Jen Donaldson, Director

I am very excited to re-join the Cal Poly team in my new role as Director of the DRC. With almost 20 years of experience in working in higher education, I have found working with students with disabilities to be my greatest passion. I received my BA degree in Social work from CSU, Chico and my Master of social work degree from Boston University.

I began my career in higher education at a private art college in San Diego as a counselor and disability services coordinator and was later promoted to the Dean of Student Affairs in which I oversaw disability services, advising, student employment, housing, counseling and the Military Resource Center. As my partner and I started our own family, we decided to move up to Paso Robles in 2016 to be closer to my family. I started working at Cal Poly in the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities in 2016 but found I missed working within disability services and moved to Cuesta in 2018 in the role of Director of Disability Support Programs and Services. When I learned of a possibility to return to Cal Poly continuing my passion of working with students with disabilities, I jumped at the opportunity and applied. Fortunately for me, I was offered the position and could not be more thrilled to be back. I have always held the philosophy that student success comes through a collaborative and holistic approach. I truly look forward to connecting with students, staff and faculty. I have an open door policy for myself as much as possible so please feel free to stop by and say hello at any time.

In my spare time you will find me enjoying time with my family; I have 2 children and a partner that also works for Cal Poly! We love to camp, travel, trips to Disneyland and downtime hanging out with our 2 dogs.