As an instructor it is my responsibility to develop and maintain a curriculum that is rigorous and interactive, while meeting the academic standards established by the college.  In addition I expect that my students take responsibility for committing to those same standards by regularly attending class and completing all required assignments and activities.  I see my role in the classroom (and the virtual classroom) to facilitate learning and believe that it is the student's role to engage in learning.   The end result is that students will walk away from my classes with a strong foundation of knowledge and the ability to apply what they've learned in real life situations.

For 8 years I worked in the California Department of Mental Health (DMH) as a staff mental health specialist. I worked collaboratively with county mental health departments to ensure that their mental health delivery systems were effectively providing services to the public.  The last several year I have focused on working with counties as they implement new services through the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) which is formerly known as Proposition 63.  My experience with the State has given me invaluable knowledge about public mental health services and issues, the systems that provide them, and the impact of legislative action and public reaction to people and their experiences with mental illness.  I have a genuine passion for mental health, which is reflected in my curriculum.

Prior to working at DMH I worked with seriously emotionally disturbed (SED) children in a residential treatment facility program.  I started working with this population in the field of mental health in 1996 for a school-based behavior modification program (i.e. I went to 3rd grade with an SED boy and applied a treatment method called behavioral modification). I also worked in a Bay Area high school intervention program targeting at-risk adolescents.

However, prior to working in mental health, I started my early professional career as an intercollegiate soccer coach at my alma mater, Saint Mary's College in Moraga, CA - go Gaels!

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There are 2 primary ways to contact me: email and voicemail.  All correspondence should include your full name, student ID#, and the class (section # and title) somewhere in the email. 

1. The best way to contact me is via email (hokersl@arc.losrios.edu).  I check my email regularly each day and students that send me email can expect a response within 24 hours (weekdays) and 72 hours (weekends) - college recesses are the exception.  

2. Students can also contact me via voicemail, however I do not check my voicemail as regularly as I do my email.  Typically I will respond within 48 hours to voicemail messages.

Additionally students can find me on-campus during my "Student Hour."

All students: If you have an urgent situation that requires me to get in touch promptly, be sure to indicate this in your email/voicemail and leave a phone number where I can contact you.  I will respond to urgent messages as quickly as I retrieve the message.  I recommend both a voicemail and email in these situations.

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I now host a podcast channel through the iTunes store to provide another avenue for disseminating information for my online Psyc 300 class.  If you're not sure what it is or how to use it, click here to read about podcasting on Wikipedia (this was the simplest explanation I could find).  My podcast channel is titled "Get Psyched!" and it will host a variety of podcasts including:

• Highlights from the class syllabus

• Hot Tips! to be successful

• Weekly News

• Module Summaries

Coming soon!

• PowerPoint Tutorials

• Guest Speakers

If you'd like to preview episodes or subscribe to my podcast, please use the link below; you'll have to download iTunes. 

iTunes Channel:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=286754963

If you don't want to subscribe, then you can continue to listen to the individual podcasts embedded in the Weekly Schedule (available through the class website). 

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