Meet the 2025-26 EPIC Leaders

Charley Bevill

Chair, International Education Committee, Alvin Community College

A dedicated educator and global advocate, Charley Bevill teaches English and humanities at Alvin Community College and leads efforts to internationalize curriculum and expand study abroad programs. With over two decades of experience in higher education, she has coordinated international travel, mentored faculty, advised students, and developed innovative, media-rich instruction. She currently serves as chair of the International Studies Committee and Faculty Senate president. An artist and traveler, she holds multiple degrees in literature, humanities, and visual arts, and has led study abroad programs across Europe. Her work reflects a deep commitment to cultural diversity, global awareness, and student engagement.

Leadership Plan:

This fellowship year will support the creation of a sustainable International Education Professional Development Program at Alvin Community College. The goal is to equip faculty and staff to globalize curriculum across academic and workforce programs, enhancing student cultural competency and career readiness. Over 36 months, the plan includes training, curriculum redesign, and expanding study abroad and virtual exchange opportunities, advancing institutional goals and preparing students for Houston’s global workforce..

Jen Boots

Professor and Chair, English Language Acquisition and Co-Director, The Summer Institute, San Diego City College

Jen Boots is a professor and department chair at San Diego City College with two decades of experience in English and ESL instruction, curriculum development, and equity-driven leadership. She co-directs The Summer Institute, a regionally acclaimed professional learning initiative, and has led district-wide innovations in assessment, program design, and shared governance. Jen is pursuing a doctorate in English pedagogy with a specialization in language and is deeply committed to inclusive, student-centered education that bridges classrooms and communities.

He is married and has three daughters, including twins. He loves to read and take walks in his free time.

Leadership plan (joint initiative with Kelly Metz-Matthews):

As part of my EPIC leadership fellowship, I plan to redesign The Summer Institute (TSI), an annual multi-day pedagogical institute that brings together over one hundred faculty from diverse disciplines across six Southern California community colleges. Co-directed with my colleague Kelly Metz-Matthews, TSI has long prioritized faculty reflection, innovation, and equity-centered teaching. Our redesign will intentionally infuse global perspectives into the institute’s structure and content. This includes integrating internationalized curricula, diverse epistemological frameworks, and culturally responsive pedagogies.

Vincent Briley

Interim Associate Dean of Student Affairs - Rockville Campus, Montgomery College

Vincent L. Briley is the interim associate dean of student affairs at Montgomery College - Rockville Campus, with over 20 years of experience as a higher education practitioner. A doctoral candidate at Kansas State University Community College Leadership Program and a founding board member of the Community College Chapter of the Fulbright Association, his expertise spans student affairs, academic affairs, and community engagement. He is a three-time Fulbright alumnus, participating in programs in 2012, 2019, and 2021. Vincent has a proven track record of leading transformative initiatives that improve student success and professional development of faculty and staff, and is a champion of global education.

Leadership plan:

My project will focus on designing a Community College Fulbright Faculty Consortium for Fall 2026.This initiative will showcase successful internationalized curricula and a forum for community college faculty and staff to present on their impactful initiatives.

This project will also design interdisciplinary global projects spanning workforce development, humanities,and STEM fields. By empowering faculty and staff to lead in international education, we'll create genuinely inclusive opportunities, ensuring more community college students gain the global competencies essential for success.

Deidre Cavazzi

Honors Program Chair, Saddleback College

Deidre Cavazzi is the Honors Program chair at Saddleback College, and also teaches Honors capstone, dance and yoga certification courses at the college. She is active as a science communicator, using performing and literary arts programming to engage new communities with the arts and sciences. She has been an artist-in-residence in Svalbard, Iceland and Ireland developing research-based collaborations and performative projects, and is currently part of a National Science Foundation Ireland STEAM Engagement project examining local community impact and issues of climate change. She holds MFAs in creative writing (concentration in narrative medicine, from Dominican University) and dance (UC Irvine).

Leadership plan:

I am developing a Local to Global research initiative at my college, centered on issues of sustainability and climate change; this project will ideally promote interdisciplinary collaboration for original research from students across campus as well as invite new perspectives around issues in our own communities and abroad through research retreats, focus meetings, and cross-disciplinary cohorts. The Honors Program will work with our International Program and our Adult ESL department to offer opportunities for students and faculty to collaborate, and support the engagement of Honors faculty from multiple academic pathways at the college.

Kelly Metz-Matthews

Co-Director, The Summer Institute & Assistant Program Chair, ESL, San Diego College of Continuing Education

Kelly Metz-Matthews, Ph.D. is assistant program chair of the English as a Second Language Program at the San Diego College of Continuing Education and co-director of The Summer Institute, an annual pedagogical institute for faculty across six local community colleges. Dr. Metz-Matthews is a proud alumna of the U.S. Department of State’s English Language Fellow Program (Russia, 2021) and English Language Specialist Program (Pakistan, 2023; Indonesia, 2024). She holds a bachelor’s degree in English, master’s degrees in both liberal studies and ESL curriculum and instruction, a doctoral degree in educational leadership, and graduate certificates in TESL/TEFL, Language Program Management, and Women in Higher Education Leadership.

Leadership plan (joint initiative with Jen Boots):

As part of my EPIC Leadership Fellowship, I plan to redesign The Summer Institute (TSI), an annual multi-day pedagogical institute that brings together over one hundred faculty from diverse disciplines across six Southern California community colleges. Co-directed with my colleague Jen Boots, TSI has long prioritized faculty reflection, innovation, and equity-centered teaching. Our redesign will intentionally infuse global perspectives into the institute’s structure and content. This includes integrating internationalized curricula, diverse epistemological frameworks, and culturally responsive pedagogies.

Devin Walker

Dean, Equity and Student Success, Cabrillo College

Dr. Devin Walker currently serves as the dean of equity and student success at Cabrillo College in Santa Cruz. He earned his Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction at the University of Texas at Austin in 2018. His research focused on the intersection of race, sports, and education as well as the influence of global education on student’s self-concept, national identity, and future orientation. In 2022, Devin was the lead editor of Historically Underrepresented Faculty and Students in Education Abroad: Wandering Where We Belong, which disrupts deficit-based narratives that often surround students of color and instead offers a roadmap for how institutions can effectively engage all students in education abroad.

Leadership plan:

I'd like to learn more about building and sustaining programs at the California Community College level. Most of my experience with international education is at four-year institutions and the private sector. My goal is to build out robust programming at Cabrillo College that engages non-traditional students.