Meet the Team
Associate Dean for Equity, Outreach, and Faculty Development; Professor, Department
of Counselor Education; Director of the Center for Educational Excellence & Equity
dtillapaugh@CalLutheran.edu
805-493-3086
Graduate Assistant, Center for Educational Excellence & Equity
newby@CalLutheran.edu
Newby is an Ed.D. candidate in educational leadership at California Lutheran University's Graduate School of Education. Her doctoral research examines how first-generation Ed.D. graduates in California community colleges retrospectively describe their dissertation-phase learning — and how the institutional and relational conditions that shaped that learning appear in their leadership reasoning and adaptive practice today. This work reframes the dissertation from a document to be evaluated to a learning environment to be understood, and connects doctoral education research to community college leadership scholarship.
As the Graduate Assistant for the Center for Excellence in Education and Equity, she contributes to research briefs, faculty-led professional learning initiatives, and student-centered programming focused on mentorship, persistence, and community building. She also serves as a Graduate Writing Group Facilitator, supporting graduate and doctoral students in sustained scholarly writing and peer accountability. Newby brings professional experience spanning P–5 teaching, early childhood program leadership, and youth development.