June 9, 2023
Dear Colleagues,
I am sharing important updates from the Cal Student Central and Financial Aid and Scholarships teams.
Luis Rodriguez
Please join me in congratulating Luis Rodriguez on his appointment as our new Associate Director in the Financial Aid and Scholarships Office overseeing the Cal Student Central team as well as Undergraduate Scholarships, Prizes, and Honors. These areas both have strong academic and faculty engagement and a stellar customer service expectation and will benefit greatly from Luis’ leadership.
Luis has served as the Director of Cal Student Central for the past three years and served for over a decade at Florida International University where he managed the Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) and Professional Judgment (PJ) processes and established their OneStop Enrollment Management & Services. During his time at Berkeley he has provided leadership in the following workgroups and committees: Student Affairs Strategic Plan Initiative Co-Chair of Transforming the Student Experience, Student Affairs Senior Leadership, System-wide Opt Out Fees (SWOOF), Financial Aid and Scholarships’ Calendaring and Training team, Student Information System (SIS) user group, Records and Enrollment user group, SIS Strategy and Management, Vice Chancellor’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) Advisory Board, Salesforce Advisory Committee, Student Communications Coordination, Cal 1 Card Advisory Committee, Student Advisory Council on Financial Aid and Education and Tuition Stability Plan Project Group.
Kerry Franzetta
Many thanks to Amber Harrold, Director of Financial Aid for the Haas School of Business and Jorge Martinez, Cal 1 Card Operations Manager for serving on the selection committee along with the Financial Aid and Scholarships leadership team of Kerry Franzetta, Nicole LaGrander and Joan Shao. We also solicited feedback from the following teams: Cal Student Central, Financial Aid and Scholarships, Student Affairs, the Controller’s Office, Equity and Inclusion, and Government and Community Relations.
Please also join me in congratulating Kerry Franzetta in her elevated role as Deputy Director of the Financial Aid and Scholarships Office, where she will continue to provide strategic leadership to our team and support the key initiatives for our department. These include staying connected as we embrace hybrid work modalities, maintaining our service levels as we prepare for the implementation of FAFSA Simplification for the 2024–25 academic year, and focusing on our yield of low-income students. The Business Systems Analysts team and the Fiscal Management, Work-Study and Compliance team will continue to report to Kerry.
Nicole LaGrandeur will now lead the Counseling units and the Federal and State programs unit, and I expect wonderful synergy from aligning these two teams.
Please let me know if you have any questions and I thank you all for the partnership.
Warm regards,
Cruz Grimaldo (she/they)
Associate Vice Chancellor
Financial Aid and Scholarships & Cal Student Central
Division of Student Affairs