I've been the President of the Peralta Board of Trustees for two years, a VP for one, and was elected to the seat in 2018. During my leadership, we accomplished much in order to stabilize the District. Peralta has been plagued, for almost two decades, with accreditation, financial, and grave internal issues at all levels. For the first time in many years-- honest, intentional and structural changes are being implemented to ensure that the District is on solid ground for longevity. In these four years, we have staved off State takeover of the District; effected real, structural changes that have taken the District off Accreditation Probation; responded to creating adequate internal and position controls that have been continued issues with FCMAT; responded to internal financial controls, FA issues and evidence and documentation that have been material weaknesses on financial audits yearly ; responded and rebut Grand Jury allegations with evidence... all amidst the many multiple issues which arose during amost three years of the pandemic.
In terms of qualifications for the seat, I’ve been a faculty member in the California Community College (CCC) and CSU systems for over twenty-five years and tenured for the last 15 years at West Valley Community College in the South Bay. I was VP for my college’s Academic Senate for six years and very active at the Statewide Academic Senate (ASCCC), serving on committees such as Governance and Internal Policies, Legislative Advocacy, Curriculum; co-authoring articles such as Principles of Sound Faculty Evaluation , Beyond the Classroom: Fostering local and Statewide Engagement in our Faculty , and Civic Engagement and Civil Discourse: If Not Now, Then When? ; and presenting on Academic Integrity and AB 1725 at many plenaries, statewide CCCC CEO and Trustee (CCLC) and ASCCC events.
Additionally, I have been a Commissioner on the Accreditation Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) since 2018 and am therefore intimately and experientially familiar with accreditation, standards, institutional effectiveness, and institutional improvement. This expertise is rare yet important in that I know what is required of California Community Colleges and what best practice models exist in the four areas of accreditation: Academic quality and Institutional Effectiveness; Student Learning and Support Services; Financial, Human and Technological Resources and in Leadership and Governance.
I have also been active on the CCLC as a member of the DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) taskforce , giving presentations at CCLC townhalls on DEI and accreditation, as well as reviewing and contributing to Title V changes re: DEI centered faculty hiring and faculty evaluations.
These broad positionalities, from the micro to the macro, shape my understanding of the system. Unlike many who sit in and/or run for this seat, my knowledge is deep and practical within the CCC system, regionally, statewide and locally – but also balanced by a thorough study of documents, data, information and larger context at hand.
