Jane Weilenman

CSPP alumna (1991), San Diego campus
Statewide Clinical Director

Q: Why did you choose Alliant International University?

A: I don't even know how I discovered CSPP. I have no clue. But there was something about the West because at that time I was living in New York, and I had just finished my master's degree and so going out to California sounded pretty cool. I will say I still remember the orientation when I first arrived back in the late 1980s, I was just immediately thinking, “this is going to be cool.” One of the things that I really look for in life and jobs and training is diversity and respect for culture, open-mindedness, and the idea of a full buffet so you can get a little bit of this a little bit of that, and you can try it and take what you like and leave the rest and that was immediately what I felt about that campus. I was just like a giddy kid you know opening the door going, “Wow this is gonna be an amazing experience!” And I will say it did not disappoint. It stayed that way through all of my experiences, and I think CSPP adjunct professors were the key for me because they worked a job and then rushed into class to teach us exactly what they had done two hours ago. They weren't talking heads reading from a book; they were living the experience, working the experience, and then sharing the experience with us. It felt like we were on the road with them already because they were giving us the real time information.

I also had quite a few unique experiences to me. The school encouraged me to find something that I was interested in and tell them about it and then it might give me some coursework or practicum hours. I was very much into sign language and at that point didn't know any, so I made a proposal that I would like to take community college sign language and then integrate that into my education. And it happened that the Alliant president at that time had just finished working at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. for the deaf community. So, when I made the proposal he said, “Well, just come on into my office and we'll sign together.” Like, who does that? That was so bizarre to me for the president to say just come on in here we'll sign in your own private class. It was like this open-door policy, and I felt that same way with the professors. They told us to call them by their first names. I never felt the hierarchy. Our ethics and cultural awareness professor invited us out to his sweat lodge. There were so many experiences like that that which broadened my horizons.

Q: Can you tell me about the closeness you developed with your cohort?

A: During orientation they were very honest with us. They said if you're married the chance of you getting a divorce while one of you is in grad school is 86% and we want to try to keep you married if you're married. And by the way you probably shouldn't have a child while you’re a grad student because this is so demanding. But we want you to stay married and we want to make sure we give you support. They said, “We're going to form families for you because you're out here in California and your family may not be out here. So, let's create in essence neighborhoods for you and these are the people we want you to get together with once a week or every other week.” And we were a family. And we stayed together for years because of the fact that we were each other's family for the most part so that was a great experience as well.

Q: How did Alliant help you in your career path?

A: I will say that I've had a “long and winding road” career. Initially I started off as a school psychologist and I was really focused on working with the special education population. And then when I did my internship, I was very much focused on IQ testing and developmental testing, and I did that for years. But I always had the desire to work on court cases and work in corrections. So, when I moved over from working in a developmental clinic, I switched to working in the court system to working in a youth detention center where I also did tons of evaluations, but it was my first foot in the door when it comes to corrections. And then eventually I moved to adult correctional settings, and I've been doing that ever since. It's mission-oriented with a sense of purpose. If you can help one person come to an insight about what makes them tick and then they come back to be our neighbors and the community, you get to be part of that and giving them a purposeful life.

Q: How did Alliant prepare you or impact you for what you’re doing now?

A: Alliant gave me the courage to try everything and to go after my passions. I never felt the closed door when I was at CSPP. I opened the door I was interested in and tried it. That to me is what education is all about. It’s that person reaching back and saying, “Here, why don't you try this and see if it fits?” It’s kind of like being in the in the dressing room of life. Sometimes you’ve got to try on a career or try on a population to see if it fits with you because it's not always going to fit but the fact that you've been exposed to it, or someone’s told you about it really helps. The adjunct professors really did create the idea that I could do anything.

Q: What advice would you give to people who want to pursue a career in this field?

A: I would say expose yourself. Find volunteer services. Volunteer in your local community. Get behind the door. Open that door yourself or find out who can open that door for you so gain the exposure. If it is in a psychiatric hospital, do volunteer work there. If it is in corrections, do volunteer work there or advocate in your community but whatever your passion is you need to expose yourself to all of this to find out what you like and what fulfills that sense of purpose for you.