Get to Know an FA Council member

by Dara, FA Vice President

Tell us a little bit about you and what you like to do for fun.

I am in my twelfth year at MiraCosta and ninth year as a full-time faculty member. I coached MiraCosta’s first sand volleyball team in 2012 when I was an associate faculty member and I now get to see the newly installed Spartan sand volleyball courts in action from our new Kinesiology, Health and Nutrition (KHAN) building! I am the current department chair for KHAN and I teach Introduction to Kinesiology, Principles of Health, Stress Management and Yoga Teacher Training Development. A little about my personal life…I start most days with an early morning walk with my partner, Kurt and yellow lab, Phoebe. I helped raise Kurt’s two kids and am proud to share that they both graduated from MiraCosta and went on to UCSD and UCSB.  In my free time I love to surf, play beach volleyball, hike, camp, ski, garden and cook. 

What made you choose FAC as your governance work?

I chose the FAC for governance work because I wanted to learn more about our contract and stay informed of updates at MiraCosta. I realized I didn’t know much about our bylaws or constitution and wanted to learn more about working conditions, reassigned time, schedules, roles and responsibilities. Additionally, after a few years of working remote through the pandemic, I was looking forward to getting to know more colleagues and attending meetings in person. The FAC has been a great experience so far: collaborating with colleagues twice a month in meetings, participating in educational luncheons, and attending the social gatherings off campus each semester. 

What's one valuable thing or surprising thing you learned about working conditions through your time on FAC?  

Something surprising I learned from participating on FAC is how much the committee is there to support all full-time faculty and advocate for students. It is really comforting to know the FAC is there for any issues that arise related to equitable working conditions and our contract. The executive committee is very committed to running informative meetings to prepare everyone for upcoming changes and negotiations with the district. One of the more recent issues the FAC helped navigate for all full-time faculty was the change to our benefits and transition to SISC. Knowing that our FAC members looked at the changes for PPO and Kaiser members from every angle was very reassuring.