SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – UC Santa Barbara Athletics welcomes four new hires ahead of the 2026-27 school year, with three additions to the Athletic Training Department and one to Academics.

Two Associate Athletic Directors have joined, with Taylor Rozantz arriving as the Associate Athletic Director for Academic Services and Charles Dean as the Associate Athletic Director for Sports Medicine. Hanna Cavalier and Yasmina Alikhani arrive as Assistant Athletic Trainers.

Rozantz joins from Oregon State, where she was Head Academic Counselor and Assistant Director. Prior to her time in Corvallis, she served as an Academic Counselor and Assistant Director at Penn State and an Academic Advisor, Learning Specialist, and Tutor Coordinator at Utah. She began her collegiate tutoring career as an assistant learning specialist for South Florida and was previously a middle school teacher.

She holds multiple degrees, first earning a Bachelor of Science from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. She received a Master of Education in Educational Leadership from Edinboro and is currently working towards a Doctor of Philosophy in Sports Management from Troy University.?

Dean joins the sports medicine department from Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, where he worked as an Assistant Athletic Trainer after arriving in 2018. Dean expanded his role in the institution by adding the title Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Committee Coordinator in 2020.

Prior to CMS, Dean spent two years as an athletic training graduate assistant at Cal State Fullerton, primarily working with Women's Soccer, which he helped guide towards a Big West Conference Championship and first-round NCAA tournament appearance.

In May of 2018, Dean earned his Master of Science degree in Kinesiology with an emphasis in Sport and Performance Psychology from CSUF. In 2012, he received his Bachelor of Arts in Athletic Training from Azusa Pacific. While at Azusa Pacific, Charles worked with football, men's and women's basketball, and tennis, and after graduation worked at Casa Colina Centers for Rehabilitation and multiple local high schools as the Head Athletic Trainer.

Hannah Cavalier joins the athletic training staff as an Assistant Athletic Trainer from San Francisco State, where she has been since 2021. Prior to SFSU, she was the Head Athletic Trainer at Monte Vista Christian School and a trainer at Concordia University Irvine for Men's Volleyball and Women's Lacrosse.?

Cavalier earned her Bachelor of Science in Athletic Training from Concordia University Irvine in 2018, then worked as an Athletic Training Graduate Assistant at the University of the Cumberlands, where she received a Master of Science in Health and Human Performance.

Yasmina Alikhani also joins the staff as an Assistant Athletic Trainer following time at the University of San Diego and a series of athletic training rotations. Alikhani completed her graduate athletic training work at UC San Diego, Grossmont College, San Diego State, and Ventura College, while also serving as a graduate athletic training intern for Texas A&M Football and as a varsity track and field assistant coach at Kearny High School.

Alikhani completed her undergraduate and graduate studies at San Diego State University, earning a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology with an emphasis in Exercise Science in May 2024 before graduating with a Master of Science in Athletic Training in May 2026.