Office of Equity and Inclusion

Meet Our Team

Melissa Cervantes

Dean of Institutional Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
Phone: 650.949.7070

Email: cervantesmelissa@foothill.edu

Dr. Melissa Cervantes joined Foothill College as Dean of Institutional Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in November 2018, with a strong passion and student-centered approach to her work. Her goal as Dean of Equity is to build bridges and foster relationships within the campus community in order to create safe and meaningful spaces for Foothill students to learn, grow, and engage on their pathway to success.

Most recently, she came from California State University, East Bay where she served as the founding Coordinator of the Gaining Access ‘N Academic Success (GANAS) Program, but outside of her primary role also helped create and sustain the UndocuAlly Training Program, and served as the co-chair of the Chicanx/Latinx Staff and Faculty Association. She has over 20 years of experience as an educator; many of those years served with Upward Bound and TRiO Programs.

Cervantes holds a BA in Social and Behavioral Sciences from CSU Monterey Bay and an MA in Education with a concentration in Counseling and Student Personnel from San Jose State. She earned her Doctorate in Educational Leadership from San Francisco State University for her dissertation titled, Increasing the Academic Success of Latino Transfer Students: Evaluating the GANAS Program.

A Bay Area native, Dr. Cervantes began her journey in higher education at the community college as the first in her family to earn a college degree. Her career and research interests have always revolved around issues of college access and equity for historically underserved populations; postsecondary success for low-income and first-generation college students; as well as predictors of retention and graduation among disproportionately impacted groups.

Carolyn Holcroft

Faculty Professional Development Coordinator, Equity
Phone: 650.949-7943
Email: holcroftcarolyn@foothill.edu

Dr. Carolyn Holcroft came to Foothill as a biology instructor in 2002, after two years as an adjunct instructor at the University of Kansas and nine years as a registered nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit at Menorah Medical Center. During her time at Foothill she has served in many different capacities, including stints on the student equity workgroup, on the professional development committee, as president of the Foothill academic senate, as college curriculum committee faculty co-chair, as campus student learning outcomes co-coordinator, and as our academic senate representative to the FHDA District Equity and Diversity Advisory Council. Carolyn is passionate about both equity and professional development, and has had the privilege of designing and facilitating training events for faculty, staff and administrators at both the local and statewide level.

Carolyn holds a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Nursing and a Doctorate in Molecular Genetics/Microbiology, both from the University of Kansas.

 

Adrienne Hypolite

Program Supervisor, Equity 
Phone: 650.949.6197

Email: hypoliteadrienne@foothill.edu

 

Erika Owens

Administrative Assistant, Equity 
Phone: 650.949.7208

Email: owenserika@fhda.edu