Title V Postbaccalaureate Project Staff

Jocelyn S. Chong, Ph.D.

Activity Director

jchong@msmc.la.edu

(213) 477-2897

Jocelyn joined Mount St. Mary’s College in March 2010. She brings with her experience in student affairs, institutional research and assessment at several higher education institutions including Scripps College, Woodbury University, University of La Verne and Cal Poly Pomona. She has held leadership positions and maintains active membership in various professional organizations including ACPA College Student Educators International, Association for the Study of Higher Education and the Association for Institutional Research. She has also presented papers at state and national conferences.

Maria G. Garcia

Project/Activity Assistant

mgarcia2@msmc.la.edu

(213) 477-2898

Maria is a proud graduate of Mount St. Mary’s College. She earned her undergraduate degree in Criminology and Medical Sociology. She has also been a dedicated member of the Mount Staff and has worked with previous Title V grants awarded to the Mount. She is currently completing her thesis as part of the Master of Arts in Humanities.

Christine Jun, Ph.D.

Writing and Thesis

Coordinator

cjun@msmc.la.edu

(213) 477-2873

Christine earned her undergraduate degree at University of California, Riverside and her Ph.D. at the University of Southern California, all in Political Science. The title of her dissertation is “Argentina’s Economic Crisis in 2001 and the Role of the International Monetary Fund.”

Christine has extensive experience working with graduate students in the development of their writing skills and the completion of their Master’s theses at USC and the Mount. As the Graduate Writing and Thesis Coordinator, she serves all graduate students’ writing needs at any stage of the writing process. She is one of many who strive to facilitate graduate students in the successful completion of their degrees. She's also proficient in Spanish.

Kara Lemma

Writing Associate

klemma@msmc.la.edu

(213) 477-2873

Kara joined the Graduate Transition Center staff as a Writing Associate in Summer 2012.  Kara has worked as a Writing Consultant at USC’s Writing Center and has also volunteered as a tutor with the Adult Literacy Program at the Los Angeles Public Library.  She is also conversant in Spanish and proficient in Italian.

Kara holds a B.A. in Sociology and Religion, and a M.A. in Sociology from USC. She will be defending her dissertation late June.

Markell Morris

Graduate Career Advisor

mrmorris@msmc.la.edu

Markell has over 15 years of experience delivering career-related programs for college students and professionals. She joins us most recently from UCLA Career Services where she served as the Counseling Manager for Graduate Student Services. She also facilitates programs for women in career transition at WomanSage.

Markell holds a B.A. in Sociology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a M.Ed. in Counseling from the University of San Diego.

Tatiana Basañez

Statistics Associate

tbasanez@msmc.la.edu

(213) 477-2874

Tatiana joined the Mount in September 2012 as the Statistics Associate in the Graduate Transition Center. She has several years of experience conducting research at organizations such as the University of Southern California, Los Angeles Unified School District and the RAND Corporation. She has presented research papers at professional conferences and been published in academic journals on issues pertaining to ethnicity and family. She is also fluent in Spanish.

Tatiana is currently completing her PhD in Applied Social Psychology at Claremont Graduate University. She also holds a M.A. in Psychology from California State University, Los Angeles, and a B.A. in Social Sciences from Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México.