Faculty, Staff Transitions Revitalize CST

“Our future looks exciting and good,” the Rev. Dr. Kah-Jin Jeffrey Kuan told United Methodist News recently. “We are unwavering in carrying out our mission to prepare our graduates ‘to become agents of transformation and healing in churches, local communities, schools, nonprofit institutions and the world at large.’”

Five new staff members will help CST to accomplish that mission. They include Clemette Haskins, interim associate dean of students; Elizabeth Strowbridge, admissions recruiter; Ana Tamayo, coordinator of student support services; Vicki Wiltse, writing tutor; and Jieun Yun, housing coordinator. Clemette and Vicki are CST alumnae, and Jieun is a doctoral student.

Vicki described her new role as “multiple jobs wrapped together.” She will coordinate and lead writing-support services, assessing writing samples submitted by new students as part of their orientation. She will teach a workshop in theological writing and oral communication, tutoring for two hours each week and supervising writing tutors. Vicki also will be the dissertation thesis secretary, checking Ph.D. proposals and dissertations to ensure students practice proper citation methods and use correct formatting. “In sum,” she said, “I will be helping CST students become better academic writers.” She said she looks forward to working with CST students and professors. “By reading students’ papers and talking with them, I learn about different people’s lives, I’m exposed to new subject matter, and I find hope in all the good work these students are – and will be – doing.”

Five faculty members were promoted as well. Andrew Dreitcer will serve as acting Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dean of the faculty and Professor of spirituality, while Sheryl Kujawa-Holbrook is on leave. Namjoong Kim and Nicholas Grier have been promoted from assistant professors to associate professors, and Lincoln Galloway and Jack Jackson have been promoted from associate professors to professors. CST also welcomed two new faculty members last month: Lailatul Fitriyah was appointed as Assistant Professor of Interreligious Education, and Venu Mehta is serving as CST’s first Bhagwan Chandraprabhu Postdoctoral Fellow in Jain Studies. 

Of these new appointments, Dr. Grier shared on social media, “Feels like we’re building a dream team! Fired up about our collective work together. CST continues our commitment to interreligious & multireligious theological education…These new hires continue CST’s movement in the right direction over the last two years.”

In addition, five staff were promoted internally. They include Tomeka Jacobs, Director of Admissions and Enrollment Services; Montassar Laouini, Director of Facilities, Physical Plant and Campus Housing; Taehoon Lee, Information Technology Manager; Dmitri Potemkin, Director of Donor Stewardship and Database Administration; and Sansu Woodmancy, Registrar and Director of Student Support Services. Tomeka and Taehoon are doctoral students.