Six named recipients of COE’s 2026 Faculty Mentoring Grants

After a one-year hiatus because of state budget cuts, the San Diego State University College of Education has relaunched its Faculty Mentoring Grants Program with the announcement of six new recipients for the 2026 calendar year.

An initiative launched by Dean Y. Barry Chung, the program pairs assistant and associate professors with a tenured faculty mentor to encourage their growth as research-active scholars. The funding supports professional development as well as expenses for pilot research that could result in external funding for future research.

"When I became Dean of the College of Education, creating an environment that fostered faculty mentoring was one of my top priorities," Chung said. "I know I would not be where I am today without the guidance and support of experienced colleagues. I'm so delighted that we have been able to identify a philanthropic fund to re-ignite this important work."

The College of Education congratulates the following recipients:

• Mentee: Brittany N. Glover, Assistant Professor, School Counseling
  Mentor: Regina R. Brandon, Professor, Special Education
  Project: "Preparing School Counselors to Support Exceptional Learners"

• Mentee: Melissa A. Navarro Martell, Associate Professor, Dual Language and English Learner Education
  Mentor: Cristobal Salinas Jr., Professor, Florida Atlantic University
  Project: "Supporting Multilingual Learners in Higher Education (AI) and K-12 settings (science)"

• Mentee: Vanessa Placeres, Associate Professor, School Counseling
  Mentor: Nellie Tran, Professor, Counseling and School Psychology
  Project: "Advancing Educational Equity Through an Interdisciplinary Approach to PK–12 Student Mental Health"

• Mentee: Afarin Rajaei, Associate Professor, Marriage and Family Therapy
  Mentor: marcela polanco, Professor, Marriage and Family Therapy
  Project: "Human Flourishing Frameworks for AI Assisted Education: A Cross Cultural Inquiry" 

• Mentee: Kathleen Schenkel, Associate Professor, Teacher Education
  Mentor: William Zahner, Professor, Mathematics
  Project: "Co-Designing for Critical Science Agency: Sustaining and Expanding a Research–Practice Partnership" 

• Mentee: Weichen Zhao, Assistant Professor, Math Education (SDSU Imperial Valley)
  Mentor: Lisa Lamb, Professor, Teacher Education
  Project: "Designing Mathematics Instruction for Conceptual Understanding Through Universal Design for Learning"