchins Institute for Public Policy Studies and Community Action

Rachel Carson Hall 34
(707) 664-3185
www.sonoma.edu/hutchins/institute/

Director
Francisco H. Vázquez
Email: francisco.vazquez@sonoma.edu

The mission of the Hutchins Institute for Public Policy Studies and Community Action (HIPP) is to promote discussions about environmental and socioeconomic issues on and off campus, and to facilitate research and projects on these topics.

In keeping with this mission the Hutchins Institute collaborates with various profit and non-profit organizations in Sonoma County.

Presently HIPP continues to provide support to Latinos Service Providers (LSP), which has received a five-year (2016-2022), $1.18 million dollar grant from the California Department of Mental Health designed by Dr. Vázquez, to conduct Testimonios, a five-year research project on mental and behavioral health. The objective of the California Reducing Disparities Project (CRDP) is to work with the Latino community to identify cultural-based practices that promote mental health and to develop methods to translate these into evidence-based practices. Dr. Vazquez conceived and co-wrote the proposal for the Testimonios project, which will train up to twenty high school students per year as promotores de salud mental. Once trained, these promotores will collect and disseminate information from and to their particular communities. The first group of 20 students successfully completed their internship and the second group is well underway. They are supported by a Community Advisory Group made up of SSU and SRJC faculty and students, and community members, such as cultural practitioners, mental health specialists, as well as CRDP and LSP staff.

Previous projects include:

• The implementation of Latino Student Congress (now Youth Congress) within the North Bay Organizing Project of Sonoma County.
• Coalition for Latino Civic Engagement (CLACE): Its mission is to collaborate with Community Action Partnership to organize a coalition of several other organizations with expertise in voter registration to promote “Su Voto es su Voz,” a voter registration and education project in the Roseland area of Santa Rosa.
• The Association of Hutchins Alumni (AHA): a network of individuals interested in lifelong learning, featuring occasional seminar reunions and the Alumni Book Club;
• Northern California Earth Institute: to promote discussion groups based on a series of five group-study guides on various topics relating to sustainability (on-going); and
• Roseland Redevelopment Project: A project to turn the Roseland Shopping Center located on Sebastopol Road (to Dutton Avenue) into a three-story building with low-income housing on the third floor, offices on the second floor, and businesses on the first floor, and to include in this urban development a multicultural center and a plaza with a kiosk and gardens (on-going).
• On March 30, 2009, HIPP submitted a proposal to the U.S. Department of Energy for a project under the Hutchins Institute: Northern California Alternative Fuels Training Consortium. It was written by Shirley Johnson, a graduate from the Hutchins Master’s Program Action for a Viable Future and Dr. Vazquez agreed to serve as the Principal Investigator. It will be resubmitted in 2010;
• College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP) (2002-2007): recruitment and support of first year college migrant or seasonal students at Sonoma State University, Santa Rosa Junior College, and Napa Valley Community College;
• Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE): a research project to determine the levels of civic engagement among Latino high school students (2002-2003); and
• The Student Congress I-VI: a high school-based project that promotes Socratic seminars among under served high school students (1994-2997).

HIPP as a clearinghouse: The Hutchins Institute invites the submission of proposals to promote activities that are in keeping with its mission. Anyone interested in participating in any of the listed current activities or wishing to propose new projects should contact the Director.

Center for Sustainable Communities

Stevenson Hall 1032
(707) 664-3145
Fax: (707) 664-4202
gep.sonoma.edu/research-activity-centers/csc

Director
Kevin Fang
Email: fangk@sonoma.edu

The Center for Sustainable Communities (CSC) is a research and community service center sponsored by the Sonoma State’s Department of Geography, Environment and Planning.

The CSC’s predecessor institution, the Institute for Community Planning Assistance, was established in 1984 to meet the needs of public agencies seeking planning studies, community surveys, public outreach efforts, and other projects suited to the skills and interests of students and faculty. ICPA also offered training programs to local governments on a variety of planning topics.

In 2009, the Center for Sustainable Communities (CSC) emerged as a program of ICPA, utilizing faculty, students, and CSC staff to support a range of state, regional, and local sustainability efforts.

In 2013, ICPA was officially renamed the Center for Sustainable Communities. Its activities are focused on an array of sustainability topics, such as:

• Local and regional government approaches to reducing green house gas emissions and adapting to climate change.
• Land use planning and public health, including general plan documents.
• Integrating water resources and land use planning

The CSC works with a mix of government agencies to develop sustainability policy documents, implementation programs, and provides training on sustainability topics for local governments and other organizations

Current and recent projects include:
•    Preparing a Healthy Community Element for the City of Vallejo’s General Plan
•    Developing and testing a “return on investment” tool measuring costs and benefits of various low impact development strategies, for the California Department of Water Resources
•    Writing and preparing graphics for Regional Climate Action Plan: Highlights and Summary, to provide community access to the Regional Climate Protection Authority’s Climate Action Plan for Sonoma County
•    Researching and writing existing conditions reports, policies, and implementation actions related to climate change, healthy communities, and environmental justice for the City of Rohnert Park’s General Plan.

Migrant Education Advisor Program

Counseling Master’s Program
Nichols 241
(707) 664-2748
www.sonoma.edu/counseling/files/meap.pdf

School Counseling Specialist Substitute
Ever Flores
Email: eflores@husd.com

Associate Director
Elaine Pearson
Email: epearson@booe.org

An urgent need continues to exist for role models with knowledge of challenges encountered by migrant students and for advocates sensitive to their social and academic needs. Research highlights three critical areas of need:

1. Lack of sufficient school counseling services, particularly ethnically and linguistically diverse counselors;
2. High state and national high school dropout rates among migrant students; and
3. Disproportionately low numbers of migrant students enrolling in four year colleges.

The Migrant Education Advisor Program (MEAP) is a California State University collaborative project in its 20th year of responding to these needs by working with local school districts.

Migrant Education Advisor Program Goals:

• Promote bilingual (bicultural) college undergraduates and Counseling M.A. program graduate students as role models and future school counselors and educators, offering paid work experience and training as paraprofessional school advisors and mentors;
• Provide supplemental academic advising for Migrant/English Learners and at-risk students to ensure high school graduation and attainment of skills for lifelong success and pursuit of postsecondary education or career technical/vocational training;
• Provide career guidance so that Migrant/English Learners and at-risk students develop career and educational goals;
• Support social, emotional, and academic growth of students served through fostering of self-esteem, cultural pride, and leadership development; and
• Act as liaisons for schools in order to provide much-needed outreach and education to migrant and English-Learner parents in order to assist them in their support for the education of their children.

California Global Education Project

Stevenson 3029
(707) 664-3115
ww.cgepssu.com

Director
Nancy Case-Rico
Email: case@sonoma.edu

The California Global Education Project, formerly the California International Studies Project (1985-2018), is one of nine California Subject Matter Projects administered by the University of California Office of the President. CGEP provides on-going quality professional development designed by university faculty, teacher leaders, and teacher practitioners to improve instructional practices and lead to increased achievement for all students. CGEP’s statewide office is located in the College of Education at San Diego State University.

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute

(707) 664-2691
https://olli.sonoma.edu/
OLLI Email:  olli@sonoma.edu

Director
Leslie Brutocao
Email: brutocal@sonoma.edu
707-664-2600

Program Assistant

Grace Burroughs
Email: burrougg@sonoma.edu
707-664-2691

Founded in 2001, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at SSU is a unique learning community for adults age 50 and better, offering continuing education with no tests and no grades. The goal of the Institute is to bring high quality educational and social experiences to older adults in Sonoma County.

Distinguished SSU faculty and other Bay Area educators enjoy sharing their expertise with OLLI students, whose life experience and intelligence enrich the exchange of ideas. Subject areas include the arts, world cultures, natural sciences, food and wine, social and political history, and contemporary issues. OLLI offers four sessions a year with six week, three week, and single two-hour classes.

OLLI courses take place in Rohnert Park with online courses also available. The second OLLI program established in the country, OLLI at SSU is one of 125 Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes nationwide, all supported in part by the Bernard Osher Foundation.

Sonoma Film Institute

Ives Hall 63
(707) 664-2606
www.sonoma.edu/sfi

Director
Eleanor Nichols

The Sonoma Film Institute brings to the University a broad variety of films—from silent film to the avant-garde, from contemporary American film to films from the third world—designed to expand audience awareness of film. A fun and meaningful forum for education, understanding and awareness, the Sonoma Film Institute introduces audiences to the art of film making and celebrates both the differences and the shared values of the many cultural groups that make up our global community. The program aims to develop media literacy, broaden insights into other cultures, enhance foreign language aptitude, develop critical thinking skills, and inspire a lifelong appreciation of cinema.

Wine Business Institute at Sonoma State University

Wine Spectator Learning Center
(707) 664-3347
www.sonoma.edu/winebiz
email: winebiz@sonoma.edu

Executive Director
Ray Johnson
email: ray.johnson@sonoma.edu

Twenty-five years ago, forward-thinking leaders envisioned a new kind of partnership between academia and the wine industry. That vision became the Wine Business Institute (WBI) at the School of Business and Economics (SBE) at Sonoma State University. 

Sonoma State (SSU) was the first university in the United States to offer a BS in Wine Business in 1998, the first to offer a Wine MBA in 2008 and the first in the world to offer an Executive Wine MBA in 2012.

Today, professionals from California and around the world choose SSU as the global leader in Wine Business research and education to experience firsthand the expertise and network of our faculty, alumni, and industry connections.

We equip our students with wine business knowledge and industry-specific tools and strategies to deliver results for organizations competing in today’s global marketplace. They study alongside industry professionals from winemakers and viticulturists, brand managers, distributors, CFOs and winery owners.

Our faculty’s research informs public policy and drives innovation in the industry on topics including the impact of crises (COVID-19, fires), new marketing and distribution channels, consumer preferences, economic impact, sustainability, and philanthropy. In 2016 the WBI launched the online Wine Business Journal, a journal dedicated to practitioners, educators and researchers interested in critical issues in wine business.

In 2018, SSU opened the Wine Spectator Learning Center, a state-of-the-art education complex dedicated to training the next generation of wine business leaders. The $9.15 million center has become a nexus of collaboration for faculty, students and the leadership of the wine industry.