Dr. Angela Hegamin received her B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of California, Davis, her M.S. in Public Health from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Southern California. She has twenty years of teaching experience in the postsecondary setting, half of which have been in distance education. She served as research faculty in the UCLA Department of Adult Psychiatry and teaching faculty in the California State University, Los Angeles School of Nursing. She was adjunct faculty in the California State University, Dominguez Hills Health Science Department. She was previously Director of Trident University International’s M.S. in Health Sciences degree program where she provided robust leadership in the areas of curriculum development and enhancement and student engagement and persistence. In her current role as Assistant Dean of Academic Support in the WesternU College of Optometry, she works with faculty and fellow administrators to develop skills and mobilize resources to optimize student learner engagement and success.