Joannie Busillo-Aguayo
POSITION: Assistant Professor
DEPARTMENT: Educational Psychology and Counseling
EMAIL: jaguayo@csun.edu
PHONE: 818-677-5275
WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU? I can provide guidance about a career teaching in early childhood education settings, collaborating with community-based organizations, building effective relationships with families, as well as, careers in public policy and advocacy, and leadership development in entry through advanced early childhood professionals.
ABOUT: Dr. Joannie Busillo-Aguayo has worked in both academic and nonprofit institutions designing, developing, implementing, and evaluating new community-based programs serving young children and families in low-income communities. Her research interests include identifying ways to strengthen and support families of young children, to promote campus-community collaboration, and to enhance service-learning partnerships between students and early childhood programs in the community. For 12 years, she was the assistant coordinator of the CSUN’s Department of Communication Disorders and Sciences’ Transdisciplinary Early Intervention Program, serving infants and toddlers with development challenges and their families. Dr. Busillo-Aguayo has been a member of the CSUN community since 1991, earning her bachelor’s degree in Child Development (1993) and a master’s degree from the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences/Family Relations-Child Development (1996). She earned her doctorate in 2010 from Pepperdine University’s Graduate School of Education and Psychology/Organizational Leadership.
Christa Carlstroem Dunlap
POSITION: Director of Operations of Child and Family Studies Center.
DEPARTMENT: Family and Consumer Sciences
EMAIL: christa.dunlap@csun.edu
PHONE: 818-677-3131
ABOUT: Christa C. Dunlap received her Bachelor’s Degree in Child Development from CSUN, and completed her Master’s Degree in Educational Psychology: Early Childhood in 2008. Her thesis was on mentoring in early childhood education. Christa has worked as a Preschool Teacher, Parent Educator, Master Teacher, and Director of Operations at the CFSC since 2003.
WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU? I can provide guidance about areas of interest including Administration, Parent Education, Child Development, Adult Development, Inclusion, and Mentoring Relationships.
Director Permit ~ California Teaching Commission
Member ~ NAEYC
Jennifer Romack
POSITION: Professor
DEPARTMENT:Kinesiology
EMAIL: jennifer.romack@csun.edu
PHONE: 818-677-3219
WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU? I can provide guidance about why young children (birth to 5 years) should be more physically active, how to plan and implement developmentally appropriate movement activities in family child care homes and center-based care, research related to perceived and actual motor competence, and amount and levels of physical activity in children ages 5 and under.
ABOUT: I have been intrigued in how we move and learn to move since my undergraduate years. This interest steered me to graduate school (M.S.) and a teaching credential. As a credentialed elementary physical education specialist, I spent seven years fostering change in children’s motor skills while observing the process. These years stimulated my return to graduate school (Ph.D.) and studying motor behavior. Right out of my doctoral program I came to CSUN, where I predominately teach motor development. I am particularly interested in how children acquire and refine motor skills during the early years of life, and the influence that physical activity has on motor competence. The majority of my work is in community settings where my students and I engage with and study children and child care providers (family child care homes, center-based programs).
Holli Tonyan
POSITION: Assistant Professor
DEPARTMENT:Psychology
EMAIL: holli.tonyan@csun.edu
PHONE: 818-677-4970
WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU? I can provide general guidance about careers in psychology, early childhood (e.g., centers and family child care homes, but also home visiting, coaching, providing technical assistance, resource and referral), policy, and social work. I can provide more detailed and specific guidance around careers related to child care (also called “day care”): research, policy, program design and evaluation.
ABOUT: I started as an assistant in an infant classroom of a child care center, but most of my career has been in research to better understand the characteristics of interactions and child care settings that influence children’s development. I worked for three years in a teacher preparation program for early childhood education in Melbourne, Australia. My research currently focuses on family child care homes: child care that takes place in the provider’s own home.