Faculty, Staff Continue Making Impact During Pandemic
As Cal State San Marcos faculty and staff continue to go above and beyond on behalf of students and the campus community during the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re pleased to highlight some of the campus heroes as nominated by students and colleagues.
Elinne Becket, assistant professor, biology
Daun Everforest, pre-health faculty advisor, biology
Becket (pictured top) and Everforest were both nominated for their commitment to ensuring the well-being of their students during these challenging times while also working diligently to find new ways to help students continue to learn with less stress.
“They are two of the faculty who have had the most sleepless nights over how to reach their students since the pandemic began,” the nominator wrote. “They replaced high-stakes exams with guided worksheets, testing them out, revising, then trying 
them again and finding that they are working.”
The nominator praised Becket and Everforest for their collegiality and humble perspectives. It was noted that students said learning from Becket and Everforest was much deeper than what typically comes from studying for exams. Students said it was clear that Becket and Everforest have a deep devotion not only to learning but also about the students on a personal level.
Regina Frasca, director, Safety, Health and Sustainability
Frasca was nominated for leading efforts to help the university adapt to the pandemic environment while keeping campus community members as safe as possible. One nominator made special note of Frasca’s work to help the College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
“Regina listens to our needs and does her best to minimize disruption to campus operations while meeting all regulations and working safely,” the nominator wrote. “She works to understand the goals of any requests. If we cannot do what was requested, she ensures we can figure out a way to actually reach the goals in another way. She is a true partner in educating our students as well as keeping them safe.”
Another nominator highlighted Frasca’s work with the biology department.
“She has also worked closely with us to identify safe strategies that have allowed us to teach some critical in-person laboratory courses, providing students with the hands-on experience that simply cannot be achieved virtually and/or via simulations,” the nominator wrote.
Debbie Blair, library services specialist
Sonia Jimenez, library services specialist
Natalya Serge Magazino, library services specialist
Blair, Jimenez (pictured bottom) and Magazino (pictured top) were nominated for their contributions to the resource sharing and interlibrary loan team, which helps students and faculty obtain materials that aren’t part of Kellogg Library’s inventory.
The nominator noted that the team has innovated extensively to adapt services to enable the library to mail books to users’ homes and route requests for digital resources to be acquired for users through the library’s Digital on Demand service.
“The resource sharing unit is completely user-centered and responsive, ensuring that questions about resources and requests are answered as soon as possible – and most requests for digital materials are handled within 1-2 days,” the nominator wrote. “So far this academic year, resource sharing has received over 5,000 requests for resources and is able to provide or fill more than 95% of requests by borrowing from other CSUs and through partnerships with universities around the world. We are extremely fortunate to have such an amazing team that supports faculty teaching and research and student learning!”
Media Contact
Eric Breier, Public Affairs Specialist
ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314