Residential Life Staff
About CCA's Residential Life Staff
The Office of Residential Life strives to provide a safe and secure living environment that encourages the personal and artistic growth of all residents. Offering our students such an experience takes the hard work and dedication of many professional and student staff members.
The Residential Life team consists of four professional staff members, a graduate assistant (GA), and an undergraduate student staff.
Professional Staff
Jeannine Szamreta, Director of Residential Life
Welcome. I am Jeannine Szamreta, the director of Residential Life here at California College of the Arts. I began my work at CCA in 2008 and have enjoyed every moment working with CCA students, staff, and faculty. Previous to working at CCA, I was a first-year experience specialist at the University of the Massachusetts Amherst.
I received my bachelor’s degree in media studies from Sacred Heart University and my master’s in educational policy and research administration from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. I have been working in the field of higher education since 2001.
My responsibility as director of Residential Life is to ensure that our residential students receive the challenge and support needed to grow as people and as artists. I oversee all operations and supervision of staff working within the Office of Residential Life. In addition to having a passion for working with college students, I consider myself an ally to all students—regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, country of origin, and ability.
Please feel free to contact me at 510.420.2001, via email at jszamreta@cca.edu, or visit my office on the ground floor of Clifton residence hall in Oakland.
Janeece Hayes, Assistant Director of Residential Life
I am responsible for the day-to-day operations of the residence hall communities, which includes the supervision of the residential life coordinator and resident advisor staff during the academic year as well as the Pre-College interns and resident advisor staff during the summer. I have been at CCA since 2007. If you have any questions, please contact me at 510.420.2000 or via email at jhayes@cca.edu
Carlos Perez, Residential Life Coordinator
I am responsible for the implementation of Residential Life curriculum that encourages personal and academic growth. I also oversee the well-being of the residents who live at CCA's four residential halls by maintaining living environments that reflect the values and mission of the Office of Residential Life and the college. I supervise the graduate assistant for community engagement and 11 resident advisors (RAs).
I received my bachelor of arts in both psychology and sociology from the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). While an undergraduate, I worked as a resident assistant. Before joining the CCA community in August 2009, I worked as an assistant complex coordinator for a 900-bed residence hall at UCSB.
I am currently completing a master's degree in educational policy and leadership from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a second bachelor of arts in law from the University of London.
While it may appear that I am kept busy with academics, I continue to make time to attend the many events that my RAs host. Above all, I enjoy assisting CCA's residential students in their personal and artistic growth.
I can be reached at 510.420.2005 or via email at cperez@cca.edu.
Ashley Sousa, Residential Life Office Manager
Contact: asousa@cca.edu
Student Staff
Graduate Assistant for Community Engagement
The GA for community engagement is a graduate student who is responsible for helping the Residential Life undergraduate staff implement the Residential Life curriculum. This includes acting as a resource for the RAs, assisting with training, organizing group programs, and maintaining the duty and program calendars as well as other essential department administrative tasks.
Resident Advisor
Resident advisors (RAs) are student staff members who live in the residence halls. RAs are enrolled in academic programs at CCA. Their function in the residence halls is as student leaders who work hard to build and maintain a sense of community within the halls.
RAs accomplish their goals by planning and holding events designed to supplement the educational process based upon the collective needs expressed by the student community. RAs also ensure the safety of the community, holding night shifts on a rotational basis and enforcing Residential Life policies.
