Welcome New Managers
Five new managers recently joined the El Camino College management team. Wanda Morris joins the college as the new interim director of nursing, Melissa Guess was named director of financial aid, Andrea Sala is the new foundation director, Nancy Tonner is the foundation’s assistant director, and Rick Christophersen joins the college as the new director for the Center for the Arts.
 Wanda Morris was previously the dean of student learning in the Health, Natural Sciences, and Human Services Division at ECC Compton Center. In that position, she oversaw the Child Development Program, the Child Development Center (CDC), the Nursing Department, and other assigned areas. She also served as director of Nursing at ECC Compton Center, where she provided administration, management, organization, and supervision of the Nursing Department. A graduate of Compton College, Morris earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from California State University, Dominguez Hills, a master’s degree in nursing from UCLA and is close to completing the doctorate program at Argosy University. |
 Melissa Guess, the college’s former assistant director of Financial Aid, came to ECC in January 2013 after serving as the director of admissions and financial aid at North Central Missouri College. She also has a background in business management and operations. Guess earned a master’s degree in accounting from the University of Missouri, Kansas City and a bachelor’s degree in accounting and business administration from Southwest Baptist University. |
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 Andrea Sala brings nearly 20 years of fundraising to her new position with the Foundation. She comes to ECC after serving for several years as executive director of the Palos Verdes Peninsula Education Foundation, where she managed the day-to-day operations of the multimillion-dollar non-profit organization. Andrea has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from California State University, Long Beach. In the community she is involved with the Peninsula Committee for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, the Palos Verdes Peninsula Chamber of Commerce and the California Consortium of Education Foundations, among others. |
 Nancy Tonner was recently named Foundation assistant director. She has been the Foundation program coordinator at El Camino College since 2007. In this position, she planned and coordinated all Foundation events, including the annual scholarship awards ceremony and the Distinguished Alumni dinner. She also manages databases for the Foundation. Prior to ECC, Nancy was a manager of foundation programs at PacifiCare/United Healthcare Group. |
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 Rick Christophersen comes to ECC after working at Chapman University for the last 13 years, initially as a program coordinator and later as the director of administrative operations for the College of Performing Arts. Rick has a Master of Arts in arts management from Claremont Graduate University and also has a dual degree in music and French from Chapman University. |