Four new full-time faculty were hired for the winter quarter, with the new hires being split between the English department and Academic Services Division.

New hires Amy Leonard and Kim Palmore will be teaching a variety of EWRT and LART classes, while Veronica Neal and Kay Fischer will take on tasks involving cross-cultural perspectives and community engagement work in the Academic Services Division.

Leonard was an active part-time instructor within De Anza as a teacher in the English Department, a tutoring instructor, and been involved in various projects such as reading classes and student learning outcomes. Leonard obtained her M.A. in English literature at San Francisco State University in 2008, later getting certification in online instruction. One of the classes she is teaching this quarter is LART 200.

Palmore received her B.A. and M.A. at Cal State University Long Beach before going to University of California Riverside to obtain her Ph.D. in 20th century American and British literature, later becoming a professor at CSU Long Beach. Before coming to De Anza, she worked at UC Riverside. She is teaching EWRT 211 and 1B this quarter.

Neal obtained her Ed.D and M.A. in educational leadership from Mills College and later earned a B.A. in psychology and behavioral sciences from San Jose State University. She has lectured at a variety of colleges before signing on to be Director of Equity, Social Justice, and Multicultural Education at De Anza. 

Fischer earned an A.A. in liberal studies at De Anza, moving from there to get a B.A. in ethnic studies from UC California, Berkeley, and later an M.A. in Asian-American studies from San Francisco State University. She has training in mentoring services, community action and organizing, and skills in curriculum development.  She’s coming to De Anza to work as the Community Organizer for the Institute of Community and Civic Engagement.

The new hires were necessary to comply with the Faculty Obligation Number, a state mandated regulation. This requires De Anza College to have over 75 percent of credit hours taught by full-time staff members, or suffer a cut in funding amounting to approximately $55,000 for every position left vacant under the minimum of required positions.