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.