Tiffany Reardon (Director, MESA Program)

For the past six years, Tiffany Reardon has worked with the Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement Program at Skyline College. She is also the advisor for the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. For the past three years, she has been the workshop coordinator for the Expanding Your Horizons in Math and Science Conference.

In the summer of 2004, she participated in an extensive research project at the University of Pennsylvania. She presented her work with historian Mary Beth Gasman at the 2004 Black Faculty in the Ivy League Conference at Columbia University. Her MESA Program was recently awarded $34,000 to conduct a five-week summer program for Biology students to begin in summer 2006. A graduate of San Francisco State University, she holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and is completing her Master’s Thesis in Education

Liza Erpelo (Assistant Professor, Language Arts Division)

Liza Erpelo has been teaching at Skyline College since Fall 2002 and is currently the coordinator for the Kababayan Program. She is also one of the faculty advisors for the Filipino Student Union.

She graduated from San Diego State University in 1995 with a B.A. in English; completed an M.A. in English: Concentration in Asian American Literature from in 2000 and a second M.A. in 2002 in English: Concentration in Composition from San Francisco State University. As a graduate student, she began mentoring and tutoring students for the Faculty/Student Mentorship Program. She has also taught English courses for the Extended Opportunity Summer Bridge Program at SFSU, a comprehensive support program that assists disadvantaged and low-income, first-generation students in achieving academic success through a six-week academic program that facilitates the transition from high school to university.

Erika Torres (Financial Aid Work Study Coordinator)

Erika Torres graduated from San Francisco State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and a minor in La Raza Studies. She also heads Latinos Unidos, a networking group for Latino faculty and staff. During this past year, Erika orchestrated fundraisings efforts and created the Cesar Chavez Scholarship. Through her work in the financial aid, she oversees America Counts, a federal program that offers tutoring for at-risk K- 6 tudents.

Currently, she is completing Chemistry courses to prepare for the Medical College Admissions Test. At the same time, she is engaged in an independent research project at Stanford University. Erika hopes to one day become a physician in order to be a voice and an advocate for underserved populations. She is currently President of Skyline’s Pre Medical Student Association and started the Minority Student Alliance. Access to Higher Education Forum: Making the Connection is the brainchild of Ms. Torres.