Florence T. Dunn

President

Florence Dunn is a seasoned executive with more than three decades of banking experience in California’s Central Valley with an extensive record of shaping and helping organizations of all industries succeed in that region’s unique economy. Prior to joining the University, Mrs. Dunn was Senior Vice President and Regional Manager for the Sacramento and Central Valley regions of California Bank & Trust. In that position she played a vital leadership role in the bank’s strategic planning, financial management, budgetary oversight and she oversaw marketing for two geographically vast and rapidly growing regions within the state.

Mrs. Dunn is the founding President of CHSU, and since 2012, under her leadership she has rapidly established two Colleges, College of Pharmacy and College of Osteopathic Medicine, to fulfill the mission of the University. She is a long-time advocate for education and community service.

In addition to her executive career, she has served on numerous Boards, ranging from agriculture and manufacturing, business, education and health care. She is currently a Board member for the Fresno Economic Development Corporation, Central Valley Higher Education Consortium and other private boards and foundations. She previously served for thirteen years on the Board for Community Hospitals of Central California and is the Immediate Past Chairman.

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James Dunn

Vice President of Operations
559-325-3600
jdunn@chsu.edu

James “Jimmy” Dunn has been serving on the senior leadership team at California Health Sciences University since it was founded in 2012 and was instrumental in launching the new university. He has nearly twenty years of management experience and specializes in start-ups. Prior to joining CHSU, he worked as a General Manager for a large national retail chain then moving to the California Central Coast to establish a de novo independent retail pharmacy, and was responsible for HR, IT and facilities management.

Jimmy was also responsible for establishing relationships with healthcare providers and skilled nursing facilities and building a client base from the ground up. Jimmy completed his undergraduate degree in psychology with a minor in communications from Cal State University San Jose in 2005. He is a licensed pharmacy technician, a credentialed Facilities Management Professional and currently provides administrative leadership and operational oversight for CHSU’s Facilities Management, Information Technology and all Facility Expansion Projects. Jimmy works with all departments to integrate educational, fiscal, technological, facilities and personnel planning to achieve the University’s mission and vision.

Jimmy currently serves on the Board of Directors for Clovis Chamber of Commerce, Immediate Past Chair; Foundation Board of Directors Clovis Unified School District, Endowment Committee; Board of Directors for the Better Business Bureau serving the Central California & Inland Empire Counties; and Leadership Fresno Steering Committee.

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Mark Okamoto, PharmD

Dean, College of Pharmacy
Professor of Clinical Sciences
Professor of Social and Economic Sciences
559-325-3600
mokamoto@chsu.edu

Prior to joining CHSU as Dean for the College of Pharmacy, Dr. Mark Okamoto served as the Founding Dean, Chief Academic Officer and tenured Professor at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) School of Pharmacy, Georgia Campus. Before that time, he served as Founding Chair of the Department of Pharmacy Practice and tenured Professor at the University of Hawaii at Hilo.

Dr. Okamoto began his academic career at the Western University of Health Sciences, College of Pharmacy in Pomona, CA. He served as Associate Dean for Assessment and Teaching Effectiveness, Director of Assessment, Chair of Social and Administrative Sciences, and Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice and Social and Administrative Sciences.

Before entering the academy, Dr. Okamoto was the Director of Clinical Affairs for PHI Healthcare Management, Inc. for one year and at Kaiser Permanente in Southern California for five years as a Clinical Pharmaceutical Scientist conducting clinical and outcomes research.

Dr. Okamoto obtained his B.S. degree in biology at the University of California, Los Angeles, followed by a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Southern California. His four-year post-doctoral training included completion of a pharmacy residency in general medicine at the Los Angeles County / University of Southern California Medical Center, followed by two post-doctoral fellowship positions focused on pharmacokinetics & pharmacodynamics of antimicrobials and pharmacoeconomics and pharmacoepidemiology.

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John Graneto, DO, MEd, FACOP, FACOEP-dist, FNAOME

Dean, College of Osteopathic Medicine
Vice President of Health Affairs
Professor
COMDeans@chsu.edu

Degrees:

D.O., Ohio University

M.Ed. (Health), University of Cincinnati

Specialty:

American Osteopathic Board of Emergency Medicine

American Osteopathic Board of Pediatrics

Most recent teaching experience:

Associate Dean and Professor of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine at the Kansas City University College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Most recent publications / presentations:

Gettig J, Noronha S, Graneto JW, Obucina L, Christensen K, Fjortoft N. Examining Health Care Students’ Attitudes Toward E-Professionalism. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education 2016; 80 (10).

Graneto JW, Damm T. Perception of Noise by Emergency Department Nurses. West J Emergency Medicine. 2013; 14(5):547–550.

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Tanya Bohorquez

Interim Chief Financial Officer
559-549-6359
tbohorquez@chsu.edu

Carlita Romero-Begley, PHR, SHRM-CP

Vice President of Human Resources
Title IX, Equity and Diversity Coordinator
559-282-8747
cromerobegley@chsu.edu

Carlita Romero-Begley has 20 years of comprehensive human resources experience and expertise in recruitment and retention, onboarding, salary administration, performance management, employee benefits design and administration, employee relations, change management, and legal compliance.

She also has knowledge and expertise with mentoring programs and diversity initiatives. She has been a mentor to other human resources professionals and support and administrative employees.

Carlita serves as the Director of Human Resources and Title IX, Equity and Diversity Coordinator for California Health Sciences University. She was instrumental in establishing the Title IX, Equity, and Diversity department at the University and is an expert in risk management and employment law compliance. Serving as liaison and leading investigations for formal and informal complaints and grievances, Carlita helps to address the needs and concerns for everyone in the University community while minimizing liability.

Carlita also oversees employee relations and performance matters, providing support and coaching to managers, employees, and teams related to employee relations, performance, department functioning, and Human Resources. She collaborates with Deans of Colleges and leads the implementation of University-wide policies related to faculty employment, performance appraisals, disciplinary issues and actions to be taken.

She previously served as Human Resources Manager at Lozano Smith, LLP, a statewide education and public agency law firm that serves hundreds of California’s K-12 and community college districts, universities, and numerous cities, counties, and special districts. In this role, she supported 150+ employees.

Carlita received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with an emphasis in Women’s Studies from California State University, Chico. Carlita has been a member of the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM) since 2009, and she has been a certified Professional in Human Resources (PHR) since 2008. Carlita has maintained her SHRM Certified Professional (SHRM-CP) since 2015.

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Richele Kleiser

Vice President, Marketing and Communications
rkleiser@chsu.edu

Richele Kleiser has over 25 years of experience with leadership roles in Marketing, Communications, Public Relations, Fundraising and Customer Service within Higher Education, Home Building, Retail and Non-Profit sectors.

Ms. Kleiser has a passion for mentoring high school and undergraduate college students in pursuit of their college and career goals. She currently serves as primary facilitator of the CHSU Próspero Program: Pathway to Pharmacy, which was established through her co-authorship of a grant. She also leads the high school pathway program initiatives, partnering with many of the area high schools and serving on Advisory Boards for two Career Tech Education (CTE) classes.

Prior to joining CHSU in 2013, Ms. Kleiser directed the Marketing, Customer Service and Granville Home of Hope functions at Granville Homes, one of Fresno’s largest and most prestigious home builders and developers. With 18 years of service at Gottschalks, Inc. – the largest regional department store of its time on the west coast – she was responsible for the Advertising/Marketing, Private Label Credit Card and Customer Service divisions.

Ms. Kleiser is a highly-motivated, results driven professional with strong decision-making and strategic planning skills. While creating new programs, exploring new directions and moving her institution forward, she works diligently to build strong, lasting relationships with her constituents and partners, as well as with her internal team and colleagues.

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Karin Chao-Bushoven

Director of Sponsored Programs
559-573-8125
kchao@chsu.edu

 

Kathleen Haeberle

Executive Assistant to the President
559-579-1722
khaeberle@chsu.edu

Lynette Carter

Executive Assistant
559-374-2478
lcarter@chsu.edu

 

Tanya Bohorquez

Interim Chief Financial Officer
559-549-6359
tbohorquez@chsu.edu

Sidra Fareed

Finance and Budget Manager
559-546-6031
sfareed@chsu.edu

Tracy Bradford

Senior Accountant
559-549-6352
tbradford@chsu.edu

Meenu Takhar, CPA

Senior Accountant
559-546-6017
mtakhar@chsu.edu

Paola Bermudez

Accounting Clerk
559-546-6034
pbermudez@chsu.edu

Chandler Jameson

Fund Development Manager
559-546-6041
cjameson@chsu.edu

 

Kevin Hoover

Executive Director, Financial Aid
559-472-7649
khoover@chsu.edu

 

Sandra Acuna

Financial Aid Advisor
559-472-7874
sacuna@chsu.edu

Joanne Muellenbach, MLS, AHIP

Health Sciences Library Director
559-325-3600
jmuellenbach@chsu.edu

[_su_spoiler title=”Come to me for …” style=”fancy” icon=”caret”]

Joanne is responsible for the successful planning and operation of administrative and service functions of the Health Sciences Library. She collaborates with faculty to integrate information literacy and evidence-based medicine within the curricula. She also works with faculty, staff, and students to provide research development support, to ensure the strategic use of knowledge resources, and to develop partnerships that support sources of external funding.

•	Citation management and writing tools
•	Collection development requests
•	Course and subject guide development
•	Expert literature search assistance, including the development of effective search strategies
•	Integration of information literacy and evidence-based medicine within the curricula
•	Orientation to the health sciences library’s resources and services
•	Research development support, including copyright and scholarly publishing
•	Set-up of saved searches and alerts

[_/su_spoiler]

Katie Hoskins, MLS

Research and Instruction Librarian
559-325-3600
khoskins@chsu.edu

 

Kyle Robinson, MLIS

Electronic and Technical Services Librarian
559-472-9423
krobinson@chsu.edu

 

Carlita Romero-Begley, PHR, SHRM-CP

Vice President of Human Resources
Title IX, Equity and Diversity Coordinator
559-282-8747
cromerobegley@chsu.edu

Carlita Romero-Begley has 20 years of comprehensive human resources experience and expertise in recruitment and retention, onboarding, salary administration, performance management, employee benefits design and administration, employee relations, change management, and legal compliance.

She also has knowledge and expertise with mentoring programs and diversity initiatives. She has been a mentor to other human resources professionals and support and administrative employees.

Carlita serves as the Director of Human Resources and Title IX, Equity and Diversity Coordinator for California Health Sciences University. She was instrumental in establishing the Title IX, Equity, and Diversity department at the University and is an expert in risk management and employment law compliance. Serving as liaison and leading investigations for formal and informal complaints and grievances, Carlita helps to address the needs and concerns for everyone in the University community while minimizing liability.

Carlita also oversees employee relations and performance matters, providing support and coaching to managers, employees, and teams related to employee relations, performance, department functioning, and Human Resources. She collaborates with Deans of Colleges and leads the implementation of University-wide policies related to faculty employment, performance appraisals, disciplinary issues and actions to be taken.

She previously served as Human Resources Manager at Lozano Smith, LLP, a statewide education and public agency law firm that serves hundreds of California’s K-12 and community college districts, universities, and numerous cities, counties, and special districts. In this role, she supported 150+ employees.

Carlita received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with an emphasis in Women’s Studies from California State University, Chico. Carlita has been a member of the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM) since 2009, and she has been a certified Professional in Human Resources (PHR) since 2008. Carlita has maintained her SHRM Certified Professional (SHRM-CP) since 2015.

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Paula Shockley Mehrtash

Human Resources Manager
559-546-6030
pmehrtash@chsu.edu

 

Stephanie Gilleland

Human Resources Generalist
559-549-6363
sgilleland@chsu.edu

 

John Briar

Executive Director of Information Technology
559-573-8029
jbriar@chsu.edu

 

Brandon Simons

IT Infrastructure Manager
559-325-3600
bsimons@chsu.edu

 

Tim Koonce

Infrastructure Service Desk Analyst
tkoonce@chsu.edu

 

Matthew Bennetts

Infrastructure Support Analyst
mbennetts@chsu.edu

 

Matthew Jackson

Infrastructure Support Analyst
559-325-3600
mjackson@chsu.edu

 

Frank Parks

Application Systems Administrator
559-325-3600
fparks@chsu.edu

 

Richele Kleiser

Vice President, Marketing and Communications
rkleiser@chsu.edu

Richele Kleiser has over 25 years of experience with leadership roles in Marketing, Communications, Public Relations, Fundraising and Customer Service within Higher Education, Home Building, Retail and Non-Profit sectors.

Ms. Kleiser has a passion for mentoring high school and undergraduate college students in pursuit of their college and career goals. She currently serves as primary facilitator of the CHSU Próspero Program: Pathway to Pharmacy, which was established through her co-authorship of a grant. She also leads the high school pathway program initiatives, partnering with many of the area high schools and serving on Advisory Boards for two Career Tech Education (CTE) classes.

Prior to joining CHSU in 2013, Ms. Kleiser directed the Marketing, Customer Service and Granville Home of Hope functions at Granville Homes, one of Fresno’s largest and most prestigious home builders and developers. With 18 years of service at Gottschalks, Inc. – the largest regional department store of its time on the west coast – she was responsible for the Advertising/Marketing, Private Label Credit Card and Customer Service divisions.

Ms. Kleiser is a highly-motivated, results driven professional with strong decision-making and strategic planning skills. While creating new programs, exploring new directions and moving her institution forward, she works diligently to build strong, lasting relationships with her constituents and partners, as well as with her internal team and colleagues.

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Kaysha Rajani

Assistant Director of Marketing and Communications
krajani@chsu.edu

 

Kayleigh Bader, PCM, CDMP

Marketing Coordinator
559-573-8120
kbader@chsu.edu

Roque Rodriguez

Graphic Designer
rrodriguez@chsu.edu

James Dunn

Vice President of Operations
559-325-3600
jdunn@chsu.edu

James “Jimmy” Dunn has been serving on the senior leadership team at California Health Sciences University since it was founded in 2012 and was instrumental in launching the new university. He has nearly twenty years of management experience and specializes in start-ups. Prior to joining CHSU, he worked as a General Manager for a large national retail chain then moving to the California Central Coast to establish a de novo independent retail pharmacy, and was responsible for HR, IT and facilities management.

Jimmy was also responsible for establishing relationships with healthcare providers and skilled nursing facilities and building a client base from the ground up. Jimmy completed his undergraduate degree in psychology with a minor in communications from Cal State University San Jose in 2005. He is a licensed pharmacy technician, a credentialed Facilities Management Professional and currently provides administrative leadership and operational oversight for CHSU’s Facilities Management, Information Technology and all Facility Expansion Projects. Jimmy works with all departments to integrate educational, fiscal, technological, facilities and personnel planning to achieve the University’s mission and vision.

Jimmy currently serves on the Board of Directors for Clovis Chamber of Commerce, Immediate Past Chair; Foundation Board of Directors Clovis Unified School District, Endowment Committee; Board of Directors for the Better Business Bureau serving the Central California & Inland Empire Counties; and Leadership Fresno Steering Committee.

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Kristi Kruger

Facilities Coordinator
559-325-3600
kkruger@chsu.edu

Janine Dragna

University Registrar
559-325-3600
registrar@chsu.edu

[_su_spoiler title=”Come to me for …” style=”fancy” icon=”caret”]

•	Student record management
•	Academic calendar and course schedules
•	Transcripts
•	Final student grades and grade changes
•	FERPA
•	Graduation requirements
•	Professional & licensing support
•	Curricular compliance
•	Student Handbook/Catalog

[_/su_spoiler]

Hope Lemons, MAEd

Assistant Registrar
559-325-3600
registrar@chsu.edu