College of Continuing Education at Sacramento State

Tim Aldinger is the director of Workforce Development Services at the Foundation for California Community Colleges, supporting the economic and workforce development for the 113 Community Colleges of California. He designs and facilitates trainings for the California Workforce Association (CWA) and brings his expertise in communication to CCE’s Workforce Development Professional Certificate and Apprenticeship programs.

Jeannie Benoist joined Sacramento State in 2007 teaching in the Project Management series at the College of Continuing Education. She took a break after the birth of her daughter and rejoined the team in 2015.

Professor Chia-Jung Chung will bring her passion in education to the Future Teachers Academy, where high school students will explore teaching careers and gain hands-on experience in inspiring the love of learning in children. She’s been a professor at Sacramento State since 2004 and specializes in educational technology.

Jeff Cooke has been with the Sac State Paramedic program since its start in 2009 and has always been a student favorite. Jeff spent the first 10 years of his career in EMS as an EMT and later a Paramedic with a private ambulance company in Stockton, California. In 1994 he was hired with Sacramento City Fire Department and has been serving the community of Sacramento as a Firefighter/Paramedic since. Jeff has worked in multiple capacities for Sacramento Fire Department including Rescue and Hazmat specialties.

Larry W. Culler joined Sacramento State in 2014, teaching his communication workshop, “The Effective Communicator,” at the College of Continuing Education. Larry is the owner of Culler Consulting, primarily focusing on communication consulting and facilitating his workshop. 

Before starting his own consulting business, he had a long career in the computer industry and held positions with Burroughs/Unisys, Intel and Schoolhouse Software. 

Brett Gardenhire is a specialist in professional and organizational development with a focus in learning performance, productivity optimization and situational leadership. With over 20 years’ experience in both change management and entrepreneurial growth strategy, he partners with organizations as a coach, consultant and trainer, helping to enhance workplace culture through improved engagement, enhanced communication and the application of creative innovation.

Shelly Hodgkins works as a sergeant in the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department and has been one of the instructors in the Summer Academies for High School Students program for several years. As leader of the Law Enforcement Academy, Hodgkins wants young people to meet and talk with different officers, to get a first-hand look at their assignments and to explore law enforcement as a career.

Brad Hunt has worked as both an EMT and paramedic skills instructor with the Sacramento State Prehospital Education Program since January 2018. In 2019, Brad took on the position of Lead Instructor in the EMT course. Brad started his career in 2002 with a private ambulance company in Stockton, California, where he worked in the 911 system as an EMT for 3 years.

Kris Lea joined Sacramento State in 2009, teaching in the Train-the-Trainer, HR, Master Analysis and State Supervisor Basics programs at the College of Continuing Education. Kris is an executive consultant with KAI Partners, a local IT consulting firm.

Before joining KAI Partners, Kris held positions with Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), Kaiser Permanente and Intel Corporation. She holds a bachelor’s degree in information systems, a master’s degree in organization development (OD), and is finishing up her doctoral degree in OD.

Born and raised in Dortmund, Germany, an industrial mining city destroyed in World War II, Ulrich “Ulli” Luenemann developed a strong sense of wanderlust at a very young age. As a young adult, he pursued military service as his ticket to freedom and volunteered with the German Luftwaffe (air force). “I’m like Top Gun, I have a need for speed,” says Luenemann. Flying fighter jets across Europe and the United States furthered his passion for world travel.

Lisa Montanaro joined Sacramento State in 2013, teaching in the areas of productivity, organization, and time management at the College of Continuing Education. Lisa is the owner of Lisa Montanaro Global Enterprises, LLC, which she founded in 2002.

“The dedicated faculty here is like family and our graduates are sought after by employers because of the program’s design that fuses theory and practice.” - Dr. Robert Pieretti.

Katherine Raines has taught writing courses at Sacramento State since 2012, but it wasn’t until 2017 that she taught her first online class for the Bachelor of Science in Career and Technical Studies (BSCTS) degree completion program.

Her challenge was to fold an entire semester’s worth of work – in this case, multicultural children’s literature – into a five-week online course.

Raines picks up the story from there, in her own words:

When Dr. Celeste Roseberry-McKibbin talks about children who struggle with language and learning, she speaks from the heart. Her son had dyslexia and struggled greatly as a young child. She’s helped him overcome those difficulties, as both a speech-language pathologist and a mother.

Whenever he travels, Abhijeet Shirsat takes along a long a list of recommendations. He likes to know if a place lives up to its reputation, like the time in Philadelphia where he stood in line for three-and-a-half hours for a Philly cheese steak sandwich. “I’m passionate about travel and food. Hospitality is my life,” said Shirsat, professor in Sacramento’s State Department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism Management, who’s leading the Hospitality and Tourism Academy.

Rustin Vogt, a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and a Sacramento State graduate, has helped us expand our Summer Academies for High School Students. He has also put his expertise to use on a couple of fronts in the community. This year he will be teaching Presentation Skills for College with Kelly Siefkin, a development director at the College of Continuing Education and the Alumni Association.