Dr. Tenisha James
Vice President
Planning & Development
Education
Ed.D., Education Leadership, Administration, and Policy
Pepperdine University, Malibu, California
Dissertation: African American Students in a California Community College:
Perceptions of Cultural Congruity and Academic Self-Concept within a Black
Culture Center, September 2017
Myers-Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI) certification
Myers Briggs Training Institute
Masters of Arts in Education Counseling
California State University Dominguez Hills, Carson, California
Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Social Behavior
Minor in Education /Minor in African American Studies
University of California Irvine, Irvine, California
Experience
Dr. James leads several departments within the Norco College student services division, which includes Assessment, Career, Counseling, Disability Resource Center, Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS), Cooperative Agencies Resources for Education (CARE), Puente, Matriculation/Student Success and Support Program (SSSP) and Transfer. Previously, she provided leadership to several federal funded Student Support Services (SSS) programs, including a Veterans grant, and a Disability Grant. She is committed to serving historically oppressed student groups and under-served students through program development, grant writing, and equity training. She is currently serving as President-Elect for the Riverside Community College District Management Leadership Association (MLA), where she is working to develop a leadership retreat and mentoring program aimed at management support and succession planning.
Dr. James has a long history in education and in serving low-income students of color in the k-12 to college pipeline. She began her career in Los Angeles Unified School District as the Lead College Counselor at two large, urban public high schools, both located in South Central Los Angeles before making the transition to high educational approximately 10 years ago. Her career in higher education began in federal funded TRIO programs, which provide targeted services and support to first-generation, low-income high school and college students. During her time in federal funded programs, she successfully competed in each of the five-year competitive award cycles to renew existing grants and acquire two new grants. Her continued efforts to institutionalize equity currently involve the implementation of guided pathways and the creation of student success teams to facilitate student success. Her work in education is defined by her desire to bring equity to all students by removing institutional barriers to student access and success by scaling up student services programs.
Dr. James is a wife and mother of two children, residing in Riverside, CA. She is a woman of faith who is involved with her local Christian church and committed to applying the spiritual disciplines of Christ professionally and personally. She has served on the board for a local nursery school and volunteers at her children's elementary school. She enjoys traveling, reading, hiking, eating good food, and laughing, and looks forward to annual vacations where she can do it all, and maybe sneak in a little shopping as well.