New Arrivals In Student Affairs
By Dennis Lyday

John Andriacchi joined the Career Center last November as Assistant Director, Finance and Operations, John has almost 20 years in public relations and communications, marketing, and financial administration and planning. He began his career at the Los Angeles County Public Library for six years, then at Northrop Corporation (now known as Northrop Grumman), and comes to the Career Center after 16 years with the Marketing and Communications Department at UCLA Extension. John is a UCLA alumnus with a B.A. in English and an M.A. from Cal State Long Beach. John and his wife, Susan, also an English-department alumnus and a former employee of UCLA, have two young children and live in the South Bay.

Another new arrival in the Career Center is Jordan Maness who joined the Center as a full time Career Counselor in Fall 2004. Maness possesses a diverse and dynamic working background with experience in communications, the creative arts, and business. At the Career Center, he counsels students of all majors, presents workshops, advises student groups, works with student athletes, and contributes to other areas as needed. Maness completed his Master’s in Counseling in Student Affairs right here at UCLA. He also holds a B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication and a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Colorado. Maness is originally from Denver.

Two new staff members in Cultural and Recreational Affairs are Brenda Reed and Jacob Sciammas. Brenda (on the left of the photo), the Program Coordinator for Outdoor Adventures, hails from Texas A&M where she brings her experience and expertise as a college instructor, outdoor adventurer and challenge course guru. Jacob (on the right) moved across the country from Washington, DC area where he was coordinating the University of Maryland’s Challenge Course and Rock Climbing Programs. Here at UCLA, he oversees the Sunset Canyon Challenge Course and the Wooden Center Rock Wall, and he’s the person to contact if you want to learn to climb, or if you’re interested in scheduling a departmental team-building activity on the Challenge Course.

Jill DeJager, the newest part-time member of the Arthur Ashe Student Health Center Health Education team, is a Registered Dietitian with a background in exercise physiology and a recent graduate of UCLA’s public health program. Prior to coming to UCLA, Jill had a variety of experiences in the health field including working with veterans with spinal cord injuries, teaching community college nutrition classes, coaching track and field and conducting health assessments. One of Jill's first priorities is to update UCLA’s nutrition website (www.snac.ucla.edu). She also looks forward to teaching a nutrition class and promoting the Student Nutrition (and body image) Action Committee (SNAC) and Eating and Activity Task Force (EATask Force) on campus. In addition, she plans to help out with health fairs and various promotional activities on campus as well as being a nutrition resource for students and staff.

Undergraduate Admissions and Relations with Schools has welcomed four new staff members since our last issue:

Christy Blaine is the newest evaluator in UARS. She joined Student Affairs in November 2004. She came to UCLA from the UC Davis Office of Undergraduate Admissions and Outreach Services where she worked for eight years. She is recently married and lives in the San Fernando Valley.

Cecilia Garcia joined the UARS Systems unit in June 2004. Cecilia worked in UARS for four years as a student worker while working towards her bachelor’s degree in Sociology.

Clarence Banks joined the Recruitment unit in September 2004. Clarence came to UARS from the Honda Motor Company. He attended UCLA and earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science in 2002.

Patricia Garcia also joined the Recruitment unit in September 2004. Patricia worked in the Los Angeles Pierce College Transfer Center for two years while attending UCLA. She recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Latin American Studies.