Dr. Michael Spagna
Interim President of Cal Poly HumboldtMichael E. Spagna succeeded Tom Jackson, Jr. as interim president of Cal Poly Humboldt on August 26, 2024.
Spagna had been provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at CSU Dominguez Hills since 2017 where he provided strategic leadership and oversight for the University’s academic vision. He also served at the system level as provost representative on the CSU Admission Advisory Council and as commissioner for the CSU Commission of Professional and Continuing Education.
Prior to joining CSUDH, Spagna held several positions at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) over a 25-year period, including professor and dean of the Michael D. Eisner College of Education.
Prior to his service at CSUN, Spagna served as consultant to the California State Department of Education; coordinator of the Services to Students with Learning Disabilities program at University of California, Berkeley; learning disabilities specialist and lecturer at Chabot College in Livermore, California; and special education teacher at Landmark West School in Culver City, and at the Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA.
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What would it be like to actually work alongside incarcerated students? And what’s a typical day like for students and instructors?This episode originally aired August 21st, 2025. -
This is part II of Talk Humboldt’s exploration of what it’s like running education programs at Pelican Bay.Episode first aired August 7th, 2025. -
Michael Spagna and Keith Flamer go inside Pelican Bay State Prison. This is the first in a series about what it's like teaching art and education inside Pelican Bay.Episode first aired July 24th, 2025. -
Eureka Artist Lynn Jones talks about vintage presswork and linoleum block printing. -
If you love nature documentaries, you've probably seen some footage captured by Arcata's Will Goldenberg. "I think Humboldt is a fantastic place to be a wildlife filmmaker, because I still naturally discover stories," he says. He's worked on shows for Netflix, Nat Geo, the BBC and Tom Hanks' latest documentary, The Americas, which features scenes from around the North Coast. -
It’s in-between classes at McKinleyville High, and teacher Nicole Peters’ classroom is plastered with Yurok words and pronunciation guides. Her grandma spoke Yurok to her as a child and she says that "growing up Yurok, you’re living it literally every day. You’re also going to school in these communities where you have Yurok language available to Head Start students, middle school students, and now - high school students." Today, she teaches Yurok at McKinleyville High and Eureka High.
