Originally a clinical psychologist, Long has been sought out by her colleagues and the administration to serve in a number of leadership positions. Most recently, she chaired the University Budget Committee, which led the campus to adapt a new and more collaborative process for allocating resources. Additionally, she served as vice chair of the Academic Senate from 2000 to 2002. President Lyons appointed her in 2003 to chair a 19-person task force which brought the campus administrators, faculty, staff and students together to develop a successful Strategic Plan. The plan was well received by campus constituents and is currently being used to guide the campus through the next five years to its golden anniversary in 2010.

As the newly appointed executive assistant to the president, Long’s dedication to CSUDH stems from what she sees as the campus’ unique niche in the community.

“One of the things that I’ve really enjoyed about this campus is that we have faculty, staff and administrators who feel that they are part of an important mission as we work to provide services to many first-generation college students,” she said.

Long was a captain in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, serving as a surgical nurse while stationed in Japan. When she returned to the states, she earned her master’s degree in nursing at UCLA and a second master’s degree and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology in Los Angeles. In 1985, she established a doctoral training program for psychology interns that provided supervision and training experience for young professional psychologists. The program has been approved by the California Psychology Internship Council and continues to provide services to CSUDH students.
In her new post, Long faces the challenge of assisting the president during budgetary difficulties in the California State University System. She underscored the need to get creative when it comes to making sure that key programs are supported during very difficult budget times.