My Philosophy and Experiences as a Student Centered Chancellor of SOCCCD

Outlined below is an overview of my philosophy and experiences as a student-centered advocate and Chancellor of the SOCCCD:  

·         I have implemented principles of shared governance/collegial consultation as I routinely made my decisions and recommendations to the Board of Trustees based on genuine collaborative input from faculty, staff and administration since such decisions affect current and future students as well as employees.

·         I place high priority on building mutually trusting and respectful relationships through two-way communications by a variety of means with the internal and external stakeholders about the colleges’ visions, assets, needs and successes.

·         As an Asian American with utmost respect for different viewpoints, I wholeheartedly embrace the agenda of bridge-building, opportunity, equity and celebration of diversity while we educate and prepare our workforce for the competitive global economy.  I advocated for hiring the best candidates for various positions, including men and women of all diverse backgrounds and ethnicities. I promoted internationalization and pluralization of curriculum to enrich the learning experiences of students in our globally competitive environment. 

·         I advised the Board of Trustees on the development of prudent long-term district wide strategic plan and annual goals with action plans in the areas of academic and career technical education; enrollment management; facilities, construction, renovation and maintenance; and investment in technology. Annually I provided the Board with comprehensive reports on progress and accomplishments which were simultaneously shared with faculty, support and management staff, college foundations and members of the community in the spirit of my personal integrity, transparency and accountability.  

·         I led the selection of consultants and the establishment of genuine collaborative process for the development of education and facilities master plans. District wide and college based steering committees ensured the critical involvement of faculty, support and management staff in creating a meaningful master plan. Master plan priorities and delineation of funding sources and timelines were clearly specified for the Board in agenda items related to new educational programs, technology infrastructure needs, and building construction, renovation and maintenance projects. 

·         I spearheaded efforts to wisely leverage local, state and federal funding; public and private partnerships; and other funding sources including grants in support of educational programs and student services at our colleges and continued development of a new campus, the Advanced Technology & Education Park (ATEP) in Tustin. I have extensive experience in utilizing limited resources in a fiscally astute manner and ensuring alignment with the institutional vision, mission and goals.  

·         As college president and chancellor, I managed first-hand the delicate balance of budget realities versus increasing student needs per collegial prioritization process. As a multi-college district chancellor I applied these lessons and set financial principles and parameters for budget allocation by the District Resource Allocation Council (DRAC), a collegial consultation council. I take great pride in the participatory process of responsive and responsible budget development and operation within financial means.  

·         I provided leadership in increasing enrollment demand by promoting a district wide initiative for online education and technology solutions. The result has been that online education now accounts for 20% of Full-Time Equivalent Students (FTES) and plans are being developed to offer certificate and degree programs online. SOCCCD has award winning technology accomplishments that provide quality services to faculty, administration, staff and students.  

·         I have extensive knowledge and experience based on three cycles of successful negotiations of collective bargaining agreements with faculty, staff and police officers unions. As a college president and chancellor I have extensive experience in providing leadership in the conflict resolution of highly complex issues by working with the Board of Trustees as well as faculty, staff and management.  

·         I supported the College Presidents/ATEP Provost in their efforts to strengthen “friends and fundraising” efforts by participating in key meetings with potential donors and introducing business and community leaders for foundation membership. I encouraged administrators and managers to serve as our ambassadors by participation in community organizations which resulted in raising funds for student scholarships, in particular.

·         I consistently supported efforts to promote the history and accomplishments of the diversity of students, faculty and staff. In addition, I encouraged mutually civil and respectful consideration of all diverse viewpoints. 

·         I ensured the allocation of funds, either entirely from the district’s reserves or as a match to leverage state funds, for construction and renovation of numerous buildings, campus infrastructure, scheduled maintenance, technology initiatives and instructional equipment upgrades. I recommended these allocations to the Board of Trustees as part of our prudent planning and expenditures to support faculty and students with classroom as well as online instruction. 

·         I enlisted the support of faculty, support and management staff, particularly the College Presidents and the Academic Senates, in increasing efficiencies in instruction, student services and administrative functions. For example, we placed an increasing number of documents and interactive processes on the district and college websites. All three campuses and district services are actively involved in business continuity, efficiency planning and implementation initiatives. 

·         I worked collaboratively with the colleges in identification, development, implementation and financial support of new academic, career technical education, fine arts and athletics programs. Also, I encouraged the colleges to consider data from Orange County Business Council and Orange County Workforce Investment Board studies of employment and market analysis in our efforts to plan for new educational programs and thus meet students as well as local business/industry needs. 

·         During my first year as chancellor, I initiated the District Leadership Team (DLT) consisting of all administrators and managers throughout the district. We met monthly to keep them informed on major district/college initiatives, policies and processes, and engage in problem solving. I established the Technology and Learning Services Coordinating Council with college representatives in order to promote coordination in the areas of technology, curriculum, instruction, and student services. Also, I established the Chancellor’s Coordinating Council consisting of our colleges as well as local K-12 school districts and university representatives in efforts to strengthen communication, coordination, and alignment with them for the benefit of our students. 

·         On a daily basis, I provided leadership by reminding everyone in our district that we exist, first and foremost, to meet the educational needs of our students. I encouraged faculty to attend workshops on student learning outcomes. I supported reassigned time for faculty so that they can provide leadership and coordination in development of assessment and documentation of student learning outcomes at course, program and degree levels. 

·         Some of my proudest achievements that benefitted students relate to technological advancements and the facilitation of a data based decision making culture. The Student Information System (SIS) project’s final major software rollout occurred this year, on-time and on-budget. Building upon it, our new “Sherpa” project made SIS the first in the nation to provide customized recommendations for each user. Information Technology had begun a “Mobile” initiative in order to make us only the second community college in the country to bring a variety of college and district services content to cell phones. We improved business continuance by testing “Cloud Computing” capabilities that allowed us to shift processing to a remote location in the event of an emergency. In research, we implemented a business intelligence project that “pushed” key performance indicators out to decision-makers, and beginning a project that made data from the new inFORM Data Warehouse available to all intranet users. 

·         I have extensive experience in succession planning for administration, faculty and staff with focus on building competent and high performance teams that work in a mutually trusting, respectful, collegial and high integrity environment. 

·         As an individual, I model and reflect accountability, transparency and visibility in the colleges and the community.

My Accomplishments as Chancellor of South Orange County Community College District



Following is a list of what I consider the top ten accomplishments that have occurred in the South Orange County Community College District during my tenure as Chancellor:

1. A five year Educational and Facilities Master Plan was developed with broad involvement from all constituent groups, and its implementation is currently underway. Since the first building phase of Saddleback College in the early 1970s, campus construction and renovation initiatives are at the highest level ever in district history.

2. A third campus, the Advanced Technology & Education Park (ATEP) was launched; headcount is now over 1,400 students (we tripled the enrollment in two years), long range academic and facilities concept plans are finalized, and partnerships are in progress with other institutions of higher education and the business sector.

3. A socio-economic impact study demonstrated SOCCCD contributes over $1.7 billion to the economy, brings a return on investment of 15% to state and local government, and graduates earn a 17% rate of return on their investment of time and money.

4. FTES in online courses increased more than 200% as the colleges continued to add more courses and worked towards offering online certificates and degrees. Online students now contribute over 20% of total FTES.

5. All three campuses have robust enrollment management, marketing and outreach efforts, with broad involvement from constituent groups. Enhanced by district marketing and community relations strategies, enrollment is at an all time high having gone up by 25% in the last three years.

6. Over $50 million has been invested in technology initiatives for students and staff with the inclusion of computer upgrades, classroom enhancements, award-winning student information system and online services, and fully online job applications.

7. Saddleback College and Irvine Valley College were accredited by WASC, completed development of student learning outcomes in response to new standards, and were preparing for 2010 site visits. A positive outgrowth of the accreditation process has been the institutionalization of strategic planning at both colleges which includes establishing district wide goals that are integrated within the college planning cycles.

8. The district and colleges are coordinating research efforts and publishing annual reports of institutional effectiveness, which provide critical information for data-based management in our efforts to enhance student success.

9. SOCCCD became a leader in sound fiscal management: Board Policy sets a 7 ½% reserve, retired Certificate of Participation (COPS) debt, one of the first in the state to fully fund retiree liability, and increasing success in securing competitive grants. I took pride in managing the district budget in the most responsive and responsible manner.

10. Total FTES now tops 25,000 for the first time in district history. Irvine Valley and Saddleback Colleges have two of the highest transfer rates among community colleges in the State of California. IVC headcount is almost 16,000 and SC headcount is over 28,000 with a total headcount of over 44,000 students.

I believe that the challenges in the educational and global marketplaces require visionary, innovative, and engaged transformational leadership from educators today to better prepare our students for the intellectually competitive workforce of tomorrow.  As a scientist by background, I have cultivated my ability to listen, think, analyze and solve problems in the most positive and collaborative manner possible. 

Reason For My Retirement as Chancellor from SOCCCD

I had the privilege of serving as the Chancellor of South Orange County Community College District for nine years, which is considered a rare term in academic administration of higher education institutions in California as well as the nation. Per direction and support of a majority of the Board of Trustees, I was engaged in tough and successful contract negotiations with the faculty and staff unions under declining economic conditions affecting our taxpayers and businesses. However, a disgruntled faculty union member had created blog with continued irresponsible, unprofessional and defamatory false statements about me and my outstanding work as Chancellor as supported by my outstanding performance evaluations.

I retired from the college district when an elected and married male member of the Board of Trustees, directed, and in fact, pressured me to perform an illegal and unethical task, which would have cost an unnecessary expense of more than $250,000 annually for many years. I declined to perform such a task because, as a fiscal conservative, it was against my principles and conscience as well as against the best interests of the students, the three campuses and the taxpayers. Therefore, I respectfully and honorably retired.

Specifically, I chose to leave related to a moral and ethical issue, when an elected and married male member of the Board of Trustees demanded of me to create a new Dean position and pressured me to promote his unqualified girlfriend to fill that position. The position came with a secretarial support position at a total annual cost of $250, 000, and was unnecessary, illegal in the context of employment laws for public higher education institutions and outright unethical. While the colleges were offering a limited number of courses for students due to budget constraints, I declined to add any administrative positions and thus participate in wasting taxpayer dollars. This was against my principles as a fiscal conservative as well as against my conscience and the best interests of students, college campuses and taxpayers. Therefore, I respectfully and honorably retired as Chancellor of the South Orange County Community College District. The Board of Trustees chose to honor one year remaining on my contract as the Chancellor. I most sincerely wanted to work and earn the money; instead, the Board chose to pay me severance pay per contract, and still paid full salary and benefits to another Chancellor when I left. Some Trustees wanted me to stay and earn my pay which I was totally prepared and willing to do.

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Reason for my retirement

I had the privilege of serving as Chancellor of the South Orange County Community College District for nine years, which is considered a rare term in academic administration of higher eduction in California as well as the nation.

Per direction and support of a majority of the Board of Trustees, I was engaged in tough and successful contract negotiations with the faculty and staff unions due to declining economic conditions affecting our taxpayers. However, a disgruntled faculty union member has created blog with continued irresponsible, unprofessional and defamatory false statements about me and my outstanding work as Chancellor.

I retired from the college district when an elected member of the Board of Trustees directed, and, in fact, pressured me and attempted to blackmail me to perform an illegal and unethical task, which would have cost an unnecessary expense of more than $250,000 annually for many years.  I declined to perform such a task because it was against my principles and conscience as well as against the best interest of the students, and the taxpayers. Therefore, I respectfully and honorably retired.

I am Dr. Raghu Mathur.  I served as President of Irvine Valley College for approximately five years and Chancellor of the South Orange County Community College District (SOCCCD) for nearly nine years.  SOCCCD consists of Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, CA, Irvine Valley College in Irvine, CA, and Advanced Technology and Education Park (ATEP) in Tustin, CA.  In addition, SOCCCD consists of over 35,000 students; 2,500 employees; and has a budget of about half a billion dollars.

As President and Chancellor, I carried out many difficult decisions made by the District Board of Trustees and made many difficult decisions of my own in efforts to implement the Board Policies and the Administrative Regulations.  Vigorous efforts were made constantly and continuously to ensure that our focus remained on student achievement and success since students deserved a world class education in order to remain competitive in the global economy.

 

  

I prudently and frugally managed hard earned tax payer dollars as if it was my own money.  As President and Chancellor, I produced a balanced budget every year in collaboration with the management team.  We managed a responsive yet responsible competitive compensation system for our faculty, staff, and administrators/managers.  Student enrollment in our colleges increased by about 25% in the last two years of my chancellorship.  This required allocation of additional dollars for technology

 

infrastructure including online education, health care, utilities, maintenance and hiring of new faculty and staff as more courses and student services were offered to accommodate the educational needs of our students. 
 

In addition, we developed and implemented a comprehensive strategic plan regarding building renovation and new building construction for Saddleback College, Irvine Valley College, and the opening of the new campus, called ATEP at the 78-acre of land parcel at the Old Tustin Marine Base.  We accomplished so much without a Bond Measure and in spite of demands for higher compensation and benefits for employees in the recessionary economy.

 

All such efforts required thoughtful planning, critical and innovative thinking, team building and collaboration with faculty, staff, and administration, and most of all, leadership, courage and tenacity at the Chancellor level to make it all happen.  Of course, all this was possible with the guidance and direction of the District Board of Trustees.

I am pleased and proud to state that we made these huge accomplishments together with the Board of Trustees, faculty, staff, and administrators/managers in the best interests of our students, taxpayers and the community.

I had the privilege of serving as Chancellor of the South Orange County Community College District for nine years, which is considered a rare term in academic administration of higher eduction in California as well as the nation.

Per direction and support of a majority of the Board of Trustees, I was engaged in tough and successful contract negotiations with the faculty and staff unions due to declining economic conditions affecting our taxpayers.  However, a disgruntled faculty union member has created blog with continued irresponsible, unprofessional and defamatory false statements about me and my outstanding work as Chancellor. 

I retired from the college district when an elected member of the Board of Trustees directed, and, in fact, pressured me to perform an illegal and unethical task, which would have cost an unnecessary expense of more than $250,000 annually for many years.I declined to perform such a task because it was against my principles and conscience as well as against the best interest of the students, and the taxpayers. Therefore, I respectfully and honorably retired.