Dear Colleagues, 

Thanks to those of you who carved out time last week to provide feedback regarding the restructuring of leadership for our instructional units. I appreciate the responses shared, and am grateful to our new VPI, Dr. Weng, for being available to consult (before he’s even started, no less). 

As stated, the main reason for this change is to address the issues created by the current leadership structure which has made communication and getting work to completion more complicated than necessary.  The current structure also makes it difficult for administrators to directly support students, faculty and staff in ways that go beyond managing timelines and requirements.  

While there are many factors that support a need for structural modification, below are the primary objectives sought with implementing this change:  

1. Keep/bring connected disciplines together – this includes student goals (workforce preparation, transfer) or funding eligibility such as Perkins access for instructional equipment  

2. Increase direct leadership support to faculty, staff, and students  

3. Keep budget within (or less than) the current amount funded 

4. Align unit/division structure in ways that support needed work on behalf of the College 

No changes are planned for the Learning Resources unit.  

The College will be moving forward with the following instructional leadership updates:  

Business Programs & Strategic Partnerships 

(Student FTE = 239/year, Faculty FTE = 14/year) * 

Led By: Associate Vice President for Business Programs & Strategic Partnerships (LUCAS RUCKS)  

• Accounting, Business, Business Admin, Business Intelligence and Data Analytics, Purchasing Management 

• Operational lead K-12 partners, Articulation, Prior Learning, Industry Partnerships, Bargaining, Improving Institutional Effectiveness  

Communication Studies & Social Sciences 

(Student FTE = 763/year, Faculty FTE = 44/year) 

Led By: Acting Dean – Communication Studies & Social Sciences (SHANON EHMKE-REEDY)  

• Anthropology, Child Advocacy, Criminal Justice, Communication Studies, Economics, Equity & Social Justice, History, Honors Program, International Studies, Parent Education, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, World Languages 

Career Technical Education 

(Student FTE = 664/year, Faculty FTE = 74/year) 

Led By: Acting Dean – Career Technical Education (TBD) 

Supported By: Associate Dean – Nursing (LEANN DE LUNA), Director of Automotive (GARY FANTOZZI)  

• Automotive, Biotechnology, Clean Energy Technology, Dental Hygiene, Health Informatics Information Management, Manufacturing, Medical Lab Technology, Nutrition, Nursing, Nursing Assistant Certified 

Humanities 

(Student FTE = 758/year, Faculty FTE = 37/year) 

Led By: Acting Dean – Humanities (STEPHANE SAREERAM)  

• Art History, English, Humanities, Music, Music Technology, Studio Arts, Theater/Drama/Film, Visual Communications Technology 

Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics – Transfer 

(Student FTE = 847/year, Faculty FTE = 52/year)  

Led By: Acting Dean – STEM (DALILA PAREDES)  

• Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Mathematics, Science 

Transitional Studies 

(Student FTE = 711/year, Faculty FTE = 41/year)  

Led By: Acting Dean – Transitional Studies (TBD)  

Supported By: Director – Workforce Funding (LAUREN HADLEY) 

• Adult Basic Education, Center for Education & Career Opportunities, English as a Second Language, Workforce Funding 

Next steps: 

We will continue to seek feedback on the effectiveness of this new structure across the year and will also utilize our new VP-I Dr. Ben Weng for his guidance and feedback on each division’s overall functioning.  The two Dean positions that are currently vacant (Dean of Transitional Studies and Dean of CTE) will be internally posted for current employee applicants on Monday June 17, 2024.  With regards to the various “Acting” positions identified for the coming year, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Shanon Ehmke-Reedy, Dalila Paredes, and Stephanie Sareeram for agreeing to continue in temporary leadership roles next year.  Lastly, the College will also be working with Dr. Weng, the Unions, and Faculty Senate to set a clear and transparent process to fill the Dean roles permanently by July 2025, with more information to come as details are confirmed. 

*Student and faculty FTEs based on average of College data from the 2022-23 and 2023-34 academic years. 

Have a great week!

Cheers,

Jack