Welcome to My 1st Year Tenure e-Portfolio!

2023 Mt. SAC Educator of Distinction Award

2022 Inspiring Women of Mt. SAC Award

2020 Mt. SAC President’s Award: Excellence and Innovation in Teaching and Learning through Outcomes Assessment   

2018 Academic Senate 10 + 1 Award in Student Preparation and Success

2018 Student Services Division Starfish Award

2017 Educator of Distinction Award

2015 Classified Senate Rookie of the Year Award

2014 UCLA Department of Education Soical Justice in Education Award

2014 UCLA Senior of the Year Award

2011 Mt. SAC Student of Distinction Award in Service Achievement

Through praxis, my educator philosophy has been shaped by my experience navigating an educational system that was foreign to me, and my single-mother, when we immigrated to this country as undocumented immigrants. I am a person of integrity, and as such I promote the personal identity development of students so they can develop purpose and achieve self-authorship in order to stand up for their values and beliefs. 

As an educator, my first priority is to make students see their value both in society and in academia, sharing my navigational capital and experiential knowledge as a transfer student and first-generation college graduate to help them combat imposter syndrome. I do this by validating their experiences as well as academic and career aspirations through affirming language. I also promote student self-worth to build their confidence by valuing their contributions in academia and making them feel that their viewpoints matter. 

In the following pages, I will expand on my teaching, counseling, and student support philosophies in practice.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the following individuals for their support throughout my personal, educational, and professional journey. It truly takes a village!

My husband Jose Jimenez 

My Family

My Students

Alana Bachor 

Santiago Bernal

Krystle Bybee

Melissa Candell

Jamaika Fowler

Urias Garcia

Alfred Herrera

Blanca Juarez-Alvarado

Carolyn Lake-Bain

Jesse Lopez

Sandy Lopez

Nayeli Madero

Julie Marquez

Laura Muniz

Tony Rivas

Elmer Rodriguez

Claudia Salcedo

Hector Sanchez

Dear Tenure Committee,

What a privilege to be evaluated, guided and supported by the same members of my hiring committee and by my life-long mentor. As if that was not enough, I have you all in close proximity to my office, and I know that I am indeed just steps away from getting your support whenever I need it. First and foremost, I would like to thank each one of you for believing in me and entrusting me with the great responsibility that it entails to be a counseling faculty member at Mt. SAC. With your decision, you have changed the life of this first-generation professional. We all know that this impact expands to my community, too.

Dr. Francisco Dorame, Dean of Counseling

Francisco, thank you for believing in me since 2014 when you felt compelled to offer me the full-time High School Outreach Specialist position as a recent UCLA graduate. My professional career started there, and it was the most rewarding experience being able to facilitate access to higher education to our most underserved communities. The seven years I served as a Transfer Specialist in the Transfer Center, under your supervision, were without a doubt so transformative. I would like to reiterate my immense gratitude for those amazing opportunities and for your continuous support in my professional development.

Dr. Bernard Sommers, Counseling Departmnt Chair

Bernie, thank you for being so transparent and for demonstrating me your support and understanding since we first started working together in your Department Chair role. I have truly enjoyed working with you and respect your leadership. I thank you so much for the opportunities you have presented me to develop as a counseling faculty. I am especially thankful because you were one of the hiring committee members who opened me the door to adjunct counseling in fall 2021. Who would have thought that a year and a half later, you would be one of the decision-makers to now open me the door to this tenure-track full-time counseling faculty position? Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Dr. Chan Ton, Counseling Faculty

Chan, what a true honor to have my counseling sessions evaluated by such a transformational counselor like you! Thank you for validating me as a person and as an educator in every opportunity you've had during the last 5 months. Your reassurance, feedback and advise is so valuable to me and has tremendously helped me in my practice. You are an exemplar representative of the SDHE community as you truly enact what the program intended to prepare us for. You are a blessing in your students' and colleagues' lives. It makes me so happy to finally have you as part of my village and tribe. I had been waiting for this opportunity to work with you for years. Now that it's finally here, I cherish it.

Emler Rrodiguez, Counseling Faculty

Elmer, you never cease to impress me with your unconditional support. When I think you have reached excellence, you show me that working towards social justice in education is a continuous work of heart. You keep challenging me to evolve and show me that we can always do more. Sometimes it is really hard to parallel your hard work, but I graciously accept the challenge. Ultimately, those were the reasons why I nominated you, while a student at Mt. SAC back in 2012, to be recognized as an Educator of Distinction. You represent that title so well, and my practice as an educator has been shaped by yours! Thank you ONCE AGAIN for your daily support and for helping me reach all my academic and professional goals first as a student and then as an educator.

Now that I made the transition from Transfer Specialist and adjunct counseling faculty to full-time Professor of Counseling, I am eager to continue transforming the lives of our Mounties at the different levels that this role entails. I look forward to continuing working with you and all my colleagues as we work together to better the lives of our students and communities.

Let this e-portfolio serve as a sample of the work that I have accomplished in the last 5 months in this new role and as a demonstration that I can accomplish much more when given the opportunity. 

Sincerely,

Lupita Jimenez 

Student photos presented on this e-portfolio have the photo release permission from each student.