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.
