Center for Teaching & Learning Staff

Lisa Rodriguez Ph.D.
Director & Assistant Professor, Center for Teaching and Learning
Phone: (909) 593-3511 x4065
Email: lrodriguez@laverne.edu

Dr. Lisa Rodriguez is the Director of The Center for Teaching and Learning and Assistant Professor at the University of La Verne where she guides both the strategic and operational efforts of the Center for Teaching and Learning and is responsible for leading and developing collaborative support for academic technology. She works closely with faculty to raise awareness, understanding, comfort, and skill levels in instructional technology.

Dr. Rodriguez is currently the Technology Coordinator for the College of Business and Public Management in their Title V efforts to incorporate more instructional technologies into their Business courses and to assess faculty and student technology implementation. Additionally, she is the Project Coordinator for the Title V Graduate Success grant garnered in October 2009.

Lisa holds a Ph.D. and an M.A. in Education from the Claremont Graduate University, and a B.A. in English Literature from California State Polytechnic University. The mother of one teenage son, she is a photographer, documentary filmmaker, and science fiction fan.

Nori's career has spanned varied levels of education. After 11 years in the K-12 classroom, Nori joined the California Technology Assistance Project as a Teacher on Assignment in the San Bernardino Region. She went on to work as a Technology Coordinator in the Chino Valley Unified School District and then Placentia Yorba-Linda Unified School District. Her passion for quality online education brought her to higher education.

Nori joined the staff at the Center for Teaching and Learning in 2008. She oversees La Verne faculty in the Online Certification Process for teaching hybrid or fully online courses. In addition, she offers ongoing training in Blackboard to faculty on the main campus as well the regional campus centers

Nori has been an Adjunct Professor in the Education Department since 2006 and was recently appointed lead teacher for the Computers for Educators course. She has rewritten the syllabus to a support future La Verne teachers using contemporary educational tools.

Nori shares her life with a madman who works for the X-Games and their 8-year old daughter puts up with them.

Bryan Best
Instructional Administrator
Phone: (909) 593-3511 x4069
Email: bbest@laverne.edu

Bryan Best is a native of  Washington, DC. He joined the CTL in November of 2003 where he oversees the daily operations, support, and administration for the Blackboard system, manages the media labs for the department, and supervises the talented student staff of the CTL. Byran has a strong background in customer service, having worked for two DC-based non-profit organizations supporting higher education. Bryan brings a wealth of enthusiasm, expertise, and creativity to his position having a deep interest in all things technological.

He and his wife, LaVees (a La Verne doctoral student) live in Redlands and are the proud parents of three energetic children.

Interesting Factoid: Bryan is a huge fan of Japanese Anime.

Valerie Shafia
Administrative Assistant
Phone: (909) 593-3511, x4564
Email: vshafia@laverne.edu

Val has been with the CTL since January of 2007 providing excellent support in the acquisition of department assets, scheduling of all CTL events, managing all external campus business relations, supervising our student staff, and general office administration. Val is the face of the CTL .

Nelson Jimenez
Research Associate
Phone: (909) 593-3511, x4089
Email: nelsonjimenezster@gmail.com

Nelson joined the CTL in June 2009 as a Research Associate performing formative and summative research, data analysis, and drafting reports for program improvement, review, and publication. Nelson is a native of Pomona, California and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science with an emphasis in Global Politics, Political Philosophy, and Foreign Policy from Pitzer College where he was a three-time Fabian Nunez scholarship recipient.