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Meet the Human Resources Team

Dana Nagengast, SHRM-SCP

Dana Nagengast, SHRM-SCP

Assistant Vice President – Chief Human Resources Officer (AVP-CHRO)Kingston Hall909.621.8512dnagengast@hmc.edu

  • Lead the Office of Human Resources, delivering innovative and customer-focused HR services related to candidate recruitment and onboarding experience, compensation and benefits, performance management, employee relations, HRIS/payroll processing, HR compliance/policy administration, and professional training and development.
  • Advise and partner with college leadership to achieve college and department goals in support of the College’s strategic initiatives.
  • Lead and collaborate with the HR team to foster community connections through communication, events, and gatherings to support our staff.
  • Serve as the primary point of contact for employees and supervisors pertaining to employee relations matters.
  • Act as the College’s Affirmative Action Officer and serves as one of the Workplace Violence Administrators for the College.
  • Represent the College as an active member of the Human Resources Committee of The Claremont Colleges and collaborates with colleagues in intercollegiate initiatives and programs. 
Patrice Siffert, SHRM-SCP

Patrice Siffert, SHRM-SCP

Senior Associate Director for Human ResourcesKingston Hall909.607.4154psiffert@hmc.edu

  • Oversee hiring and onboarding for faculty, including managing HR processes for faculty appointments, in collaboration with the Dean of the Faculty’s Office. Schedule and conduct new hire orientation for the new faculty.
  • Partner with the AVP-CHRO regarding staff compensation analysis/programs and employment immigration requests.
  • Partner with the AVP-CHRO to support the annual performance management program.
  • Serve as the liaison with The Claremont Colleges Services (TCCS) regarding benefits administration, questions, and issue resolution for faculty and staff.
  • Oversee leave administration, which includes medical and family matters.
Haley Phillips

Haley Phillips

Assistant Director for Offices of COO and CHROKingston Hall909.607.4096hphillips@hmc.edu

  • Partner with the VP/COO and AVP-CHRO to manage special projects and initiatives, drafting policies, and preparing communications.
  • Serve as a backup administrator for the College-issued purchase cards program and providing guidance to departments.
  • Partner with the VP/COO and AVP-CHRO for annual programs, such as HMC’s Affirmative Action Plan.
  • Support the College remote work program.
  • Provide ad-hoc HR support, as directed by the AVP-CHRO regarding recruitment, employee relations and compliance.
  • Collaborate with HR team on strategic projects.
Catharyne Magro

Catharyne Magro

Human Resources Employment ManagerKingston Hall909.607.9700cmagro@hmc.edu

  • Manage recruiting process for all staff, ensuring a positive candidate experience. Provide support by posting and advertising jobs, conducting interviews, onboarding new staff, collaborating with hiring managers and conducting new hire orientation for staff.
  • Process employment changes for internal staff, related to changes with job titles, department transfers, compensation changes, including salary adjustments, stipends and ad-hoc payments.
  • Partner with AVP-CHRO to administer the college training and development programs.
  • Provide support for annual programs and services such as affirmative action planning, benefit open enrollment, salary planning, and performance management administration.
  • Partner with AVP-CHRO to coordinate all HR community connections through communication, events, and gatherings to support our staff.
José Barajas, MBA

José Barajas, MBA

HR Analyst & GeneralistKingston Hall909.607.6531jbarajas@hmc.edu

  • Coordinate the Workday HRIS design/configuration, maintenance, and administration in support of HR strategy.
  • Collect and interpret data for HR and compensation surveys and partner with members of HR and the Office of Financial Affairs to perform data analysis.
  • Partner with AVP-CHRO to lead the technical administration for the annual performance management and salary increase programs.
  • Provide a broad range of support related to compensation and benefits, employee relations, HRIS, payroll, policy administration, training and development, and special projects.
Sophie Hernandez

Sophie Hernandez

HR/Payroll AdministratorKingston Hall909.607.2729sohernandez@hmc.edu

  • Administer payroll for faculty, staff and student workers, including managing the Special Payment Authorization (SPA) function on campus.
  • Process payroll changes related to leave of absences, including FMLA, medical leave, and other types of employee leave, in partnership with other HR team members.
  • Coordinate and administer student employment programs, including recruitment and payroll processing.
  • Serve as the primary point of contact for Workday Time Tracking and Absence Management system, providing support and troubleshooting.
  • Partner with the AVP-CHRO in developing and delivering HR training sessions for the community on HR and payroll compliance requirements in collaboration with HR team members.
  • Serve as the primary point of contact for Worker’s Compensation, in collaboration with TCCS.