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The tradition of announcing university-wide faculty awards at Cal State San Bernardino is to surprise the recipient with a group of faculty, staff and administrators led by President Tomás D. Morales and Provost Rafik Mohamed. The reveal sometimes takes place during a class, other times during a meeting. The setting may vary, but in every case, the moment is carefully orchestrated and kept secret until the recipient is surprised.
And based on the shocked but very happy reaction of Jessica Nerren, a lecturer in communication and media, the effort was well worth it. She smiled broadly as she learned why she was the focus of attention.
“So let me just share with you what this is all about. This is indeed a very special occasion to present the ’25-’26 Outstanding Lecture Award to Jessica Nerren,” said Morales, as more than a dozen colleagues filled a conference room in the office of the dean of the College of Arts and Letters on the morning of Monday, April 6.
“She is receiving this award based on her exceptional instruction, capacity to engage her students and the extremely positive feedback she receives from those she has taught,” he said.
Asked Mohamed, “Were you expecting this?”
“I was not,” Nerren said, who later shared that she had received a text from college Dean Rueyling Chuang the night before about the morning meeting, and initially thought whether she was in trouble. “I had no idea. This is a complete surprise. I actually did not know this was happening.”
The Outstanding Lecture Award comes with a $1,000 Faculty Professional Development Grant, being honored at the Faculty Recognition Luncheon, and recognition at the College of Arts and Letters’ commencement ceremony.
Nerren is an alumna of CSUSB, having earned her doctorate in educational leadership in the James R. Watson and Judy Rodriguez Watson College of Education. She also has a bachelor of arts in philosophy from Pitzer College in Claremont and a master of arts in communication from Cal State Fullerton.
Nerren teaches a broad range of undergraduate and graduate courses in strategic communication. She integrates nearly two decades of professional experience into her instruction, ensuring that students connect theory to practice. Her student evaluations, or SOTEs, are high in the categories of specific contributions to learning and overall quality of instruction.
One student noted that, “Rather than being taught how the PR world works, we learn through real-world experience. We are the student-run PR firm on campus.”
Another observed that, “Dr. Nerren made it personal and that stuck out to me because representation matters. She gave us an opportunity to create beneficial change for the CSUSB community and the neurodiverse community at large.”
Mohamed quipped that he found another “authoritative source, which I don't know that anybody uses anymore, which is (the website) Rate My Professor.” Though unofficial, the student comments posted there reflected the sentiment in the official SOTEs. One of a handful he shared: “Enjoyed this class very much. I like how passionate the professor was in her lectures. She made the class as if it were your job, which made me want to do better. Loved how fun and caring she was. 10 out of 10, would recommend.”
To which Chuang would later add, “Not just 10 out of 10, you know. I'll give her 20 out of 10!”
Mohamed also commented on her advocacy for student equity, making sure that all students have the opportunity and resources to succeed.
“It's always been about our students and about how we can support them and about how we can ensure that all of our students, regardless of where they are on any kind of spectrum of learning, have the opportunity to be successful here,” Mohamed said. “And so I really do appreciate and applaud you for all that you do for our students.”
Nerren carries additional roles at CSUSB, including Faculty Disability Inclusion Fellow and interim faculty director of Services to Students with Disabilities.
“Her leadership in disability inclusion has strengthened CSUSB's commitment to access and equity,” Morales said. “She's done a fabulous job in this space as a Faculty Disability Inclusion Fellow and interim faculty director of Services to Students with Disabilities. She has supported thousands of students, provided training and consultation to more than 2,000 faculty members.”
Morales recalled when Paz Olivarez, vice president of Student Affairs, approached him about Nerren working with Services to Students with Disabilities to focus on helping faculty who have students with different learning abilities.
“Jessica, being the inaugural faculty member of Services to Students with Disabilities really has transformed the role that faculty can play in that office, teaching other faculty, providing the kind of professional development so that we are a more caring and more inclusive community,” he said. “So that is something you can't measure, but students have benefited in an extraordinary way from her work with other faculty to share with them is what it's all about.”
Mihaela Popescu, a colleague in communication and media and faculty director of CSUSB’s xREAL Lab, pointed to the work Nerren did as a mentor to a student in the virtual reality lab. The student essentially kept to himself, but Nerren was able to encourage the student to expand his educational experience at CSUSB to include presenting at conferences. Eventually, that student’s work was incorporated into the LibreText platform, benefitting thousands of students daily.
“I know Jess has done incredible things for the campus,” Popescu said. “But to see this student, to see how his life has changed, to see him actually exploring opportunities to do Ph.Ds. at top schools, this is all Jess. And this to me means more than anything because she's transforming the lives of those who know her.”
Nerren’s contributions to the university include her service-learning partnerships, which have generated more than $25,000 in equivalent professional services to community organizations in a single year. She has delivered more than 200 professional development sessions and secured significant external funding, including a $50,000 state Department of Rehabilitation grant and a $43,000 Office of Small Business Advocate grant.
In addition to her work at CSUSB, Nerren is also an exhibited and recognized creative and photographer. Her work includes serving as executive producer on the 2021 film, “What Is Comm?”, participating in exhibitions mounted by a group of renowned photojournalists titled, “Lunartics,” and having a solo exhibition at Cal State Fullerton in 2011 of photos from her decade of working as a Southern California journalist (titled “Cover Photos”).
“Thank you everyone so much,” Nerren said as the presentation came to an end. “Thank you for your kind words. Thank you for all of the friendship and collaboration, and just there's so many more cool things to come.”
The 2025-26 outstanding faculty awards committee is headed up by co-chairs Jennifer Alford (Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences) and Stacey Fraser (Department of Music). Other members include Sara Callori (representing the College of Natural Sciences), Yawen Li (representing the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences) and Ying Cheng (representing the Jack H. Brown College of Business and Public Administration).